New Orleans...nature and music

June 5 was the best day ever!  In the morning we drove out of town a ways to Lafayette National Park, with a boardwalk and pathway tour through a bayou and swamp.  Even though it was about 95 degrees and very high humidity, it was great to see the more natural side of New Orleans. The signage was great because it explained how the terrain changed from marsh to swamp. We even saw an alligator try to catch a squirrel.  Quite a splash.  Great frog sounds too.

Since it was so very hot we left the swamp and went back to Celeste, for a short, hot nap.  The humidity is killing and even though we took showers, by the time we walked back to our campsite, we were dripping again.  People here keep saying that this heat is just normal,  Its in the summer when things really heat up.  No thank you!

We left camp to go to the neighborhood restaurant that the guy on the ferry recommended.  Great choice.  We ordered a dozen char-grilled oysters.  I don't like oysters, and David had to fend off his share with a fork because I tried to eat them all up.

Then the evening really picked up.  We went to the French Quarter and Preservation Hall.  We had been on Bourbon Street the night before and stopped and heard what we thought was a great jazz band  which we really enjoyed. Oh my lord.  Were we in for a treat this night. We went to Preservation Hall, which was not like either one of us expected.  We had heard that it was the premier jazz place, and we knew that it was small and that most people had to stand, and that there was no eating or drinking.  What we didn't know was tht it was a room that hadn't changed since the 1920's!  Ceiling fans, raggedy walls, no amplification...and music that was from the soul!  What an evening.  Luckily my handy dandy sneaky pete recorder did quite well hiding in David's pocket and I can make cd's of the music when we get to Alaska.  the rendition of St. James Infirmary Blues was the best we've ever heard.  it was hard to leave after two sets. The next photo shows the stage while the band is on break and the following one shows the rather unassuming outside.  Notice, there is no visible sign.

Then, reluctantly, we went back to hot Celeste for an early start to Cajun contry in the morning!