National WWII Museum, New Orleans - June 13, 2018

 As I mentioned in a previous post, we spent Monday afternoon touring the WWII Museum and we returned today for a couple of hours to finish up.

 If you would like to see the post I made about my visit here in January, 2017, you can click HERE

We actually managed to park in the same parking lot I found back in January, but this time I had Jack to help with squeezing into the spot.

Guess people do not like this spot with a heavy metal railing and steep drop-off on the side!

We like it because no one can park behind us as it is the turn at the end of the row and we can just back straight up.

TripAdvisor has rated this museum as the number two museum in the country and is a MUST SEE for anyone that has any interest at all in World War II.

The exhibits begin with background on Nazi Germany and the Japan Empire conquering neighbors and the USA's reluctance to get involved.

Troop Numbers at the beginning of the War

It progresses to show how the U.S. began ramping up war preparations to provide Britain with the armaments it needed to continue to fight Germany as the only democracy left in Europe - "Arsenal of Democracy".

Roosevelt started out asking for unheard-of number of airplanes to built at 50,000.  Eventually, the homefront (mostly women) produced 100,000 airplanes in one year!

Of course, we entered the war after being attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor and subsequently, Italy and Germany declared war on us.  The exhibits about the Pacific front and the European front are huge and cover the main battles using extensive photos and video.

They also cover the myriad ways that the war was fought at home, including a special exhibit about Bob Hope and his courageous efforts to bring laughter to the troops.

Jack has always admired Bob Hope because he advocated a daily nap - and he lived to be 100!

Bob Hope got some unusual fan mail.  One of his first shows overseas was to an audience where 45% were subsequently killed in fighting.

Many Hollywood stars toured for the troops or did extensive war bond programs

Homes that had a family member in the service hung these flags.  Jack still has the one his mother hung in the window for his father.

They also covered the racial and gender prejudice that was legal and rampant in the armed services as well as the the Japanese camps.

While keeping families in these camps, 33,000 Japanese Americans fought in the war.

Jack and I saw these concrete walls and bunkers when we visited Utah Beach in Normandy.

 We left New Orleans after lunch, heading north across 24 mile Lake Ponchartrain - the longest bridge over water in the world.  Got a nice site on the Tchefuncte River for the night.

The Superdome that became a huge refugee camp for the Hurricane Katrina survivors.

The 24-Mile Causeway over Lake Ponchartrain

New Orleans - June 11-13, 2018

We are here in the Big Easy....Nola....New Orleans, Louisiana

Monday, June 11:   We left our little campground on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, heading west on Interstate 10 for the short 1 1/2 hour drive to New Orleans.  We headed directly downtown and although our RV is a little big for the narrow streets, we had no problems.  I even found the lot where I had parked when I visited by myself in February of 2017.  I wanted to Jack to visit the National WW II Museum (part of the Smithsonian).  We toured for about 2 1/2 hours, but we are going back on Wednesday to finish up and will post photos then. 

Lake Ponchartrain campground

We drove 6 miles to our campground on the northern city limits.  On our way in from the main highway, it was through a blighted industrial area and we silently said Uh-Oh.  We arrived at the entrance, and once inside, it turned out be a lovely campground with wide sites and attractive landscaping.  It has everything we need plus a pool and hot tub - perfect for touring New Orleans over a few days.

Property also has a marina with access to Lake Ponchartrain

Tuesday, June 12:  We took the campground's shuttle to the famous French Quarter, home of Bourbon Street, where we took a carriage ride around the area to learn the history and architecture. 

Jackson Square, the heart of the French Quarter with St. Louis Cathedral

Below are street scenes of the French Quarter with ornate window decorations, iron grillwork balconies, shotgun houses (one room wide with no hallway) and shutters everywhere to keep out the heat.  Most architecture is Spanish in the French Quarter because the earlier French structures were mostly destroyed in fires in the 1700's.

This brick and wood post construction was outlawed because of fire.

Laffitte's Blacksmith is one of earliest buildings and has mostly been a bar - never has been a Blacksmith, ????

Note the yellow corn cobs in the fence.  Story was the wife was from Iowa and missed the cornfields, so her husband had this fence designed for her.

After our carriage ride, we stopped at the famous Cafe du Monde for chicory coffee and beignets (fried dough coated in powdered sugar).

 

On our way to the French Market (very much like our market in Charleston), we ran across the National Park Service's New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.  Hmm, we wandered in and a jazz pianist and singer gave a short but totally impressive concert - voice like Louis Armstrong and played stride piano so relaxed, he made it look easy (stride is exceptionally difficult to play).

We toured the market and bought nothing as mostly non-local tourist stuff.  The heat and humidity forced us to call Uber to get a ride back to the campground rather than wait another couple of hours for the campground shuttle.  

New Orleans is all about the food and jazz and nightlife.  We had done the food (visiting two of Emeril's signature restaurants) and nightlife scene many years ago and enjoyed it, but we will pass this time through.  You know you are getting old when the nightlife no longer appeals...

Dark clouds were gathering when we got back to the RV and a number of thunderstorms rumbled through.  Tomorrow we will return to finish our tour of the National WW II Museum.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017: New Orleands (WW II Museum) and MS Gulf Coast

Spoke with Jack last night and said I may skip the National WW II Museum (a branch of the Smithsonian) because the museum is is downtown New Orleans and I was really tentative about finding parking for the RV, even though it is relatively small.  But this morning, I checked google earth and it does look like there are some surface lots, so at least I have a chance - obviously, parking garages do not work when you are 11' high.

So, decided to drive the 8 miles to downtown and see if I could find something.  Hit some traffic, but not too bad and arrived about 8:40 at the lot I had scoped out.  Unattended lot with pay stations, so I drove around and spotted a corner parking spot that backed up into the traffic flow around the previous row. Shoot, I might fit in there and even with me extending past the end of the space, people could still fit around me!  Wo-hoo!  Next problem was getting close enough to the nasty railing (and dropoff) on my right to fit into one space.  Damn, I'm good.  So, parking all day for $9 (early bird) and I get to see this highly acclaimed museum spread over three massive buildings.

I started the tour by boarding the "train," off to my designated military embarkation.  While aboard, I learned a bit about the museum and adopted the identity of a World War hero.  I had his "dogtag" and anywhere in the museum, I could log in and find out where he was and what he was doing. The lobby had a Higgins landing craft (the museum was located here as Higgins was born here and designed the D-Day landing craft), Sherman tank, and B-17, along with other bomber and fighter aircraft.

 First up was the Tom Hanks narrated 4D film, Beyond All Boundaries, bringing to life the history of WW II, but on my way there, they had an exhibit about the Merchant Marines!  My Dad was in the Merchant Marines for six years, spanning WW II and beyond and even though the Merchant Marines experienced higher losses than the other branches of military services by delivering troops and materiel for the war, they were not granted veteran status until 1988.

Dad worked in the engine room (considered to be the mostly deadly place to be in case of attack) and would have worn the uniform on the right.

After the movie, I experienced the last dive of the most decorated submarine, USS Tang.  Unfortunately, after the best record in the war, their own torpedo launch circled back, sinking the boat with no survivors.

The museum is a must-see.  The artifacts, recreated scenes, and movies that tell the two stories are fabulous:  The Road to Berlin and The Road to Japan that highlight the European and Asian wars we fought simultaneously.

Finished up about 1pm, admittedly I rushed a bit through the last exhibits...(if you come, plan to stop and have lunch to give yourself a much-needed break and plan on spending the whole day).

Headed east and took the scenic route along the Gulf Coast shoreline in Mississippi.

 Stopped in Gautier at a state park.  Originally, I was going to see the Sand Cranes here, but their tours are only Wednesday and Saturday mornings.  So, will have to skip the Sand Crane Reserve and tomorrow will head east and finally get back to my home time zone.