New Orleans

We planned a stop near New Orleans so we could take in the city.  The RV park was about 30 minutes north so it made for an easy day trip.  I spent a lot of time talking with the ladies in the park office and they gave me quite a few pointers.  We'd been there a few times before but it's been MANY years so it was good to have a refresher.  

We arrived fairly early in the morning, had no trouble parking, and headed to Bourbon Street to take a walk.

One of the most famous attractions in the French Quarter is Cafe Du Monde so we made our way there.  Along with every other tourist there that day!

Since we're not coffee drinkers, we stayed out of the line and just did some people watching.

There were some colorful people nearby.

And lots of music and dancing.

We took it all in and decided we'd come back later when, hopefully, the crowds had calmed down.

On the other side of Jackson Square is The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, also known as St. Louis Cathedral.

This is one of the oldest Catholic cathedrals in continual use in the country.  The first church on the site was built in 1718 and was a crude wooden structure.  Construction of a larger brick and timber church began in 1725 and was completed in 1727.  Along with numerous other buildings, the church was destroyed in the Great New Orleans Fire on Good Friday, 1788.  

The cornerstone of a new church was laid in 1789 and the building was completed in 1794.  In 1793, Saint Louis Church was elevated to cathedral rank as the See of the Diocese of New Orleans.  In 1819, a central tower with a clock and bell were added.  The bell was embossed with the name "Victoire" in commemoration of the Battle of New Orleans victory in 1815.

We'd never been inside so this was our chance.  So beautiful!  

The greatest moment in the history of the St. Louis Cathedral was the visit of Pope John Paul II in September, 1987.  Pope John Paul paused for a prayer before the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, patroness of New Orleans and Louisiana.  Many of the more than one thousand priests, sisters and brothers who packed the Cathedral were greeted personally by the Holy Father.  The Holy Father also addressed gatherings of youths, educators and black Catholics and celebrated an outdoor Mass for over 200,000 on the New Orleans lakefront.

stlouiscathedral.org

Our Lady of Prompt Succor

Coming out of the Cathedral we stopped to take in Jackson Square.  Early French colonial New Orleans was centered on what was then called the Place d'Armes ('weapons' square').  Following the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, the former military plaza was renamed Jackson Square for the battle's victorious General Andrew Jackson.  In the center of the square is the statue erected in 1856, one of four identical statues in the U.S. by sculptor Clark Mills.  The statue was dedicated in a grand ceremony on February 9, 1856.

The Union must and shall be preserved

Major General Andrew Jackson

More interesting things around the perimeter of the square.

Hmmm, we were working up an appetite so it was time for a meal.  

Crab Benedict

This might have been the tastiest meal I've ever had!

Back outside to walk off some of that meal.

Too bad we'd just eaten.

I just love how there are performers on almost every corner making the streets alive with music.

Oh boy, we were hot and sweaty and needed a drink.  So off to the famous Pat O'Brien's Bar for a hurricane.

 

Pat O'Brien's began operation as a legal liquor establishment in 1933.  Before that, during Prohibition, the bar was known as Mr. O'Brien's Club Tipperary; the password "storm's brewin" was required to gain entrance to the establishment.  In December, 1942 it moved to it's present location on St. Peter Street, into a historic building dating from 1791.  It is home to the original flaming fountain in the courtyard.

O'Brien is reported to have invented the hurricane cocktail in the 1940s.  The story of the drink's origin holds that, due to difficulties importing scotch during World War II, liquor salesmen forced bar owners to buy up to 50 cases of their much-more-plentiful rum in order to secure a single case of good whiskey or scotch.  The barmen at Pat O'Brien's came up with an appealing recipe to reduce the surplus of rum.  When they decided to serve it in a hurricane glass, shaped like a hurricane lamp, the hurricane was born.

Just what the doctor ordered!

By now, hoping that the crowds at Cafe Du Monde had died down, we went back.  

The kitchen was busy, but the crowds were calm.

We'd had enough food for the day so we got in the take out line.

SCORE!

There was more to see but we were tired so decided to come back another day.

Biloxi, Mississippi

Biloxi is only about an hour from where we were staying so we took a day trip for a visit.  

Keesler AFB?  Why did that ring a bell?  I thought and thought and then it hit me - this was where my dad was stationed for basic training in 1945!

Some of you might remember that I have a gazillion of the letters he wrote to his parents while he was there so I pulled the letters out (okay, just the Word document that I have) to see what he had to say.

FROM:

Pvt. Gordon F. Levy 19216405
3704^th AAE Base Unit
Squadron U., Class 637
Keesler Field, Mississippi

June 29, 1945

Dearest Mom & Pop:

Well, well, well!!  Outside of the heat, this place isn’t as bad as everyone said.  But of course we just got here last night and haven’t seen any more than our own barracks.  They don’t seem to know what to do with us yet so we just sit and wait.  Out of my two weeks of “battle” service, I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said we’ve sat & waited 13 of them.  Now I see why they call it a standing army.

From what I can gather, by listening to a million different guys who don’t know a thing but think they know it all, I think we’ll be in basic training for 35 days and have to stay on the post the first month.  After that almost everyone becomes an aviation mechanic.  But with something like 40,000 men here, there’ll have to be some other jobs open.  No one knows the actual story. 

We were in New Orleans for about 6 hours yesterday.  It looked far different from what I can remember of the other time we were there – dirty and poorly kept.  We didn’t even bother to go to the French section.  It takes 2 ½ hrs. to get here from New Orleans.... 

...The Gulf Coast down here is full of resort hotels - so if we ever get a leave we may enjoy ourselves.  Biloxi isn't too much of a town.  But the camp looks fairly nice and plenty crowded - and if the heat dies down things will be fine.  This has a foxhole beat by far!  Compared to the infantry, this basic is duck soup.

Boy, did I feel connected to my dad all these years later.  So, of course, we needed to make a stop.

We'd seen a sign for a Visitor Center so thinking it would be like a typical visitor center when you want to find maps or other interesting information about the area, we stopped.  

Not being familiar with military procedures, I didn't realize this would be the place for people to stop so that they could visit the base with, of course, certain restrictions.  Unfortunately, we did not qualify but went inside anyway.

The soldier must have thought I was crazy when I stepped up to the desk, exclaimed that my dad was here in 1945, and asked if they had any sort of records.  Uh, no.  But thanks for visiting.

So off we went to get - you guessed it - LUNCH!

McElroy's Harbor House

After more than a decade of running an A&W Root Beer stand, James "Mac" McElroy and his son, Mickey, purchased a small snack bar in 1974 and their dream, McElroy's Harbor House, became a reality.  The Harbor House has grown and expanded into a Full scale restaurant and oyster bar overlooking the Guld of Mexico.  

In the early morning hours of August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina blew through the Gulf Coast, leaving devastation in the aftermath.  What was once one of the most locally known restaurants was left in ruins.  Nearly seven years later, Mary 23, 2012, the Harbor House was reopened and now sits twenty nine feet above sea level and has outside dining with a view of the Gulf of Mexico.

It was too hot to sit outside but we enjoyed the view from the air conditioned restaurant.

Outside was a nice memorial for the combat wounded.

Price of Freedom Monument

We headed back with a stop in Mobile to see the grave of Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817-September 27, 1876), an army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican-American War and Confederate general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  His most important role was as commander of the Army of Mississippi, later renamed the Army of Tennessee, from June 1862 until December 1863.

Braxton Bragg

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Ahhh, we finally saw a large memorial!

And a surprise was.....

The Confederate Rest, initially called Soldiers Rest, section of the cemetery was added on November 25, 1861 for Confederate soldiers.  The monument is surrounded by the graves of 1100 Confederate war dead.

While we weren't there long, I'm glad we had the chance to visit - especially so that I could see where my father spent his time in basic training.