Merry Christmas from somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico!

We left New Orleans last night in frigid (52 degree) weather and overcast skies to a beautiful, sunny Christmas morning. I hope this holiday finds everyone in good health and good spirits.




As I may have said, we spent a few days in New Orleans before we boarded the ship yesterday. Lots of great things to see in New Orleans….I put Pat through a forced march the last couple of days as we tried to, at least, get a sampling of the Crescent City.


Bourbon St..

 First stop was the zoo at Audubon Park. Near Tulane University, the zoo sits in a beautiful setting with marshes, live oaks (some dating back before the American Revolution) palm and bamboo trees. Clearly, the curators have tried to build enclosures that fit the environment and setting. As we were walking through the zoo, Pat and I realized that we have visited zoos on 3 continents. New Orleans has one of the best. I especially liked the Swampland exhibit where they have recreated a bayou complete with native black bears, alligators, flat boats and floating houses. The Savannah and Asian exhibits were terrific as well. Reading some of the signs, the zoo keepers regularly take the elephants out of their enclosure for walks around the grounds. Elephants are very intelligent and can become a little stir crazy when cooped up in one small area for too long.


Pat MUST see the animals!



Not having a great Day



Way too much Christmas Dinner!

We also visited the World War II museum on Magazine Street (highly recommended by my Dad and Sally) and it did not disappoint. Apparently, New Orleans played a significant part in D-Day because the landing craft (may have seen them in “Saving Private Ryan”) that were used during the campaign were designed and built in New Orleans by a small boat manufacturer named Andrew Jackson Higgins. These craft were closely modeled after the shallow draft bayou boats that local fisherman still use. Higgins was clearly a skilled boat builder. Apparently, the army wanted a design that could carry and off-load a tank on shore yet would be small enough to fit through the hatch on the warships that they were lowered from. Higgins designed, built and put in the water a prototype in just 61 hours!! Almost un-heard of.

Enough trivia…..


The food in New Orleans is great….NOLA brags about this. I saw a sign at the visitor’s bureau encouraging people to visit New Orleans….you save a 10 hour flight and (direct quote) the food is “better than German, Irish and English Food combined!” I would agree. We had a great meal at the Red Fish Grille on Bourbon St. the first night. We also had Char-Grilled oysters at Drago’s that were to die for.


Pat and I are cruising on Carnival for the second time. Our first was the much longer Hawaii trip we took earlier this year. We were so impressed with Carnival that we decided to give it a try. We have never taken a holiday cruise before….let me tell you, it’s different. You haven’t lived until you see a bunch of people with “whose your Santa” t-shirts on giving rebel yells at the top of their lungs during the safety briefing. There are more tattoos and piercings than you can see at a Sturgis Rally. Wonder how everyone got through the metal detector during boarding?


Anyway….enough for today. Enjoy eggnog, time with family, assembling toys etc. Next stop, Belize City!