New Orleans' best attractions

 ... that is, aside from the ubiquitous, marvelous jazz scene!
As promised in my previous post, below are the two sites that impressed us the most. Obviously, New Orleans has more to offer; but there's only so much one can do in four days.

The National WWII Museum is unabashedly didactic. Not that I blame them; they state their educational mission right on the front page of their website; it is a huge undertaking, in partnership with Arizona State University. It is anything but "merely" a museum.  

Personally, I didn't come to learn more about WW2; I came to see how that complex period is displayed. The management and the designers went to great lengths to make the concept of war and the reality of this specific war as tangible and explicit as can be, without actually scattering disfigured dead bodies around... It is aimed mainly at the younger generation, and is intended to be visited several times, by students accompanied by teachers. I hope it is accomplishing its purpose.

As it happens, I wasn't dressed for the occasion. By which I mean that I wasn't prepared for the icy air-conditioning. So I couldn't bear to spend much time there. I hurried through "battle scenes", trenches and weapons, aiming for the more open pavillion, which was also closer to my heart: the "Warbirds" display of old aircraft. Can't help it -- I'm partial to fighter planes of every sort. As I mentioned in one of my Alaska trip posts, my father worked for the Israel Air Force most of his life, and used to take me with him to "his" air-force base occasionally, where I got to see IDF aircraft up close and personal, from old Pipers and Dakotas to the French Mystere and Mirage. So I like old airplanes, and took more pics than you care to see, so I'll be brave and limit myself: 

B-17E-BO Flying Fortress "My Gal Sal"

The Sculpture Garden at NOMA

The museum has a world-class collection that contains something for everyone; whatever your preferences are in art, you're likely to find some "nice stuff", to put it mildly. The docent who took us on a short tour, for instance, chose to concentrate on the Photography category. Sorry to say I don't remember a word of what she said. After the tour, left to our own devices, we wandered, gaped and gawked until we were dizzy and needed some fresh air. 

Wise move.

Mirror Labyrinth, Jeppe Hein

Even without the statues, the garden is beautiful; as it says on the website, it "... is located within a mature existing landscape of pines, magnolias and live oaks surrounding two lagoons". 

As you can see from this map, there's no way you can do it justice in one visit. (What else is new...) 

History of the Conquest, Hank Willis Thomas

Diana, Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Whether you prefer modern, abstract art, mind-blowing original creations, Greek/Roman looking torsos, or intricately decorative works, you'll find them all here.

  Naturally, we took pictures like there's no tomorrow. Even though our mobile-phone photos aren't as good as the ones provided by the museum. Nonetheless, we were enchanted by this sculpture garden, and I'll just upload a very few favorites, in the hope of whetting your appetite.

RIACE WARRIORS, I,II,III,IV

Frink, Elisabeth

Window with Ladder, Too Late for Help; Erlich, Leandro

Overflow, Plensa, Jaume

America the Beautiful - part 2, New Orleans

... so when the Internet was buzzing with updates about Hurricane Barry threatening Louisiana, I got really worried. The horrors of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina were revived in my memory while the driver who picked us up from the New Orleans International Airport acted as tour guide (for a few extra bucks), pointing out landmarks, explaining stuff, and generally giving us an informative introduction to New Orleans and environs.

We don't actually know anyone in New Orleans; this was our first visit there: 4 nights, 3 full days plus two half-days. Just a taste. A smattering. But this one-of-a-kind city drew us in, engulfed us, fascinated us. When Barry came charging (July 13th), I immediately thought of the staff of Melrose Mansion, our home-away-from-home. So I dropped them a line, to let them know I was thinking of them and hope they were all hale and healthy. The only thing that bothered me when writing was that I didn't remember the names of our hosts! Very untypically, I hadn't written a single line in my [handwritten] travel journal during our stay. There was simply no time. For once, I was experiencing rather than recording. Sure, I took pictures with my iPhone. And I did jot down the occasional two-word note on my phone, saying to myself that that's better than nothing and will jog my memory. Ahem.
Long story short: this post will be more pics than text. Also, I'm delighted to say Melrose Mansion graciously and promptly answered my message, saying "Thank you! We are all safe!" (Keana Holmes, Reservations Supervisor.)

Entrance to our spacious room

Our bedroom

Our bedroom

Incidentally: See the neat woven rug on the floor? Well, here's a close-up of it: 

Woven rug -- coarse and unpleasant to the touch

It was the worst item in the room. Ours looked and felt brand-new, compared, say, to the one in our friend Lynne's room, which was a bit worn and therefore not as coarse. A half-decent mat or carpet are important to me, for my sun-salutations routine. This thing was unpleasant to walk barefoot on, let alone place your hands, knees, shins, or any other part of your body on it. I ended up spreading a bath-towel on it, which helped to a certain extent.

Our bathroom

Note the open umbrella in the bathroom; an indication that, though the weather was hot on the whole, it also rained, enough to require an umbrella.

We all settled in comfortably: My husband and I, and our dear friend Lynne, who flew over from Dallas, TX, to spend some time with us at the same hotel. Melrose Mansions only offers breakfast. Luckily, just across the road is Buffa's Lounge, a cozy restaurant-bar with a decent menu and a separate room for musical performances. That took care of lunch, and was an easy solution on other days as well.

Michael & Lynne crossing over to Buffa's

What else did we do? Walk around, of course, as far as The Port of New Orleans, (see below),

ate at several good-food, good-music places such as Adolfo's and Crescent City Brewhouse,

Inside Adolfo's; cozy and pleasant

611 Frenchmen Street, NOLA

Our friendly waitress, Joyce, took this pic of the three of us at the lively Brewhouse

and clapped and stomped to the upbeat music with the rest of the crowd diagonally-opposite Adolfo's, next to the Frenchmen Art & Books corner:

Possibly because I wasn't writing in my journal, I recorded some of our experiences on Facebook, complete with pics, of course. But not all my readers are on Facebook, believe it or not! 

I will quit here, and save the two most impressive locations we visited in New Orleans for the next post. I'm referring to The WWII Museum, and the Sculpture Garden of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

... and here is the post: https://nina-makes-tracks.blogspot.com/2019/08/new-orleans-best-attractions.html

Enjoy!