New Orleans - Historic and Beautiful -

New Orleans is a beautiful historic city and for us it is only an eight-hour drive from our home near Dallas, Texas. The trip is pretty straight forward taking Highway 20 to Shreveport, LA, then highway 49 to Opelousas; and then the final stretch on highway 190 through Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

We decided to stay at the New Orleans West KOA. I knew I was going to like staying here as soon as we arrived. The sites are a decent size and the campground was clean and you could not find a friendlier or more helpful staff. They offer some shuttle service to the downtown area but the return times did not work for our schedule.

Night time at the New Orleans West KOA

I would say the hardest part of visiting New Orleans is getting to the downtown area (unless you are staying near there). It’s only twelve miles from the campground but would take forty minutes of multiple traffic lights and turns to get to the French Quarter. Eventually you are driving down the French Quarter Streets which are somewhat narrow. As you move along the streets you can see the owners out washing their side walks and getting set up for the day. Once you get down to the river front, there is a nice parking lot. You can buy parking for the day at a pretty decent price. The real key to stress free parking is to get there early.

The Mississippi – Down Town New Orleans

Adjacent to the parking lot was a Gray Line tours building where you could buy various tour packages.

Gray Line Tours in 2016

As you can see from the sign, there is really something for everyone. We decided to take the Super City tour we could get a real feel of the history of the city. The tour coach took us through the French Quarter and historic Jackson Square. It also travels through historic neighborhoods of Treme & Faubourg Marigny. One of our stops was St Louis Cemetery No 3, where we learned about the above ground burial system and how it is managed. We had enough time here to walk a large part of the cemetery and it is nothing short of impressive.

St Louis Cemetery No 3

Then we made our way to City Park which is one of the ten largest urban parks in the United States. There is enough time at this stop that you can visit their café for a bite to eat and visit their sculpture Garden.

Sculpture Garden at City Park

On the way back to the French Quarter we saw Tulane and Loyola Universities, and many more historic mansions.

After the tour Tammy and I did a little shopping and stopped at a bar for a cold beer. Then it was back to the campground. I have to say the way back to camp always seemed to go faster than the trip to the French Quarter.

Tammy at New Orleans Bar

The next morning we drove back down to the French Quarter’s Café Du Monde, home of their famous Beignet. Tammy told me that if she could only do one thing in New Orleans, that this would be it. The Beignet is like a doughnut only better. In addition to a terrific Beignet, their coffee is awesome. Service was a little slow because it was absolutely jam packed. We actually had a difficult time finding a seat.

Café Du Monde

After breakfast we decided to take one of their street cars out to the end of town. At the end of the line we stopped at an intersection that was a triangle and each street was bordered by cemeteries. One that was particularly striking was the Charity Hospital Cemetery. We decided that since we had at least a twenty minute wait for our street car we would take a quick walk through. This cemetery was opened in 1848, and first was the final resting place of many victims of yellow fever. Now there are somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 people buried here. It is near the corner of Canal Street and City Park Avenue.

Charity Hospital Cemetery

Once we got back to the French Quarter it was time for lunch. There is nothing better than a relaxing lunch on a second floor balcony watching the activity on the street below.

Balcony Dining

There is so much to do here it really warrants a trip back. I know I wont have any objections from the girls who found the trip really relaxing. This is a must do trip, if you take a few days to tour New Orleans you will not regret it!