New Orleans

The morning was very ordinary with a breakfast of fruit & cereal bar as we started the long coach journey through Jackson to New Orleans

Lunch stop was at a Walmart with a full hour to look around. This time we got chance to look round the clothes, see the guns, bikes, fishing rods as well as check out all the different snacks and food it had to offer. I was well impressed by the $4.25 luncable uploaded box (even if I did only get one hersey kiss). I sent Bob the pictures of the lunchables and he was very very jealous, saying that if we had these in England he would be sorted for lunch every day.

Afternoon rest stop was at a visitor center and we got a free cup of lousianna special coffee which was very nice. We got to the hotel early around 4.00pm and had a relax along with a packet spicy cheetos. They were spicy and were full of food colouring as I found when I brushed my teeth later haha.

Tonight was the New Orleans Mississippi Paddleboat ride, the whole group apart from two had booked onto this so it was nice to spend time together. We were led onto Deck 2 and sat straight down for dinner. Starter was chicken & sausage gumbo with rice, it was far too rich for me, dad wasn't too keen on it either. We ordered a can of coors lite each and Dad struck up a good conversation with a guy from the coach, talking about work and retirement plans. Main course was served buffet style - chicken in sauce, seafood pasta, herb potatoes and green beans. (I passed the potatoes onto dad) The chicken was lovely and succelent in a really tasty sauce. While it was a random combo of food (to us) it was all individually nice. The side salad had a sweet pomegranate type dressing which I really enjoyed. The pudding was a white chocolate bread and butter pudding which was too weird a texture for me, but the next pudding was definitely a highlight for me. Banana fosters is delish - caramelised banana with cinnamon and vanilla ice cream, refreshing and sweet. It was a lovely evening, we walked the deck a few times taking in the sites having another beer and then settled on the top deck and watched the jazz musicians. It was a real classy and lovely night.

After a lovely feast we wanted to walk a bit of it off and check out the French quarter. The main Bourbon Street was not what I expected at all and completely destroyed the romantised version of New Orleans I had in my head. We cut the night short and decided to revisit it in the morning instead to appreciate the architecture. Dad went and had a play in the casino while I went home for the usual brew and chocolate before bed. With no alarm to set, it was a nice feeling to go to sleep knowing that there was no early morning wake up callRead more