NOLA

Jo headed up to Philly to visit her mom on the 6th and Jack and I were bachelors for a while. We were busily working away on the next day when the first Tornado warning went off. A tornado had been sited west and north of New Orleans. Being in a house on wheels is not comforting when tornadoes are around. It got really dark and then the warning went off again. Heavy rain and hail pounded the RV. The warnings went off 4 times during the next several hours. I pulled in the slides and lowered the antennae and actually did ok. The tornado hit directly across the canal from where we are staying and did a substantial amount of damage. Amazingly, there was no loss of life. The point where it touched down was about 2 miles from our park. More than close enough for me.

I took a ride out to Chalmette  battlefield where the battle of New Orleans took place during the war of 1812. It is a serene location neatly tucked into an industrial part of New Orleans. Surrounded by a refinery and shipping docks is a 100' tall monument to Andrew Jackson, a really informative visitor center, a grand plantation house, the battlefield itself and a cemetery with over 15,000 veterans.  The cemetery was started as a burial ground for Union troops who died in the south during the civil war.  Hundreds of grave stones are marked U.S.C.T. It took a while to figure out that it stood for United States Colored Troops. There are also vets from the war of 1812 that were re-interned there, the Spanish American war, WW1, WW2 and a few from Vietnam. It was a moment of introspection for sure.

 I climbed the 100 steps to the top of the monument, but the view wasn't much as the windows were too narrow to take a photo. The interesting part of the monument were the commemorative plaques placed around the perimeter. Every group that participated on the U.S. side is memorialized.  Pretty impressive group of native Americans, Batarian pirates, local militia, and soldiers and sailors. 

Later in the week, I drove out to the Batarian Preserve. This is the place where Jean Lafitte had his pirate hideout, smuggling businesses, and ships. Unfortunately there is nothing left of the pirates, but the area has been turned into a wildlife preserve.  There are numerous trails with most having boardwalks through the bayou and marshes.  There was an amazing difference as you moved from the bayou

 to the marshes.

 
 Look close for some residents I saw along the boardwalk.

Jo got back last night and we are heading to the French Quarter tonight for dinner and music at the Three Muses. 

If you actually like the blog, you can subscribe by entering your email and then clicking submit at the bottom of the page. That way you won't have to link through Facebook.