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kevin_standleeWe set no alarms this morning and I ended up sleeping in until 10 AM. I needed it. After some initial use of the in-room facilities, I suggested we try going to one of the places I like in New Orleans (Mother's) and getting food to go from them and bringing it back to the room. We're not going to eat in any restaurants here. Too many crazy people. Even though you have to have a vaccination card to enter any sit-down restaurants here, it's just too crowded and Lisa is going crazy trying to dodge drunken idiots, even during the daytime.
Mothers is only 750m from the hotel. It should not have been difficult. We placed a to-go order, and Lisa stayed outside while I waited for it. But they were pretty busy, and it did not help that when my order first came up, some server mistook it for another customer's order and they had to start over.
I did enjoy their Breakfast Special (ham, eggs, and grits), though. Lisa said the "debris" roast beef sandwich she had was good, too.
We took home COVID-19 tests this morning as well. Both were negative. Since at least one person asked: The C line on these tests means "control." When there is a line there, it means the test is valid. The T line is the "test" and you do not want a line there. If there is a line, it means that COVID is detected in your nasal swab. If it is clear like ours were, no COVID tested present.
After brunch in our room, our plan was to walk around New Orleans under slightly less crazy crowding than they have here at night. We had some hope of seeing if Cafe du Monde wasn't overwhelmed. But partway there, we got the phone call about the Train Trouble, and that took a long time to sort out. Fortunately, we were able to step out of the pedestrian traffic into a parking lot that was relatively quite for the long discussion with the Amtrak agent. But it did eat up a bunch of our day.
We walked down to the river. If I have it right, the railroad track on the left is the New Orleans Public Belt railroad, while the tracks on the right are those of the Riverfront Streetcar, which is currently out of service due to construction near the Harrah's Casino.
These gates near the railroad tracks will close the flood-control wall against the river.
The area along the river was much less crowded and maddening.
The Mississippi is a working river, and we watched a number of ships pass.
We walked down past the casino and shopping mall and found this cruise ship casting off.
We watched them maneuver away from the dock and head downriver. Checking into the ship later, we found that it was bound for Cancun, Mexico.
After the various ship spotting, we walked back down the river and found ourselves at Cafe du Monde, where there was a huge queue. Possibly if we hadn't been untangling travel plans we might have gotten in earlier in the day, but there was no way we were going to wait on this. Instead, we tried working our way back to the hotel. This was still difficult, even only shortly after dark, as there were lots of people who seemed already multiple sheets to the wind, and dodging them was extra work. So was trying the various small grocery stores (which seemed to be mostly devoted to liquor) before we were able to get enough stuff to make some small dinner in our room. While we have a refrigerator, there is no microwave, not even the one-per-floor one we had in Chicago.
We're still working out plans for tomorrow. A lot will depend on how we feel in the morning.
Mothers is only 750m from the hotel. It should not have been difficult. We placed a to-go order, and Lisa stayed outside while I waited for it. But they were pretty busy, and it did not help that when my order first came up, some server mistook it for another customer's order and they had to start over.
I did enjoy their Breakfast Special (ham, eggs, and grits), though. Lisa said the "debris" roast beef sandwich she had was good, too.
We took home COVID-19 tests this morning as well. Both were negative. Since at least one person asked: The C line on these tests means "control." When there is a line there, it means the test is valid. The T line is the "test" and you do not want a line there. If there is a line, it means that COVID is detected in your nasal swab. If it is clear like ours were, no COVID tested present.
After brunch in our room, our plan was to walk around New Orleans under slightly less crazy crowding than they have here at night. We had some hope of seeing if Cafe du Monde wasn't overwhelmed. But partway there, we got the phone call about the Train Trouble, and that took a long time to sort out. Fortunately, we were able to step out of the pedestrian traffic into a parking lot that was relatively quite for the long discussion with the Amtrak agent. But it did eat up a bunch of our day.
We walked down to the river. If I have it right, the railroad track on the left is the New Orleans Public Belt railroad, while the tracks on the right are those of the Riverfront Streetcar, which is currently out of service due to construction near the Harrah's Casino.
These gates near the railroad tracks will close the flood-control wall against the river.
The area along the river was much less crowded and maddening.
The Mississippi is a working river, and we watched a number of ships pass.
We walked down past the casino and shopping mall and found this cruise ship casting off.
We watched them maneuver away from the dock and head downriver. Checking into the ship later, we found that it was bound for Cancun, Mexico.
After the various ship spotting, we walked back down the river and found ourselves at Cafe du Monde, where there was a huge queue. Possibly if we hadn't been untangling travel plans we might have gotten in earlier in the day, but there was no way we were going to wait on this. Instead, we tried working our way back to the hotel. This was still difficult, even only shortly after dark, as there were lots of people who seemed already multiple sheets to the wind, and dodging them was extra work. So was trying the various small grocery stores (which seemed to be mostly devoted to liquor) before we were able to get enough stuff to make some small dinner in our room. While we have a refrigerator, there is no microwave, not even the one-per-floor one we had in Chicago.
We're still working out plans for tomorrow. A lot will depend on how we feel in the morning.
