We made it to Biloxi and amazingly stuck right to my schedule the entire day! We woke up around 6 am (after too little sleep on top of I slept awful...husband snoring right in my face ugh), and were on the road by 7:40 am. We pulled in New Orleans around 11 am, but let me back up a bit. I decided we would take the route that took us over Lake Pontchartrain (spelling is not right, I know), all 30 miles of it. REALLY neat, the girls thought it was the ocean, it was tough to explain to them it was just a lake. They had a great time looking for boats and birds. You could really see the damage though, just entire neighborhoods abandoned and so much new construction right in the midst. Even in downtown New Orleans, there is a ton of things still not fixed, but a lot is. It was very eerie driving by the Super Dome and remembering the scenes of the mess, dead people floating by, people being evacuated by helicopters, and so forth. I forgot that while the French Quarter was a cool place to go for lunch, there would be traffic. Traffic is not allowed there at night, but during the day is a flurry of activity! We found a parking garage (8 bucks for a valet parking, and all the others were upwards of 20 bucks just for park yourself!) maybe two blocks from Bourbon Street. We wandered around around a bit until we found a neat little place for lunch (La Bayou Restaurant) and the girls had shrimp and fries, Dave had a HUGE cheeseburger and I had a Cajun Sampler (red beans and rice, sausage gumbo and jambalaya...NO seafood). It took a bit of time for the food, but it was worth the wait. A funny story is that this restaurant was close to where we parked, and a big, black guy was trying to sway folks into eating there, saying Oh, you'll be back this way soon. Thing was HE WAS RIGHT! We walked down Bourbon Street a bit and started running into just the sleazy bar section so we turned back around. WOW, I was impressed the man knew what he was talking about and I told him he was RIGHT!
We then jumped back in the van and were going to try and get some pictures down on the Riverwalk downtown, next to the Mississippi River BUT we decided the girls were a little grouchy and tired and did not need to walk any more than what they had already, it was also getting HOT. So, we jumped back on the highway to head to the condo.
Again, all the Katrina damage was unreal. So many streets, parking lots, foundations, etc that just led to nowhere anymore, homes still being repaired, damaged homes still left untouched.
We checked in the condo in their office on Gulfport (condo is in Biloxi) and then switched over to the beach highway. WOW.....almost everything on the beach and for a few blocks was destroyed by Katrina. It looks NOTHING like when we were here to take our cruise a few years ago. Everything is brand new or was rebuilt. So much is not yet done. It is pretty much deserted, not the bustling area it once was. but, it is beautiful!
The condo is VERY nice! It is practically brand new and even better than what the online pictures promised! It is not on the beach exactly, but across the street. Apparently, so many of the high-rise hotels on the beaches were destroyed that they are now building condos and replacement hotels on the other side of this beachfront street. The girls room has twin beds. We have a great view of the beach and the balcony is very nice! Actually everything is!
After we checked in, we just enjoyed sitting and relaxing for a bit, though the girls got antsy. We then went to dinner and in search of a grocery store. We are not eating any meals out the remainder of this trip! Before we settled back in here for the night, we went to the beach. We'd not yet been. The girls were afraid at first, then were running through the water! There were hundreds of little fish that would jump as the waves came in and they jumped back towards deeper water (or away from the about 10 of us people that got in their way). The girls got to play in the sand and touch the water. They are excited to go back in daylight tomorrow! The sand is VERY clean and the water warm. There is an abandoned marina just up the street that used to house some large boats as well as a casino hotel/boat. The huge pylons are there, and the foundation to the buildings, but nothing else...very strange. We will get pictures of all of this!
Tropical Storm Dolly is out in the Gulf and we could see the clouds of it once the haze form the heat lifted late this afternoon. The storm clouds reach as far as you can see in both directions! That is the closest I have been to an offshore tropical storm, kinda neat!
We then headed back here to the condo...girls each jumped in the shower for a rinse off then got a snack of goldfish and then bed. They had some trouble falling asleep...no tv and no radio in their room to help them out. They must be asleep now as I hear nothing. I am running the washer/dryer because Libbi had an accident in her car seat and got it all wet (the girls fell asleep on the ride to dinner/grocery so we drove around a lot as to let them get a little nap to be happy again).
WHEW!!!! Very long day! Tomorrow we'll go to the beach in the morning and afternoon and while it is really hot we will do some sight seeing around here. The girls are anxious to try and build a sandcastle too.
:) We did get some GREAT shots of the girls in the Gulf water this evening, even though it was dark.
Well, I need to do a few things and get some sleep. I just do not want to forget anything, hence trying to type this blog as we go.
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