Over and Back Again
First, the breaking news in New Orleans today was that a tanker ship crashed into and capsized a riverboat. Thankfully, all on board have been accounted for. It just so happens that the crash occurred as we were going over the bridge it happened under. However, we didn't know anything about the accident until people started texting us to see if we were all right. Which we were. We did our cruising yesterday. I'm wishing all of the injured a speedy recovery.
Now, onto our activities of today. Our major goal of the day was to visit the West Bank where we used to live. The West Bank is on the other side of the river and Ward planned a route across two different bridges. (Bear with me as I include a few pictures that aren't interesting to anyone but Ward and me.)
 |
| Before we got started, we had to have coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde. People love these messy donuts, and they are considered a must do during a visit. I could take them or leave them, but Ward is a big fan. |
 |
| The first bridge we crossed was the Huey Long Bridge which took us from Elmwood to Bridge City. |
 |
We took a detour from our planned route when we found this park.
It was a pleasant place where we saw only one other person. |
 |
| Then we spent a while driving up and down Whitney Avenue looking for our first apartment. Can you believe that they changed the color of the buildings from 40 years ago? I think it was just to confuse us. |
 |
| Next, we found our first house where we lived for 5 years after the apartment. It looks like it's had some upgrades since we lived there. |
 |
| But our oak tree-lined street looked the same. |
 |
| Our house was one away from the Mississippi River levee. We had a nice walk along the top as we reminisced about the good old days. |
 |
| And watched boat traffic on the river. |
 |
| After driving around a bit more, it was back across the river to the East Bank. Little did we know that a disaster was happening under us. |
 |
| We made our way to Mid City for a late lunch at Cafe Reconcile. Cafe Reconcile is a job training program for at risk youth. It has won many awards and is a popular lunchtime spot. |
 |
| The walls were lined with student portraits that we found quite inspirational. |
 |
| However the program wouldn't work if they didn't serve good food. Which they do. Ward had blackened catfish with crawfish topping. He said it was excellent. I had less adventuresome deviled eggs topped with bacon. They were just the way I like them. |
 |
After lunch, we made our way to the Garden District to take a walking tour of historic houses.
This is Buckner Mansion which was built in 1856. The exterior was featured in the movie American Horror Story (which I've never seen.) |
 |
| And while some of the houses had historical markers, they were all private mansions we were gawking at. However, they must be used to it because the area is listed in tour books. |
 |
| They all had some kind of fence surrounding their property. This corn and morning glory fence was quite ornate. |
 |
This is John Goodman's house. They appeared to be getting ready for a party. We heard a band warming up and all kinds of people rushing around getting things in place. We also passed by Sandra Bullock's house but didn't know it at the time. She could easily walk to John's party. :)
<Ward here - I had to fact check this. John Goodman sold this property in September 2025 for $4 million. He still lives somewhere in the city.> |
We made it back to our Vrbo where we had dinner. Our can of soup was not as interesting as our lunch, but it worked.
Fishes and bugs are on the agenda for tomorrow.
Until next time...
