NEW ORLEANS, LA 9-5-2017 (PART I)

Captain Bobby's farewell talk

Captain Bobby's farewell toast

Bee and Jeepster high and dry in storage

Don’t ask me how we did it but we’ve managed to escape most of the rain and storms that loomed large.  I carried a rain jacket with me on some days and Rob bought another umbrella.  This brings The DeLaMare Family Umbrella Factor up to something like 20.  All of these precautionary measures notwithstanding, we used our rain gear only once on the whole river trip.  We held our breath as we watched the path Hurricane Harvey was taking and I’m sure our captain and the crew did, too, but the gods smiled and cut us a wide swath.

 

The port of New Orleans was established by the French in 1718, a year before Baton Rouge.  The chief exports were cotton and sugar, “white gold,” and made many families so rich it would make your eyes water.  The French king had a relative who was the king of Spain and gave New Orleans to him when he didn’t want it anymore.  This takes us out to 1800 when the French regained the area.  But Napoleon was fighting a couple of wars at the time and was running out of ammo.  President Jefferson knew this and he really didn’t want the French so close to the USA, anyhow.  He offered to buy New Orleans from Napoleon for $10M.  Napoleon said, “Mon Dieu!  I’ll sell you the whole crepe suzette for $15M!”  The value of the entire US Treasury at the time was $10M.  Thomas had to borrow the other $5M to close escrow.  And thus the federal debt was born.  Thomas Jefferson started it.  He had a few doubts about the legality of the deal, saying he had, “stretched the Constitution until it cracked.”  Nevertheless, with the stroke of a pen, the Louisiana Purchase was completed and the size of the USA was doubled, the cost boiling down to about three cents an acre.  This made it much easier for us to paddlewheel down the Mississippi River because we didn’t need those pesky passports.

Hotel St. Marie is located in the heart of the French Quarter where we are located for three days of exploration.  Café du Monde was our first stop:  a large outdoor patio that mostly serves different types of coffee beverages and beignets, which, all agree, are a must.  Beignets are an evil, sweet treat that are like a raised donut without the donut hole.  They are served on a small plate with a half pound of powdered sugar piled on top.  After you are done bouncing off the walls from the sugar high, you can buy a “Hop-On-Hop-Off” bus ticket to carry you around town to all of the interesting attractions.  Guides on the buses explain many of the city’s peculiarities.  Each has a different angle and story to tell.

Willie and Roberto

For a different twist on things, Rob and I decided on a buggy ride with Willie and Brown Sugar.  Brown Sugar is a mule which pulls the pretty little buggy.  Willie let me give her an apple.  She loved it!  Mules are used around the city because they can better tolerate the heat and humidity than horses.  But while Willie was pointing and explaining the features of the architecture and historic places, Brown Sugar took her usual route and turned right at a corner where Willie didn’t want to turn but it was too late. 

Have a piece of apple, Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar likes me!

Pretty old building from the 1800s

We found ourselves in the “rainbow district.”  There were a thousand guys standing around in the open-air bars, on balconies and in the streets.  A few had forgotten to wear clothing or had chosen their favorite pink lace ribbons as the ensemble du jour.  Now that marriage rights have been extended to include LGBT types, New Orleans has become a gay mecca.  The Advocate Magazine classifies New Orleans as one of 2017’s Queerest Cities in America.  A claim to fame, I suppose.  OK, Brown Sugar, outta here, Girl!

Brown Sugar leads the way!

Fats Domino's piano in the Mint Museum

Dr. John's piano

Louie Armstrong's first coronet in the Mint Museum

New Orleans got the nickname The Big Easy because musicians found it so easy to find work here.  It is also considered the birthplace of jazz.  On the second floor of the building that had in the past been the home of one of the US Mints, you can submerge yourself in the history of jazz.  Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans and claimed his birthday was July 4, 1900 (the real date is August 4, 1901).  When he was about 11, he fired his father’s gun into the air on New Year’s Eve and was immediately arrested and spent more than a year in the Colored Waif’s Home.  Here, Louis learned to play the bugle and fell in love with music.  His first coronet is on display at the museum in the mint and he later declared it was indeed his because he had made grooves in the mouthpiece.  Louis acquired the nickname, “Satchmo,” when a reporter in England mispronounced his childhood nickname, “Satchelmouth.”  He is celebrated worldwide as a peace and music ambassador and is deeply missed.  What a wonderful world….because you were in it, Satchmo.

Satchmo

The irrepressible Satchmo, Louie Armstrong