[at-l] OT: New Oleans Trip
Doug Mathews
mathews at uga.edu
Wed Sep 6 19:11:24 CDT 2006
Gary,
Just missed you! I bicycled from Muscatine, IA starting on the 14h
of August and pedaled into New Orleans on Friday the 1st of
September. I'd like to know what motel you stayed in Port Gibson...I
stayed there also.
I took a tour of the damaged areas in New Orleans and the guide said
that 65% of the area was still without power and they has hauled off
300,000 vehicles. The most amazing thing to me is there are no
functioning hospitals in the area. All are going to be torn down and
rebuilt due to mold contamination issues.
Truly amazing, thats all I can say. NO is still not back to full
strength in terms of tourist yet so it was nice to be there with not
so many people, even if the weekend I was it was their annual gay weekend.
Mainframe
At 12:57 PM 9/6/2006, you wrote:
>Best viewed in Courier or any fixed width font. I did get a bit of hiking in.
>
>- Greenbriar
>
>
>
>
>This is a transcription of the trip notebook for my 2006 New Orleans
>trip. It was written in a blue 3 x 5" spiral ring notebook, and was updated
>daily. There are 15 pages including the cover.
>
> Text Notes
>|--------------------------------------| -----
>| |
>| The Big Easy |
>| 2006 |
>| |
>| VA - WVA - MD - WVA - KY - TN |
>| - MS - LA - MS - AL - GA |
>| - TN - VA: 9 States! |
>| |
>| |
>| |
>| |
>| |
>| |
>| |
>| |
>| |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (2) |
>| WED 23 Aug | Off at 10:30, 8918, |
>| shopping, bank, gas, etc. Not Re- |
>| ally off till 11:30. Out Rte |
>| 50, slightly lost after Winc- |
>| hester. Over Mt Storm, into | *** WV
>| Maryland panhandle, into | *** MD
>| WV plateau area. Very slow | *** WV
>| going. Past Clarksburg, Fin- |
>| ally gave up & got on free- |
>| way for last 40 miles. Sutton | Nice WV CG's
>| Lake CG, Corps of Engineers. |
>| Got my first Senior coffee |
>| today! Late getting in, |
>| set up camp, lamb for dinn- |
>| er but probs getting char- |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (3) |
>| coal to light. M:9231. Saw |
>| fawn in campground! Flat by |
>| river bed by 10:30 - stars |
>| ridges didn't block. |
>| THU 24 AUG | Up 6:30, off 7:30. |
>| Bacon & eggs breakfast, hot |
>| water in bathhouse! Across |
>| Alegheny plateau, hills, hill, | WV is hopeless for roads :(
>| hills, 0-12" soil then solid |
>| rock, but pretty! Got to New | Good coal mining and life exhibits.
>| River Gorge at 9:00. Down |
>| to overlook of bridge, gorge & |
>| rapids, up 177 stairs. Good |
>| exhibits. Went on loop drive |
>| to bottom of gorge. Long, |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (4) |
>| drive in stream valleys of | At 40 mph unless you got behind a
>| plateau through S VW. Got | truck
>| to Kentucky, dramatically | *** KY
>| better roads. Camped at |
>| closed dinner theater 10 miles | Closed for season, not for camping
>| from Perry ville. Din, bed |
>| after calling home. |
>| FRI 25 AUG | Up at 6:30 - sun is |
>| at edge of time zone. B&E Bkfst. |
>| Shower in actor's dressing ar- |
>| ea. Off through beautiful blue- |
>| grass to Perryville Battlefie- | Well done battlefield!
>| ld. Walked 1.3 m loop trail, read |
>| signs. Drove windy back roads |
>| to Loretta to tour Maker's |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (5) |
>| Mark distillery - better than I |
>| thought, beautiful setting. Then | But 1 distillery is all you need to
>| to & on freeway to Tenn to | tour. And no tastings :(
>| E of Nashville to camping - HB | *** TN
>| for din. Very hot, cows are |
>| swimming in ponds :( Changed | Poor cows!
>| to Central time. Camped in Cedars |
>| of Lebanon, almost 1 year exact- |
>| ly since w Karen. Read, Possum, hot | Hungry possum
>| & humid night. |
>| SAT 26 Aug | Up at 6:30 in new time |
>| zone. Brkfst, did dishes w new dw |
>| det, shower & rinsed laundry. Rigged |
>| clothes line in car. Coffee in Mur- |
>| freesboro. Lubed car in slow |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (6) |
>| Jiffy Lube. Short drive to |
>| Stones River NB. Toured | We call it B of Murfreesboro
>| climax of Southern repulse. |
>| Little attention paid to |
>| initial rout of North. Walk- |
>| ed ford after good film. |
>| Saw redoubt & walls of Fort- |
>| tress Rosecrans - hot! |
>| Drove towards Franklin, then | Skipping parts of Natchez Trace
>| across Tenn & Natchez Trace | already seen
>| to above Shiloh, the cross- |
>| ed into Ala. Cotton Country. | *** MS
>| Toured Brices Crossroads |
>| VC & battlefield. Drove |
>| to Tupelo, got onto Natch- |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (7) |
>| ez Trace. Climbed Indian |
>| mounds, walked nature |
>| trail. Camped at Davis Lake. |
>| HB for din - VERY humid. No |
>| phone :( Bed after read. Saw |
>| wild turkey flock! Bugs here |
>| are incredibly bad - could not |
>| read outside of tent. |
>| SUN 27 Aug | Up 5:45, sunrise |
>| over lake. B & eggs, strike camp. |
>| Shower great but like sauna - |
>| sweating on way back to car. | Very humid :(
>| Drove back to Tupelo, saw bat- |
>| tleground, Elvis's house, coffee | Poor Elvis!
>| & called home. South on Park- |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (8) |
>| way to mounds exhibit, good views |
>| from Little Mt in Busby CG. |
>| Tupelo & cypress nature walk, | I now can tell a Tupelo
>from a cypress
>| swamps w purported aligators, |
>| craft displays, waterfalls, and |
>| in late afternoon, rain. From |
>| Port Gibson drove to Vicksburg |
>| for Chinese buffet, seeing Miss- |
>| issippi forts on bluffs. Drove |
>| to Grand Gulf only to find it |
>| closed - settled for a motel |
>| in Port Gibson, late. I am in |
>| spanish moss country now, with |
>| bayous - tropical. Read late. |
>| MON 28 AUG | Up at 6:45, pack. |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (9) |
>| McD's Brkfst in Vicksburg. Into |
>| battlefield, drove & walked | Great trenches - like Petersburg!
>| trenches for hours - huge com- |
>| plex. Great USS Cairo exhibit |
>| - ship raised from river bed. |
>| Finally drove into LA to see |
>| Grant's Canal & pick up maps. |
>| Part 2 of day was finishing |
>| Natchez Trace. Many nature |
>| walks, one huge Indian mound. |
>| lastly, saw 2 antebellum ma- |
>| nsions in Natchez, Rosalie & | Good houses, poor tours
>| Stanton Hall - also drove down |
>| to Natchez Under to see river |
>| boat casinos. Drove |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (10) |
>| south into LA to St Francis- | *** LA
>| ville & tented at RV camp- |
>| ground. Called home, went |
>| swimming in pool, ate hot | Ahhhh...
>| dogs (& buns & beans & pickles & |
>| tomato & onion & chips & mac |
>| salad, etc). Watched ducks |
>| in pond & stars overhead. |
>| More tenters showed up late. |
>| Didn't keep me up. |
>| TU 29 AUG | Up at 6:30. Cooked |
>| brkfst, off to Baton Rouge. |
>| Found parking garage near |
>| waterfront, walked levee |
>| until museum opened at |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (11) |
>| 9:00. Good ship models of all |
>| periods in museum, then USS |
>| Kidd - well preserved Dest- |
>| royer of WWII era - even |
>| had swing Big Band music |
>| piped in. Also good P-38. Next |
>| drove to N.O. using combo |
>| of freeway, federal & river |
>| roads - levees blocked river |
>| views. Got to N.O., found Old |
>| Quarter, explored by car, |
>| parked, walked Jackson Sq, |
>| Moonwalk, Chartres & wicked |
>| Bourbon Streets. Good arch- |
>| tecture but crumbling, |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (12) |
>| like Venice. Had beignets |
>| & cafe au lait at Cafe La |
>| Monde - all in upper 90's |
>| heat. Next drove to Kat- |
>| rina'd sections to see ex- |
>| tensive damage - was sho- |
>| cked to drive up a hill to | Who would buy a lot that was under-
>| cross canal at top! Through | water? Except the Dutch, I mean
>| rush hour traffic to CG on- |
>| ly to find closed by F.E.M.A. |
>| contractors - grrr! Drove south | After one year, yet!
>| on river delta, crossed on |
>| free ferry watching ocean |
>| going ships & tugs w barges |
>| on river. Could not find a mo- |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (13) |
>| tel, so back through N.O. to |
>| motel at Boutte. Bed late af- |
>| ter dressed po-boy at diner. |
>| WED 30 AUG | Up at 6:30, great |
>| shower. Rained at night. Off |
>| into Cajun Country. Sugar ca- |
>| ne & roadside hemp. Bayou Teche |
>| is everyone's back yard! Roads | Bayou WAS the road. For your boat
>| added as an afterthought. Street |
>| signs in French. Toured Avery |
>| Island - salt dome - saw Tobasco |
>| factory, sampled jalapeno ice |
>| cream. Lunch in Lafayette - |
>| half fried crawfish, & half |
>| crawfish etoufee - ouu, wee! |
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (14) |
>| Started back East. Drove |
>| to Mobile, missed Mobile Bay | *** AL
>| ferry, ended up in motel in |
>| Theodore. Cuban SW for din. |
>| Showers, so perhaps motel |
>| for the best. |
>| THU 31 AUG | Up late, drove to |
>| ferry, just missed, but |
>| beatiful drive to Gulf! |
>| Gave up, back to Mobile, thr- |
>| ough swamps & forrests to |
>| Montgomery, to Birmingham & |
>| mountains, through corner of |
>| Georgia to traffic in scenic | *** GA
>| Chattanooga, to Knoxville, | *** TN
>|--------------------------------------|
>| (15) |
>| to motel in Johnson City. 700+ | Miss Janet's was closed :(
>| miles! |
>| FRO 1 SEP | Slept late till |
>| 7:00. Drove all day through |
>| Hurricane Ernesto, up Vall- | *** VA
>| ery listening to Beatles & |
>| NPR. Home at 3:00. |
>|--------------------------------------|
>
>
>Highlights
>----------
>New River Gorge
>Perryville Battlefield
>Makers Mark Distillery
>Stones River NB (Murfreesborough)
>Tupelo NBP
>Elvis's Boyhood Home
>Natchez Trace:
> Indian Mounds
> Tupelo & Cypress Swamp
> Craft center
> Waterfall
>Vicksburg NB
>Natchez Rosalie & Stanton Hall Houses
>Baton Rouge: USS Kidd and Model Ship Museum
>New Orleans:
> French Quarter
> Katrina damage
>Mississippi Ferry
>Cajun Country
>Avery Island: Tobasco Tour
>Mobile Gulf Islands
>
>Mileage
>-------
> 8918 Start Fairfax, VA
> 313 9231 Wed 23 Aug WV
> 415 9646 Thu 24 Aug KY
> 233 9879 Fri 25 Aug
> 288 10167 Sat 26 Aug
> 388 10555 Sun 27 Aug
> 223 10778 Mon 28 Aug
> 269 11047 Tue 29 Aug
> 466 11513 Wed 30 Aug
> 710 12223 Thu 31 Aug
> 389 12612 Fri 1 Sep
>----
>3694
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