Arrival

Train Station 

I have never seen a train travel or run so close to the water before. The only thing that stood between us and the chocolate milk colored water was what seemed like a tiny bridge. The sun was the perfect height illuminating all the different greens and browns of the trees and mud. There are puddles everywhere from the recent downpour. There is tons of debris, broken limbs and it looks like old dock ties or docks that have been there or the old train tracks that were that are now under the water close to the tracks. There is a mixture of water, trees and grassy swamp. The train tracks are parallel to the highway and right next to the airport. We begin to make our way to more a populated area. I can see businesses and schools. There are homeless encampments under the over passes. When we get off the train I am immediately hit with the smell of fuel. There are tall buildings peeking through the ceiling. When you enter the train station there is artwork and marble covering the walls and rows of seating. Outside, there are palm trees swaying in the cool breeze. There is a good amount of traffic but not the normal amount I would have expected. There are tall buildings everywhere and the sun is getting lower so there is some intermittent sun and shade. I got the pleasure of seeing a street car for the first time while going around what the driver called the "Circle Lee." The Circle Lee is a enormous round about with a towering statue in the middle. I see pedestrians walking at the same time we hit the cobble stone street and the tires rumble on the van. I can hear music and smell fresh cool air as the windows are down and we make our way to the hotel. The hotel is a mixture between industrial and modern with wood beams, metal accents and modern touches. Our room in the hotel is spacious and we immediately turn on the air as an uncomfortable warmth hit us on the way in as we rush to get ready. The street car was very interesting. I have been on something similar in St. Louis but the street cars in New Orleans have almost a romance to them. I enjoyed riding on the street car for the first time and think it will be a smart choice for transportation. The French Quarter is hard to put into words as its more of a feeling. I fell in love as soon as I heard the music, felt the wind in my face, saw the street performers and smelled the delicious smells coming from the kitchens. My meal at the Original Pierre Maspero's was everything I hoped it would be. I got the crab cakes and they were delicious. I also tried bread pudding for the first time which was absolutely sinful. The ghost tour was very interesting. I loved the night time walk and standing in the exact spot certain historical things happened. The rich history mixed with tragedy really filled my imagination. I imagined what things looked like and how magical the city was back then and is today. I was thankful when it was over as I feel like we were all very tired and my feet had the successful day ache. It was a long, eventful day as I look back on my first day in New Orleans. 

We are finally here in New Orleans. 17 or so hours of travel has come to this. I cannot believe I am actually typing about my first day here. The train ride in was somewhat surreal as I stated above,  it seemed like the train was taking us to a secret island surrounded by swamps, alligator infested waters and thick grass, trees and shrubs. Seeing the Super Dome from the train brought back some pretty serious emotions from the footage from Hurricane Katrina I saw in the past. I remember seeing the people lined outside of the dome. I also remember reading about the conditions inside the dome and it just made my heart shatter for those people. What they had to endure was absolutely awful, from being without electricity to no running water or accessible foods. To see what they have endured and come from makes me admire the city and its community even more. I learned how easy it could be for New Orleans to have been flooded as there is bodies of water everywhere. So far, New Orleans is everything I hoped it would be. I learned how to get from the hotel to the street car and the street car to the French Quarter. I enjoyed getting to know our new form of transportation for the week. I think it is sensible, reliable, easy to navigate and also super cute. When we stepped off the street car I could already hear the music and my heart began to race. Colleen then made my heart race even faster when she told me about the rats the size of possums ; ) I quickly became enthralled with wanting to capture every moment but, we had to keep moving. I will go back to capture more moments and make more memories. I loved seeing the live performers. I hope to get a palm reading as I find those types of things fascinating and will not take what they say as gospel and definitely would not make any life decisions based on the that information, I just think it would be fun! The food so far is fantastic and I learned about a lot of good places to eat like Muriel's, Irene's or Napoleon House so I will try to make it to those places. I look forward to just sitting with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and soaking in the town. I want to have that time with the city. I want to become lost in jazz or a street performers drum performance. I am glad it is not as busy as I thought it was going to be and I am also glad for the cool weather as I find it easier to travel in. I look forward to the St. Louis Cathedral, Old Ursuline Convent and Cuisine Tour tomorrow. When thinking about our free day, I forgot to mention above that we met a wonderful person named Tammy on the way home from the French Quarter and ghost tour who told us about a fun parade on Saturday which I also look forward to and hope we can get to. I look forward to what the rest of our times holds.