LA or Bust - 2009 Trip - Day 7

Start Location: Alexandria, LA
Ending Location: New Orleans, LA
Miles Today: 251
Trip Miles: 2870
States Visited: 10
National Parks Visited: 1
Low Temp: 72.7° F
High Temp: 99.1° F
Min Elevation: -14'
Max Elevation: 183'

Route Map:

We started out in a heavy rain and it rained most of the day.  The only good thing was that we only had to go 250 miles and at least it was a warm rain.  No pictures today, partly because of the steady rain and partly because there really wasn't much to take pictures of.  The altitude profile for today looks much more erratic than previous graphs but the reason is that the full scale is only 200 feet as opposed to previous days where full scale was anywhere from 2000 to 12000 feet.  Most of the spikes are bridges or overpasses.  I believe that last big spike is the Huey P. Long Bridge over the Mississippi River.

Speaking of bridges, Linda and I both said we would like the sign concession for the state.  Every bridge - and there are thousands of them - has a sign that says "BRIDG MAY ICE IN COLD WEATHER".  Actually there are two for every bridge, one on each side.

We rolled into New Orleans at about 3:00 and found our hotel after only one wrong turn.  We are staying in a Quality Inn that's only a block from the French Quarter.  The room is very nice - 2 queen beds, microwave, refrigerator, very clean - and only $86.39 per night.  There's also a parking garage across the street (supposedly secure) for another $14 per day.  Besides being only a block from the Quarter, it's also only a block from Immaculate Conception Church and they had a mass at 4:00 so that was our first stop.

After settling in, we headed for the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. We started at about 6:00 and it was pretty quiet.  After walking around, we picked a restaurant and had a nice dinner.  By the time we finished dinner, Bourbon Street was much busier and more interesting.  We wandered around and people-watched for a while but didn't last too long as we were both pretty tired.

Tomorrow we are planning a tour of the city and the results of Hurricane Katrina, more walking around, another nice dinner, and some more people watching.