We took the shuttle to the French Quarter. The $6 shuttle is good all day and takes you to French Quarter 3 times daily 10am, 3:45pm, 7:45pm, and picks up at 4pm and 8pm.
We first went and got a selfie picture at the sternwheel steamboat Natchez Paddle wheel.
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| SS Natchez |
We had scheduled a walking tour of the French Quarter with a company called, Free Tours by Foot. The other walking tours were anywhere from $20-30 a person. This one advertises that you just pay what you think it is worth! You still have to book it a head of time. The tour lasts two hours and the first one starts at 10:00, too early for us since we didn't leave the park until then. I thought I had seen one on the web site at 10:30 but couldn't find it. The next one wasn't until 2:00 so I knew we would have to leave it early to get back for the 4:00 shuttle, but I still booked it.
We went to the Cafe Du Monde so Patty could get the FAMOUS Beignets! The line was crazy long! As we were waiting in line I was searching online for the tours again and found the 10:30am one. Don't know how I missed it the night before. Problem is it was 10:30 right NOW! The meet time was right across the street. I tried to book it and they still had two spots available.
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| Cafe Du Monde |
We got out of line and ran across the street to Jackson Square Park.
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| Jackson Square |
Patty found the tour we were looking for. Katrina the tour guide first said we could not "crash" the tour. I showed her our confirmation e-mail and she welcomed us! The good news is that now we would be able to stay for the whole two hour tour!
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| Katrina |
The tour consisted of Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, The Cabildo, Presbytere, Pirates Alley, William Faulkner House, Tennessee Williams House, Bourbon Street, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop and more. Here is the Napoleon House.
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| Napoleon House |
And of course Bourbon Street.
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| Bourbon Street |
These street performers were in front of St. Louis Cathedral. They were playing Jazz music.
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| Performers |
The tour lasted at least 2 hours and probably a couple miles of walking. It was very good and Katrina was excellent! We ended at the French Market. She really never really asked for money or even a tip. Really low key. We gave her $10.00 each or $20.00 total. She doesn't even look at what we give her, she just put it in her money stash. I really like that. Now that we are retired we do try to look for value! This was worth it.
In the French Market we bought a Snow Ball. That is New Orleans term for a Hawaiian Shaved Ice.
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| French Market |
After browsing the shops in the Market we headed to the NOLA US Mint. Built in 1835, the Old U.S. Mint is the only building in America to have served both as a United States and a Confederate Mint. BTW, that's me in the background sitting on the fence eating my snowball. LOL
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| US Mint |
There were several rooms of old mint exhibits you could look at. There was also several old minted coins from here.
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| Mint Exhibits |
They had a Loius Armstrong exhibit in the mint building. Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901.
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| Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong |
I thought what was most impressive was that they had the first cornet he ever played.
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| First Cornet |
As well as the final trumpet and mouthpiece he ever played on display.
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| Final Trumpet |
After the mint we went back to Cafe du Monde to get those Beignets that Patty wanted. The lines were still very long, but she wanted her Beignets! They were not as perfect shaped as the one from Morning Coffee in the City Park. Both were very good!
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| Cafe Du Monde Beignets |
That's it for today,
God Bless you,
Thank you for reading and we love you,
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