Tour of New Orleans

Took a trip to New Orleans today. NOLA is a gritty city with an interesting history, but it's like so many cities, it's dirty and noisy. Their City Park is a beautiful oasis in the midst of all the chaos.The park was established in 1854 and covers 1300 acres - 50% larger than Central Park. It has the largest collection of mature oak trees in the world - some over 600 years old!! Sadly, about 2000 trees were lost or damaged when Katrina hit and approximately 95% of of the park was underwater. They've done a wonderful job of bringing it back to its former glory. We could have spent the whole day here!

Now onto burial grounds. We explored some of the cemeteries of New Orleans...these tombs are absolutely incredible.
Some may find it creepy, but the cemeteries are incredible and are often a part of a city tour. They are often called "Cities of the Dead" because the crypts and tombs look like houses lined up with paths in between that look like streets. The oldest cemeteries are located in the French Quarter, dating back to the 1700's. Because the water table is so high in New Orleans, 90% of people are buried above ground.

Most of these pictures are from the Cypress Grove Cemetery on Canal Street in the mid town area of New Orleans and dates back to Civil War times. I spoke to one of the caretakers and he said that legend has it that Confederate soldiers' remains are buried in vaults within the walls surrounding the cemetery.

We also visited the Katrina Memorial, located amongst the cemeteries in mid-town, a beautiful memorial that's the final resting place of the unclaimed victims of Katrina.

Just outside the French Quarter is a sculpture called Scrap House by Sally Heller. It's a very interesting sculpture that symbolizes the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

It's located across the street from the Convention Center where many people took refuge when their homes were destroyed by the flood waters.

The French Quarter and the Garden District of New Orleans were the only areas not flooded.
And finally, no trip to Louisiana would be complete without a po-boy.  😊 Sheila had a traditional oyster po-boy...I had an alligator sausage po-boy. Both were delicious