Monday, April 20 — our second day in New Orleans

This morning, Marie Therese and Anne Marie went out on their own. They walked around New Orleans alone for hours! They took the ferry across the Mississippi River to Algiers and back! They shopped in the markets!

They took many photos but it is impossible to connect their photos to my computer. So, if you are in France reading this, you will see their pictures next weekend.

Meanwhile, I had breakfast with my son, Zach, and his friend, Cassidy. After breakfast, we went to a different spot on the Mississippi and looked at the ships as they passed by. 

Here is one very large ship:

The name of the ship is SF Destiny. We don't know which country it's from, but it has a very big letter 

"S" on the smokestack. Sweden? Senegal? 

We met Marie Therese and Anne Marie downtown. They were very hungry, so we went to Hanks Super Market to buy shrimp "Po Boys."

We all went back to our AirBnB where Marie Therese and Anne Marie enjoyed their sandwiches at a table.

This is a photo of the courtyard of our lodging:

To get to the toilet and the shower we have to walk across this courtyard. We are very happy that it has not been raining at night!

The outside of the place is decorated with a large mural.  

This building was previously used as a garage and as an oyster-shucking shack. It was very recently converted into a lodging.

After lunch, Zach drove us through the Lower 9th Ward, the area of New Orleans that was most seriously destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

There are many empty lots where houses used to stand. We went to a lookout stand to view part of the Industrial Canal.

Next we went to Mid-City to meet friends of mine whom I have not seen since 2004.  

Marie Therese, Zach, Anne Marie, Gene, Ellen

Anne Marie, Marie Therese, Phyllis, Gene, Ellen

We wanted to take a ride on a streetcar!  Our favorites are the pretty red ones, but we were content to ride green streetcars along St. Charles Avenue, since they took us to our dinner.

The fare is normally $1.25 per person, but we were happy to learn that it is only 40 cents for senior citizens!

The driver was very friendly!  I think he enjoys his job.

We had dinner at Superior Seafood, a restaurant on St. Charles Avenue. Sorry — I forgot to take photos of the restaurant. Marie Therese and Anne Marie had blackened catfish. Zach had moules et frites, and I had shrimp and grits. It was all terrific.

After dinner we went to the French Quarter to hear some music. There was an extremely long line for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, so instead we went to the Spotted Cat, an excellent place. 

We sat right in front, very close to the musicians, and that was exactly what we wanted.

Tomorrow morning we will say goodbye to Zach and drive away toward Memphis, Tennessee.