2024: The Deep South

3. New Orleans and Houston

Our train from Memphis arrived at our destination near the Mississippi just a little more than an hour late, which is exceptionally good, and we rejoined our coach for a visit to an old plantation called 'Oak Alley' after the beautiful avenue of oak trees that runs from the Big House to the river. Here, as well as admiring the style of the old house, we learned quite a bit about the work and living conditions of the slaves who worked here..

Oak Alley house and plantation

We completed our journey to New Orleans by coach, on roads elevated high above the Louisiana swamps. Then, after a short while relaxing in the hotel, we set off into the French Quarter of this beautiful city and treated ourselves to a delicious meal of oysters, catfish, and prawns - which would have been rather expensive had we not had the foresight to order just one portion between the two of us (the restaurant even split it onto two plates for us)

The next morning started with a walking tour around the city. The weather was EXTREMELY HOT but we stayed in the shade and enjoyed every minute of it. The city is largely Spanish in style because the French had decided after a hundred years that Louisiana was just a useless swamp and had given it to the Spanish in 1762. All the original French buildings were made of wood and were destroyed in a disastrous fire just 25 years later - mainly because it was on a Good Friday so the local priest refused to ring the church bells to sound the alarm.

Our chosen restaurant had a superb range of whiskies to choose from	These houses are typical of New Orleans, Spanish in style (because the French ones all burned down) and with no direct access from the streets which were all wet and muddy,		'Gaspers' such as this were traditionally displayed in the pharmacists windows

After our walk we sheltered in the cool of a riverside shopping mall (MORE souvenirs!) where we were given a coffee and a beignet which was absolutely delicious and completely filled us so that we didn't want any lunch! Then, after our non-lunch, we spent the afternoon on a Mississippi paddle-steamer. This took us gently downstream to the site of the Battle of New Orleans, giving us an excellent commentary about the battle as we travelled. The advancing British were soundly repelled in this battle; basically the 1959 hit song by Lonnie Donegan tells it quite accurately:

Well we fired our guns and the British kept a-coming,

There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.

We fired once more and they began a-running

On down the Mississippi to the gulf of Mexico.

A Mississippi paddle steamer out of New Orleans	Looking out over our paddle	The view from the saloon	The site of the battle of New Orleans	A monument to those who died in the battle

I took the opportunity to ask one of the crew how they managed to manoeuvre the paddle-steamer so well - he eventually confessed that they had a bow-thruster. in addition to the normal rudder (which sits between the stern and the paddle-wheel). On the return journey the guide gave us a harrowing eye-witness account of the effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which had killed about 1400 people; he was particularly critical of the actions by the then Governor of Louisiana.

The next day we had booked ourselves an airboat tour with Gray Line Tours. Their pickup point was close to our hotel, from where a small coach took us several miles out into the bayou area. Here they had several boats waiting, and soon we were skimming across the river into the swamps. It was an amazing experience, and one that we will never forget: we saw many alligators, we saw a vulture (I failed to get a photo of it) and just a few other animals and birds. The steerer of our boat was wonderful, giving us detailed information, then stopping the boat and attracting the alligators by splashing her hand in the water beside the boat; she even tickled one under the chin when it reared up - however could she do this without losing her fingers?

Several airboats waited for us	The fan on the back is enormous	The boats can travel very fast	Heading into the swamps	An egret danced to welcome us
An alligator notices us	He swims over to look at us	Is he posing for a photo?	How can our guide do this?	I wonder if he's hungry?

Returning to New Orleans, we spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the sights, sounds, food and drinks of the city - particularly in the French Quarter around Bourbon Street. We had deliberately eaten no food at lunchtime so as to save room for another wonderful evening meal in one of their best restaurants, but even so Debbie was unable to eat all of hers. She had ordered a pork chop and it came as a huge double; we took the leftovers packed as a take-away (this is quite normal there) and then gave it to one of the many homeless people that we saw on the streets that night.

There were signs like this (for Bourbon Street) throughout the French Quarter	I just loved this sign outside a shop selling all kinds of Voodoo items	One of the very old New Orleans street-cars	Our Amtrak train from New Orleans to Houston

The next day was spent on a long train journey to Houston on the 'Sunset Limited' train which eventually goes all the way to Los Angeles. We had many stops to wait for freight trains, although most of them were thankfully quite brief, and we even had to stop and wait while a lift bridge was lowered across a river for us to cross! The train consisted of 2 normal carriages, a buffet/observation car, a luggage car, a sleeper carriage, and 2 engines; it departed every other day with maybe 100 passengers onboard, and was one of only two trains to use the station (the other was the daily 'City of New Orleans'). I wonder how it can be profitable to run the service, with a huge station at New Orleans employing many staff, as well as the train drivers and other on-board crew. The train was again very comfortable but, as we sat waiting outside Houston for an hour while yet another freight train came past us, I wondered why people would choose to travel by train anyway. The journey takes unpredictably between 9 and 12 hours to complete the trip between stations (which are some way out of town) but it takes only 5 or 6 hours to travel door-to-door by car. All the same, the trip was very enjoyable as we relaxed and watched the scenery go by.

The hotel's restaurant was very poor - it basically consisted of a small menu of food available at the bar, and our party alone caused about an hour's queue - so we went out in search of a restaurant. This was not as easy as it sounds because basically everywhere shuts at 9pm, but a restaurant close to the hotel said that even though it was now 9.02pm they could serve us drinks and an appetizer, As their appetizers were as big as a normal meal for us, we were happy to take up their offer.

The next day was spent at NASA's Houston Space Centre. Here we saw rockets and the Space Shuttle, and admired exhibits about the early space flights, the Moon landings, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and future thoughts of exploration of the Moon and Mars. finally the highlight of the trip was a visit to the original Mission Control Centre which has been re-created exactly as it was for the Apollo 11 Moon landing - right down to the smallest details of coffee cups, paperwork, and cigarette ends. We sat on the original visitors' chairs and watched while they performed a re-run of the actual landing.

Inside a long hangar there is a complete Saturn 5 rocket (measuring over 363 feet from nose to tail)			A Space Shuttle sits on top of a 747 which was used to launch it
The control panel of the Space Shuttle	Reconstruction of the exercise area in the International Space Station	Mission Control has been re-created exactly as it was at the time of the first Moon landing

Sadly the next day it was time to finish this wonderful tour and fly back home. I would like to thank our tour guide, Anne, for all her hard work in ensuring that everything went smoothly to give us such an interesting and enjoyable holiday. It was a fortnight packed with activities, sights, sounds, and tastes - all of which we will remember for a very long time.

Ooh look, an alligator!

All pictures on this site are © Allan Jones unless otherwise stated.