Our tour guide, Roland, took us all over the New Orleans area, by bus. We have no idea whether we were going north, south, east or west. Since the Mississippi curves so much we could be on the west side and east side of the river at the same time!
If we wanted to hire a buggy we could also take a tour of the town but wouldn't see as much as we did by bus. Sometimes, though, less is more! It looks like it would have been fun.
This is Jackson Square in the French Quarter. Andrew Jackson was a hero of the War of 1812 and later our 7th president! Gary and I had a chance to tour his home, The Hermitage, near Nashville, TN a few years ago.
New Orleans still has some tenement buildings for the poor. These are some of the older ones but now they are building one and two family homes and rent is on a sliding scale. They found that the mixture of income levels actually helped keep down the crime.
Lots of pictures were taken along our tour but I thought this was a good picture showing the colorful homes from the creole influence.
We stopped at the St. Louis Cemetery #3 and walked through a small portion of it while we were being told about the above ground burials in New Orleans. Because new Orleans is below sea level there are several adjustments that need to be made and these crypts are one of them.
Families will buy one site and it can be used for generations by the family. For those of us who have never heard of this type of burial it seems rather crude, but it was necessary in this area. If you want more information about it you will have to ask me or Gary.
Thanks for the history lesson, do you take your laptop and write while the host is telling you about the history? I can never remember everything when I go on tours. Good pictures, you are doing a great job.
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