Welcome to N’awlins

Tuesday, 19 March
Aviation arbor Famcamp — NAS JRB New Orleans — Belle Chasse, Louisiana
Temps: Lo 57F / Hi 73F (14C / 23C)

Crescent City … The Big Easy … The City that Care Forgot … NOLA.  No matter what you call it, New Orleans is where we are.  Or more specifically, we’re at the FamCamp at one of the newest military bases in the US — NAS JRB New Orleans.  That’s the short version of the name of this military facility … the long version is Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans … a mouthful to be sure.

To complicate matters just a bit more, we’re in Belle Chasse, a CDP (census designated place) in Plaquemines Parish.  Since this area is part of the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area, I’m going to simply refer to our location as New Orleans; or better yet … as NOLA.

We’ll be here for two weeks … busy they will be, I am sure!  Quite a change from our ten days on the shores of sleepy Claiborne Lake in Alabama.

Above Right: one of the many jesters around NOLA.

Above LEFT: "Uncle" Lionel Batiste (1932-2012) was a beloved New Orleans jazz and blues musician, and an indelible symbol of New Orleans' brass band and musical culture.  He represents the heart and soul of Faubourg TremÉ, the oldest African-American neighborhood in the United States.  (Text from the New Orleans visitor guide 2013).  The woman we spoke to at the Visitor Center told us that At his wake “Uncle” was positioned as seen in the cover picture [scanned from the guide].

Today was a day of planning.  At least it was for me (Mui didn’t get into the game until tonight).  Armed with the multitude of brochures we picked up from the Visitor Center yesterday, I sat down to create a “fluid” plan for our two-week stay in NOLA.  Mui used the day to spiff up the coach … the Phaeton is once again showroom-ready; just in time for the arrival of his sister.

Mid-day, we took time out to drive to Westwego to check out the fish market and buy some fresh-off-the-boat shrimp.  Seeing as we were near Bayou Segnette State Park, a popular campground for campers visiting NOLA), we detoured for a quick look-see … nice place, although I’ve read some reviews of train/traffic noise.

Five pounds at $5.25/pound at Capt Jonathan’s …
we’re going to be feasting on locally-caught shrimp.

Well, that takes care of today.  Now to backtrack to our arrival and yesterday.

Sunday, 17 March

We left Isaac Creek COE Campground in Alabama a day early to get in front of the storm forecasted along our route on Monday.  (The nice folks at Isaac Creek even refunded our last night’s stay before we left.)  We had a pleasant drive, mostly on interstate roads.

265 miles (424 km) — an easy drive from Isaac Creek to the NAS JRB New Orleans FamCamp.

The drive down took us six hours with a lunch break at the Mississippi Welcome Center just over the Miss-Ala stateline.  While there, we visited with the hospitable staff.  They welcomed us with the offer of coffee; Elvis sent us on our way with a “thank you for stopping by.”  Our only other stop en route to our destination was at the Flying J, where we topped off on diesel ($3.93/gallon with our RV Plus card … 10¢ less than what we paid 10 days earlier in Birmingham, Alabama).

The Mississippi Visitor Center … old world charm all decked out for Easter.
The horse sculpture is the work of Martin Miller; made from oak trees killed by Hurricane Katrina.
The Elvis cut-out has a motion-triggered farewell greeting for visitors.

Our arrival in the NOLA area was uneventful.  We had written directions for NAS JRB New Orleans and followed them rather than the odd directions being issued by Ms Garmin after we crossed Lake Pontchartrain and the Mighty Mississippi River.  Our directions mentioned driving through a tunnel that goes under under the Intracoastal Waterway.  Turns out that the tunnel was closed for construction and we used the bridge to cross over instead.  Good thing, too.  Although the tunnel has plenty of clearance for the Phaeton, its narrow confines would have been stressful.

We arrived at Aviation Arbor right around 3:30p.  We had already verified that they could accommodate our arrival a day early, so we were expected.  Thirty minutes later we were settled into site 39 … yup from one site 39 to another!

We would have been in site 38 had we not decided to come in a day early;
no problem — the sites are identical.

Aviation Arbor is one of the newest FamCamps in the military campground system; it opened in January 2012.  With double-wide cement pads and plenty of manicured grass on either side, the FHU sites are quite spacious ($20/nite or $120/week).  Water and power hook-ups are in a pedestal that doubles as nighttime lighting.  There’s free wi-fi … which nicely supplements our own mi-fi connectivity.  We are in the row that faces a tall fence and trees that separate the new campground from the old FEMA trailer park (now occupied by homesteaders).  The sites in the other row face the trees.  A better view, perhaps; but the up-side to our row is that the outside living space gets the sun in the morning and is fully shaded in the afternoon — great for relaxing after a day of sightseeing.

Looking right and left from our site.

If the TV news stories are to be believed, we beat the forecasted thunderstorms along our route.  Looks like it was worth the early departure from Isaac Creek.

Monday, 18 March

By some standards, the FamCamp’s location on the west bank may not be the most convenient to NOLA proper.  It’s a 17-mile (27 km) drive to Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter, for example.  But, we don’t have to drive all the way into the city to do our sightseeing.  We can drive 11 miles (18 km) to Algiers Point and catch the ferry to the Canal Street Terminal on the east bank.  Though the ferry is free, parking is $5 ($10 on weekends) in the dirt lot adjacent to the terminal … worth it not to have to deal with traffic in NOLA, or pay the exorbitant parking fees on the east bank.  Not to mention the high rates of the campgrounds that are closer to the city.  And the trip across is short, giving riders barely enough time to enjoy the views.

NOLA skyline across the Mighty Mississippi from the Algiers Point ferry terminal;
the ferry mid-river is coming to take us over to the east bank.

Looking back from our ferry (left) towards the Algiers Point Terminal (right).

The Natchez Steamboat plies the Mississippi day and night, offering jazz cruises to visitors.
In the background is the St Louis Cathedral, one of the iconic symbols of NOLA.

When we arrived on Sunday, the afternoon temp was 78F (25.5C).  That wasn’t too dissimilar from the temps we’d been enjoying at Isaac Creek just prior to our departure.  The difference, though, was the humidity.  Today (Monday), the high was an even more humid 83F (28C) with full sunshine in the afternoon.  Luckily, there was a light breeze to keep our blood from boiling as we wandered around the Vieux Carré — better known as the French Quarter.

Azaleas in bloom at Jackson Square.

The first order of business once we disembarked the ferry was to find the hotel where Mui’s sister will be staying when she arrives next Sunday.  That accomplished, we headed over to the visitor center in the French Quarter.  But feeding our growling tummies trumped our desire for information, so along the way we stopped in at the Crescent City Brewhouse for a bite to eat.  NOLA abounds with eateries to fit every budget and satisfy every palate, but we had not yet taken the time to search out the ones we wanted to patronize.  Turns out that we made a good choice with this place, which bills itself as the only microbrewery in the French Quarter.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Brewhouse BLT: a concoction of crispy smoked bacon, leaves of fried basil, vine-ripened tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella served on a brioche, with a side of romaine hearts that came with a balsamic vinaigrette.  Mui ordered the Oyster Club: fresh shucked Louisiana oysters rolled in oats then deep fried, layered with fresh spinach leaves, avocado, radishes, tomatoes, sauerkraut, grilled Canadian bacon, herbsaint aioli on toasted wheat bread — too much bread, but it was a club sandwich, after all.  (Easily remedied by eating only half the bread.)  We washed it all down with a couple of the offerings from the brewery, and topped it off with an excellent bread pudding that had a yummy sauce made with pecans and pralines.

Two to Travel gives the Crescent City Brewhouse two thumbs Glasses up.

Since this was a recon trip to collect information, after lunch we headed over to the visitor center to pick the brains of the staffers there.  The friendly volunteer was most helpful, putting together a series of brochures and marking up a map based on our interests.  A tip for those who have NOLA on their itinerary for this year — make sure you pick up a copy of the New Orleans Official Visitor Guide; it has lots of information, and plenty of coupons as well.

Though I tried to limit my photo-taking this afternoon, there was some shutter-clicking involved — mostly of murals; deserving a blog post of their own.  Since the visitor center is across the street from the St Louis Cathedral (above), I couldn’t resist a few pictures of this iconic building either.

Right: The Monument to the Immigrant is on the Banks of the Mississippi; dedicated in March 1995 to the "Courageous Men and Women who left their homeland seeking freedom, opportunity, and a better life in a new country.”

With a bag of information in hand, we strolled over to the French Market, then followed the Moon Walk to the Riverwalk, and finally made our way to the Canal Street Ferry Terminal for the ride back across the Mississippi.  We were drained from the humid heat; and our feet were tired from all the walking.  But we were happy nonetheless, our minds buzzing a mile a minute with ideas of things to do.  The big question?  How on earth will we fit everything we want to do into the two short weeks we’ve got allotted for NOLA!