Sunrise over New Orleans

The last full day was better than I expected. I “slept in” until 5:30 (as usual). We ended up watching the sunrise over the river. Our room in the Sheraton is very nice, as one would expect. But I just can’t get over this amazing window we have. It’s a floor-to-ceiling window about 4 feet wide. I can walk up to it and almost look straight down the building. Couple that with our amazing view and the perfect weather, and it’s just breathtaking. (That black mound you see at the bottom of the pic is my feet, propped up on a foot stool.)

I decided that I would head downriver, visiting the CBD and Warehouse district for the morning; then take the St. Charles streetcar to the Garden District. I started out with a NOLA breakfast which naturally included grits. I’ve eaten crawfish, collard greens, and several other new foods. But in the past, I was never able to eat grits. I asked them to put the grits on the side. My breakfast included a large bowl of grits, which I was quite surprised to find I liked immensely. I ate them all, and scraped the bowl.

B24 Liberator

Then I was off for a quick stop at the WW II museum. That’s where my plans fell apart. It’s overwhelming. If you are ever in NOLA, make sure you see this museum. It is new, modern, large, and attractive. It is filled with all kinds of WW II artifacts immaculately restored to brand-new condition. It tells a quite complete story of the war with movies, posters, “war boards”, and display cases. I know a lot about the general history of WW II, but there was enough detail that I learned quite a bit more. It has a Tom Hanks movie “Beyond All Boundaries” complete with a huge screen (larger than IMAX), snowflakes, flashing lights, buzzing seats, small screens that pop out of the stage floor, and miscellaneous hardware that comes down from the ceiling. In spite of all the gimmicks, the movie tells a cohesive story with an emotional impact. It has an interactive submarine exhibit that simulates a US sub battle. (I was the torpedo firing officer.) As usual in really great museums, I saw and overheard people who were experts discussing various weapons or items that were on display. The thing that had the largest impact on me was the personal histories. They had several stations where they had selected 4 people to offer a 2-minute personal history on an event or time in the war that was being discussed by the exhibits in the immediate area. I couldn’t resist listening to each person’s history. Here’s a cool thing. My bike tour guide told me his ex-mother-in-law was one of the people who had a history in the museum. A company in NOLA designed and manufactured the landing craft used for amphibious landing, as well as PT boats and several other small watercraft. I found her history and heard her story, along with all the others. I finally got overwhelmed in the afternoon and went back to the hotel.

Cochun Butcher Halloween Display Case

Of course I needed lunch. Just 2 blocks from the museum is a very nice restaurant called Cochun’s. Those in the know walk behind the restaurant and eat lunch at a less formal place called Cochun Butcher. This place has world-class sandwiches. I enjoyed mine immensely. (Pulled pork, swiss cheese, and grilled onions — what’s not to like?) It’s a good thing we’re going home, because looking around, I noted that everybody else’s sandwich look at least as good as mine.

Danita and I joined up for dinner. We had a Muffaletta sandwich — something that is peculiar to NOLA. Danita didn’t care for it very much. I thought it was OK, but nothing special. We decided the music scene on Tuesday is probably not a lot better than on Monday. So we got a bottle of wine. We’re spitting our attention between our magnificent view and “Iron Man”.