I was on the bike pretty early today - around 6:45. I was so excited to get to NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana). The sky was absolutely beautiful when I walked out onto the street.
While I was making my way to the beach, I found some pretty awesome sights. I'm constantly finding myself in awe, staring up at the sky. It's just so beautiful down here!
I found my way to the beach and was greeted by this, to the east:
And this, to the west:
Can you ask for more?
The answer: Yes. The ride down the shore was awful. The sidewalk would constantly disappear, resulting in me toppling over in the sand. There was also a bunch of construction on the sidewalk, which I had to walk my bike around. It sucked.
I did find the port that most of the bananas that go into the US arrive through. It didn't really smell like bananas. It actually smelled pretty nasty.
This view makes the port look a little nicer.
I finally found a bridge with a nice wide bike lane, so that I could start to punish my body with the remaining miles. Unfortunately my body didn't want to cooperate after being punished so hard the day before. I was exhausted. The ride today ended up feeling way too long.
There were plenty of boats along the way. Shrimpin' is a very big deal down here.
Check out this bridge!
The view from the crest was quite nice.
I knew I was on along journey, but I must have made a wrong turn somewhere. I had no intention of going to space!
Three states in three days. Louisiana, it's good to see you!
This is a picture of something, but I'm not sure what because The computer won't display it. I bet its the picture of the bridge, which isn't very interesting anyway.
Neither is this picture. Unfortunately, this is what I was staring at for most of my journey.
The view of the water was quite lovely from one of the many bridges that I traversed along the way.
Like this one.
But this bridge was particularly cool because you could see New Orleans off in the distance.
A little closer, you could see some old fort. I can't remember the name of it.
Most of the houses along Hwy 90 were raised to avoid flooding. A lot of them were still under construction after being damaged in the hurricane. This one looks to be hurricane proof!
A nice wide shoulder and a beautiful sky, the only other thing I would like is for the headwind to go away.
I was transfixed by this huge beautiful cloud for miles.
New Orleans! Getting here sucked. At one point, I found myself on a busy highway with no shoulder. Luckily, once I got into Mid-town, there were plenty of bike lanes to follow. No if only I could avoid the construction...
It was nice to have arrived.
And like I said, nice to have my own lane.
This canal was the sign that I was close to my final destination!
Leigh and Jeanne were still at work so Leigh have me instructions on how to get into the house and to make myself at home. Can you guess what I did first?
Not really a surprise.
Jeanne arrived home shortly after I got myself showered. She had Lynette come over to meet me, who offered to take me out on the town. We jumped into a car with Susan and Hilda, all of them related to each other through marriages. They took me to City Park where Paul Sanchez was playing. He was a bit of a local celebrity. I had an absolute blast. These ladies were so fun! I was fed beer after beer and beignet after beignet.
We stuck around until 7, at which point we got back into the car and drove to Chickie Wah Wah - one of Lynette's favorite local establishments. When we arrived, they had a duo playing some jazz for us - including Stand By Me by Ben King. I loved it.
The food there was amazing! I was treated to a BBQ Shrimp "Sammich," some sausage ad rice balls, mini crawfish pies and fries fried in duckfat. I was in heaven. Not to mention Lynette kept my glass full all night long.
Paul Sanchez (the local celeb) showed up later and played some tunes with a portion of his band. It was so great. He found out I was from New Jersey and he played Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra for me. We had such an incredible time. I wish I could upload the videos I took from the show, but sadly I can't. I might have to do it through youtube just so you all can experience a little of what I did!
We called it a night after the show and I fell fast asleep as soon as I got back to the house.
Staying in NOLA for a few days!
Thanks for sharing. Never been to NOLA myself but hoping to someday. Beer, Beignets and Great Food....who can blame you for staying for a few days. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete