Day 3 began dark and early with my alarm going off at 4:45am. Yes, 4:45am. The sun wasn’t even up yet. But I had a good reason. Ever since I started watching the NBC’s Today Show regularly, I’ve wanted to go to the show and be a part of the crowd in Rockerfeller Plaza. So with sign in hand, I headed out to the plaza.

Getting there took a bit longer then I expected. I knew the subway system would be running on a different schedule at that early hour, but construction caused additional changes like having a downtown train run on the uptown tracks. It was a bit confusing at first, but I eventually got to where I needed to go.

As I walked around the corner to the plaza, I didn’t see anyone at first. Just the portable railings and camera equipment that was being set up for the show. But then I spotted a small group of people standing around with signs. Ah-ha, the start of the line. So I walked over and joined them as the fifth person in line just after 5:30am. A gentleman let everyone know that there was free coffee and bagels available from his co-workers in a food truck parked next to the line. Apparently all the local morning shows pay for catering for all the fans that showed up.

As we waited, the gentleman talked to the crowd, asking questions like where everyone was from (most folks that show up are tourists) and offering up all kinds of information about New York. One thing he shared about was how 9/11 changed street security. For example, trash cans are now banned from public streets. Street vendors are not allowed to sell two hot drinks to the same customer because they could be used as a weapon. Plus, the police enforce all these regulations via street cams that the man himself saw. Truly absurd.

The line really began to build up around 6am. Lenny, a regular who always appears on the Today Show, showed up at 6:20am, skipped the line and walked to his spot by the rails. The rest of the crowd was allowed to join him at 6:45am, 15 minutes before the show started.

Meredith greets the crowd.

 

Unfortunately that morning most of the anchors were out of town. Matt and Al were in Dallas to cover the opening of the new stadium while Ann was in Iraq. So that left Meredith to hold down the fort at Studio 1A. Since she was in the studio most of the time and the show was using a lot of wide shots from Dallas, the crowd wasn’t shown much that morning. But even without a camera to wave at, it was a lot of fun to hang out and talk with people and just take in the happy energy of the crowd.

My getting up early finally paid off after 8am when Meredith came out to do some standups. At first, she stood exactly in front of me so I couldn’t be seen. But then on a different shot she moved over slightly and I appeared briefly for a few seconds. During the commercial breaks, Meredith took the time to shake hands, sign autographs and pose for pictures with people in the crowd.

Around 9am, the show pretty much stayed inside of the studio for the rest of the morning so the crowd slowly dwindle. I wandered around Rockerfeller and explored the various shops in the area while waiting for my mom to meet me there since she valued sleep more then I did.

The Empire State Building.

Once we met up, we went to the Top of the Rock, which is an observation deck located at the top of the Rockerfeller Center. It’s the second-highest deck in the city behind the Empire State Building. But unlike the Empire State Building, there’s no long lines at the Rock to wait in and you can see the Empire State Building from the top. The views up there are of course spectacular. I didn’t appreciate just how big New York City is until I saw it from up there.

Besides the view, the Top of the Rock had a few exhibits like a theater showing short videos about the history of NBC, the Rockettes and how the building came to be. There was also a rather fun “light room” featuring colored lights that would follow people around the room.

After the Rock, we headed over to the pier since we had a ticket for a 75-min Circle Line Cruises boat tour that went around the Statue of Liberty. It was a freebie included when I had booked my flights through Expedia. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at the tickets closely enough. Turns out they were a voucher that had to be redeemed at an office that was nowhere near the pier. Oops. Since there were only two tours available that day, we decided that we would take the Staten Island ferry later in the day instead. So we headed over to the Carnegie Deli for lunch.

The deli is famous for its monsterous-sized sandwiches and cheesecakes and for visits by various celebrities. I had a pastrami sandwich for lunch- and had enough left over for dinner that night. After eating all that we could, we headed back to the hotel to store the leftovers and then went to the Staten Island Ferry.

The ferry runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The frequency that it runs at varies from 20 minutes to one hour depending on the time of day, and the trip takes about a half-hour from one port to the other. The ferry has seating for several hundred people- most of it in the inside. But it also has some nice observation decks running along the outside that worked well for statue-spotting. I was able to get some nice pictures of the statue and the city skyline. Considering the price (free!) and not having to deal with the hassles of security screening, this was definitely the way to go to get a view of the statue. The one downside of the ferry is that it’s quite windy up on the top deck, but that’s probably why the deck is labeled as the “hurricane deck”.

The Statue of Liberty.

It would have been nice to get closer and have a chat with Lady Liberty. But from what I’ve heard from others, getting up close and personal with the statue also involves getting up close and personal with lots of security screening agents in a process that’s even worse then what the TSA has come up with for airports. If I did go through that hassle, I would want to be able to go all the way up to the crown that reopened earlier this year. Tickets for the crown though were sold out on every date two months ahead of time.

After a leisurely hour-long ride on the ferry, we walked around the Battery Park area where the ferry leaves from. The area has a lot of street performers and artists hawking their wares along with a park area and an old fort.

Ground Zero is just a few blocks north of Battery Park. The area is mostly one large construction site. There really isn’t much to see- and that’s the point. The area for now is much more about what isn’t there then what is. Due to the construction fence surrounding the site, it’s hard to see anything beyond tall construction equipment.

Memorials are scattered around the area. The fire station that was the first to respond has plaques honoring each firefighter lost from the station that day. Around the corner, people placed flowers and other mementos to honor fallen police officers. A temporary museum is set up across the street, but it was closed at the time I was there.

Ground Zero.

I wish I had seen the area before 9/11. Seeing the towers would have been impressive and given me some perspective about how much the city has changed as the result of the attacks. At least the rebuilding process has started, even if it’s going very slowly.

After visiting Ground Zero, my mom and I headed back to the hotel to eat our deli leftovers for dinner. After such an early start to the day, I was ready to call it a night. We had one more full day in New York ahead of us.

 

KLM is running a promotion right now where you can get two free luggage tags featuring a picture of your choice through their website. All you have to do is upload a photo or choose one of theirs and provide some personal information. The process also get you entered into a contest for a free trip. There isn’t a deadline posted for this, so I’m guessing they will offer these tags until supplies run out. So if you want some, don’t wait.

I just ordered mine using a photo from my recent Japan trip and I’m looking forward to getting them in three weeks. Even if you already have luggage tags, these could serve as a nice gift for a traveller in your life.

Go here to order your tags.

If you don’t have any plans on Halloween and want to get out of town, JetBlue is holding a major Halloween sale right now. After noon, all remaining seats are just $31. But hurry, the sale is for today only. More info can be found at their website.

If I didn’t already have plans for Halloween, I might have jumped on this for no other reason then to try them out as I haven’t been on JetBlue before.

Thanks to Lucky for pointing this nice deal out.

For day 2 of the trip, my mom and I wanted to make a visit to a place most tourists don’t go to- the Girl Scouts of the

A display at the entrance to the Girl Scout office.

USA headquarters. We’re both Girl Scouts and have been for several years. My mom knew a couple of people there who could show us around. Besides offices, the headquarters had a museum detailing the history of Girl Scouting from its beginnings in Savannah, Georgia to the present day. Staff members showed us around other parts of the headquarters, including one international area that had memorabilia sent in from Girl Scouts around the world.

After taking some more photos and doing some shopping at the Girl Scout store for folks back home, we went to the Empire State Building. We didn’t go up as we were planning on going up to the Top of the Rock later that week. But checking out the art deco designs in the lobby was worth the stop since we were by the building anyway. After that, we went to Macy’s.

Macy's wooden escalators.

I wanted to go there just to see Herald Square and see if there was anything that made this store different from any other Macy’s store. My first impression of the place is that it’s huge! It has 8 floors, complete with the original wooden escalators on the upper levels. Besides the wide assortment of clothes, the store had several restaurants and sections devoted to holiday ornaments and other special items. But other then the wooden escalators and the size, the store is pretty much like any other Macy’s that I’ve seen.

So after Macy’s, it was time to take the subway over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or as it’s more commonly known- the Met. I’m not much of an art aficionado, but with the sheer amount of artwork that they have, it was not hard to find something I would enjoy looking at. The Met has five floors of artwork, artifacts and other bits of history spanning from the earliest records of human civilisation to the current day.

Egyptian Courtyard in the Met

The courtyards were the most impressive part of the museum. One was designed like the entrance to an Egyptian Pyramid. Another looked like a French courtyard during the Renaissance. A third was located on the roof and had a large, banyan-tree-like metal sculpture that felt otherworldly against the NYC skyline.

It surprised me what qualified as “art” in some exhibits. Some of the more bizarre entries included a vacuum cleaner, a canvas painted in one solid color and a flourescent light tube used in most offices.

We were in the Met for about 3 hours, which was barely enough time to take a brief look at most of the exhibits. If you’re planning a visit here, it’s best to focus on just one or two areas that you want to see and save the rest for later.

Shrek: The Musical marquee.

After the Met, we hopped on the subway and headed back to the hotel for dinner and a change of clothes before heading back out to Broadway. I had gotten a buy-one-get-one-free deal for Shrek: the Musical. Since my mom and I both wanted to see a lighthearted musical, it fit the bill perfectly. The musical itself was quite fun to watch. The plot pretty much follows that of the movie, but with more silly jokes and fun songs. If you enjoyed the movie, then you will enjoy the musical as well.

After the musical, we wandered around the Hershey’s and M&M store at Times Square just for grins and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

I’m a city girl by nature. Most of the trips I’ve taken in the last three years have been to major metro areas like Atlanta, Boston, New Orleans and Philadelphia. But until now I had not been to the mother of all metro areas- New York City. Last week, I finally rectified that problem by spending 5 days and 4 nights exploring as many blocks as I could of Manhattan.

The trip started on a whim. In August, Expedia was offering $200 off three nights hotel and flights. I looked at several different cities I hadn’t been to yet, including Chicago, Portland and Miami, to see if I could find a good deal. When I looked at NYC, I hit paydirt. I could get 3-nights hotel and flights for about $130. At the time, the flights alone would have cost about $200. After finding the deal, I tweeted about it. I quickly got a note from my mom. She knows how much I enjoy travelling and wanted to come along on this trip. A mother-daughter adventure was soon born.

For the trip, we flew MCO-EWR on Continental. I chose CO mostly because it was a non-stop flight that fit our schedule and budget well. Plus, they were offering double elite-qualification miles which was a nice bonus. The flight to New York was around 90% full, but surprisingly free of crying children and babies that often fill flights coming to and from Orlando. This probably had to do a lot with the fact that school is now in session and we’re in the low season for tourism.

Once we landed in EWR, plenty of signs guided us to the Airtrain that goes to NYC’s Penn Station. Unfortunately, the section of track that connects the airport with the New Jersey train station was under construction, so only one side of the tracks could be used. This meant that folks riding the Airtrain from the airport had to get off at the last airport stop and wait 10 minutes for a train coming from the station, rather then ride the train the whole way. This caused a lot of confusion and delay among passengers as everyone was forced to get off the train unexpectedly. New Jersey Transit, who runs the EWR Airtrain, did have a lot of redcoats were around to help direct people around. Still, it didn’t help one gentleman who exclaimed “There goes my train!” as our train pulled into the station- and his Amtrak train pulled out.

The train ride from Newark to New York was fun in that the train goes under the Hudson river to get to the city. It’s the first time I’ve gone underwater in a train. Entering Penn Station was a bit overwhelming at first. So many people rushing around to get to where they needed to go. The signage was a bit confusing at first, with signs pointing every which way, but with the aid of a giant subway map and a friendly cop, my mom and I figured out where we needed to go.

After accidentally getting off at the wrong subway stop, we finally made it to the Cosmopolitan Hotel. The hotel is an independent hotel located in the heart of the Tribeca area. The hotel doesn’t have a lot of frills, but it was well-maintained and the room was large for a NYC hotel. After dropping our stuff off, we headed out to find some dinner.

The Little Italy district was about 15-minute walk from our hotel. It was easy to spot the district- it was marked by lots of red, green and white bunting; sidewalk cafes and a large Ferris wheel. The 10-day celebration of the Feast of St. Gennaro was in full swing. We picked one of the many sidewalk cafes along the street and enjoyed a nice pasta dinner while doing some people-watching. It was fun listening to Italian accent of the cafe owner and watching pedestrians enjoy treats like cannoli and gelato.

Afterwards, we walked through more of the Little Italy and Chinatown areas before heading over to visit Grand Central Station.

Seeing Grand Central during rush hour was a delight. People were rushing everywhere across the grand marble annex while conversations created a pleasant echo in the lobby. It was fun to watch the destination boards light up and to imagine that I could go hop on the next train to  New Haven or Boston like so many New Yorkers were doing. After seeing the hustle and bustle of the station, we walked to another area known for its frenetic activity- Times Square.

Seeing Times Square left me speechless. All the lights- all the people- all the activity- and to be in the middle of it all! It was wonderful to finally be standing in the spot that I’ve seen countless times in movies, TV shows and pictures. After taking some pictures, my mom and I stopped into the Toys ‘R Us store to gawk at the ferris wheel inside and to see the lego sculptures of New York landmarks.

After that, we wanted to take a night tour of the city. Now, I’m normally not the tourbus type. I prefer to see things on foot. However, my mom had heard of the night tour because it was getting great reviews from vistors and natives alike. Plus, it would serve as a good introduction to the city. So off on the double-decker bus we went.

The tour was interesting because the guide provided all kinds of tidbits about the area, from where to find the best pizza in Brooklyn to which apartment complexes various celebrities live in. And the bus did go into places that I simply wouldn’t have time to get to on this trip like Brooklyn. The only downside of sitting on top of the double-decker bus is that it got a bit chilly up there, especially as we crossed over the bridges to and from Brooklyn.

After the tour, it was getting rather late and it was time to call it a night. We had so much more to explore over the next few days.

Later posts in this trip report will include a visit to the Today Show, riding the Staten Island Ferry, and seeing Wicked on Broadway. Stay tuned!

“If at first you don’t succeed- skydiving is not for you.”

-unknown

A couple of weekends ago, the topic of skydiving came up several times with co-workers and friends. One of my craziest adventures to date was when a group of friends wanted to go skydiving and invited me to go along. “Jump out of a perfectly good airplane? Sure!”

So the day before my 23rd birthday, we all schlepped out to Titusville to Skydive Space Center located at Arthur Dunn Airpark. Before coming over we were asked not to wear collared shirts and to remove anything that would come off easily in flight. We also had to let the center know how much each person weighed so they could be paired up with an appropriately-sized diver.

Inside the jump plane

Once we arrived at the skydiving center, the first thing we all needed to do was fill out some paperwork. The paperwork included a number of waivers that basically stated “if you die, we’re not liable”. After all the paperwork was taken care of, we headed outside to the hanger with a jumpmaster who walked us through what would happen during the flight.

Next to the hanger was a mockup of the door on a Beechcraft King Air, which is the type of plane we would be jumping out of. The jumpmaster demonstrated how we needed to exit the plane for the jump. One thing that surprised me is that there’s no actual jumping involved. Instead, all I would need to do is step off and gravity would do the rest. Another part is how the landing would go. Since we were all doing tandem jumps where we would be strapped to a jump master, all we need to do is stick our legs straight out and let the jump master do the work.

As we waited for our turn to go up, I watched the parachute riggers do the work of packing the chutes. It’s a job that has to be done carefully, as a poor packing job can lead to hard openings of the parachute, tangled lines or possibly cause the chute to not open at all. If the main chute doesn’t open correctly for whatever reason, divers can cut away the main chute and use a larger reserve chute instead. And if for some reason a diver doesn’t open his chute, there’s a backup device called the Cypres comes to the rescue. The Cypres is basically a small computer with an altimeter, vertical speed indicator and a razor blade attached. If the device detects that a diver is falling very fall at a certain altitude (usually over 70 mph at 2000 ft. above ground) the device cuts away the main chute and deploys the reserve instead. Even with these safety devices, skydiving is still a risky sport. But the introduction of better chutes and devices like the Cypres has made the sport safer.

As the time to jump drew nearer, we got rigged up with harnesses and met the people we would be paired off with. While we waited, a videographer asked me why I wanted to skydive. I said it was because I always wanted to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. The videographer replied “oh, but you haven’t seen the airplane yet!”

The plane landed and we all hopped aboard. I then understood what the videographer meant about the airplane. The “seats” on the plane were nothing more than two long benches that everyone straddled facing the back of the plane. As one skydiver eloquently put it, we packed “butts to nuts”. Trust me, after sitting in that arrangement, I wanted to get out as quickly as possible! Fortunately, that didn’t take long. Once the group was settled in the plane, we took off and started heading up to 15,000 ft. Getting up to the jump area took around 20-25 minutes.

As we climbed to altitude, the reality of what I was about to do hit me. I was about to jump out of a plane, strapped to a guy that I had just met 10 minutes ago- and he had the parachute. I admit I almost lost my nerve at that moment. But I decided that I would go down, and I was taking that guy down with me.

Next to the plane door was a red light that the pilot would change to green when he reached the drop zone. As we got close to the zone, all the jump masters made one final check of everyone’s straps and rigging. And then, the moment came. The light turned green. Because of where I was sitting, I would be the first out of the plane. The videographer in front of me got up, opened the door and then straddled a rail on the outside of the plane. My jumpmaster and I got up and awkwardly crab walked to the door. Then I stepped up to the threshold and stepped out.

Wooosh! The first thing I noticed was the wind roaring past me. I felt like I was in a wind tunnel. It was now obvious why skydivers communicate through hand signals- I couldn’t hear anything my jump master was saying even though he was strapped to my back. The second thing was that I didn’t feel like I had dropped at all. I had thought I would feel like I had gone down a steep drop on a roller coaster. It turns out that since the plane was already moving at over 100mph (and thus so was I), I wouldn’t feel much additional acceleration from stepping out of the plane. So I never really felt like I was falling beyond seeing the ground get closer.

After getting over the initial shock of feeling the wind, it was time to do some fun tricks like spins and hamming it up for the camera. The videographer that got out ahead of me had caught up with me and it was awesome to do things like grab his hand during freefall.

Coming in for landing

But the freefall portion of the dive soon ended. Since we were falling around 110mph, it only took about 60-90 seconds to burn through 12,ooo ft. of altitude. So the jumpmaster pulled the chute around 3,000ft. Whump! We flipped from the horizontal position to a vertical one. I galanced up and saw a large beautiful rectangle of fabric. All was well. The next few minutes were quite relaxing compared to the rush of freefall. It was nice just to glide and enjoy the views of the coast and landmarks like NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building. During our slow spiral down, I watched as our jump plane landed on the runway below. What an odd sight seeing the plane I was on getting back to the ground before me. The glide down lasted around 5-10 minutes. As we got near the ground, the jumpmaster executed a flawless flare and put us down not far from the small cheering crowd sitting in the stands.

Looking back on the dive, I have absolutely no regrets doing it. It was a thrilling experience and one I haven’t forgotten. It was so fun to get out and do something so few people have done. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Would I recommend others do it? Absolutely, as long as you’re aware of the risks involved. Really, if George Bush can do it at the age of 85, anybody can.

The Cessna 172 that I flew in.

On Labor Day weekend, I had my first visit into the world of general aviation. A friend of mine, Joe from Flying for Smiles, was in town for the weekend and we agreed to meet up for lunch. He had a fantastic idea. He suggested that we meet up at the Orlando Executive airport and fly to Ocala to have lunch at an aviation-theme restaurant. This was quite exciting for me. I’ve driven by that airport for years and had never taken a flight from there, so that was cool. I was also looking forward to seeing how things work from the cockpit.

Fortunately when the day arrived, the infamous Florida afternoon thunderstorms didn’t appear and we were able to go flying. Sitting up front I noticed all sorts of little things, like how little pressure it takes to fly a plane. It’s not like driving a car where turning the wheel 90 or 180 degrees is normal. My friend for the most part used only slight turns to get the plane going where he wanted it to go. Another thing was how little runway the plane needed to get off the ground. In the time that much larger planes take to accelerate, we were off and flying in just a few hundred feet. The same goes for landing. Sure, big jet planes can go farther and faster, but since smaller planes need a lot less runway, there are many more places they can land at.

One of my favorite parts about flying in passenger jets is during takeoff and landing where the plane is close enough to the ground that I can make out a lot of details on the ground. Since we were cruising around 2,000 most of the time, I got to literally enjoy a bird’s eye view (since there were birds flying at our level) of Central Florida the whole way.

One thing that fascinated me was listening to all the radio chatter. I’ve listened to air traffic control feeds before through websites like Live ATC. But actually being part of that traffic and seeing other planes making calls brought the whole system to life for me.

Inside the cockpit

Once we got to Ocala, it turned out the restaurant we wanted to go to was closing just as we walked into the door. That turned out to be the theme of the day as it seemed that every place between Orlando and Ocala had closed for the holiday weekend. But half the fun of travelling is the journey itself, so it wasn’t a big deal that places were closed (we ended up eating lunch not far from Orlando Exec instead).  The whole experience was quite enjoyable and sitting up in the front has given me a new perspective into how aviation works. It was also fun way to spend time with a new friend and to get to know him better.

It’s one of my goals to fly a plane at some point, and I’ve started doing a lot of reading and research into the topic. The biggest challenge at this point is the cost of training (somewhere in the ballpark of $8,000-11,000 to get a private pilot license), which is a problem for many potential pilots. But it’s certainly not an insurmountable obstacle. I’m already brainstorming ideas around it. I hope the day will come soon where I can stop staring at the sky all the time and be a part of it instead.

Hotel room at the Baronne Plaza Hotel, New Orleans

In the last month I’ve had to book a couple of hotels for various trips like my New Orleans trip and my trip to New York City later this month. This is a departure from what I usually do. Whenever I travel, I usually end up either staying with friends or family or crash in a hostel. If I do stay in a hotel, it’s usually because I’m travelling with an organization and they booked the hotel.

So when I started looking at hotels, I had literally hundreds of places I could choose from to stay in. I needed a way to narrow down the list of places. So I’ve developed a checklist of things I like to look for when picking a hotel.

1. Recommendations from friends or family- This more then any other factor puts a potential hotel high on my “book it” list. If someone I know had a positive experience at the hotel, then odds are good I will like it there too.

2. Location- What makes a good location varies by destination, but I’m usually looking for someplace close to where I want to go and that it’s close to public transit (if available). I also want to avoid sketchy areas of town.

3. Price- Obviously, a hotel doesn’t do me much good if I can’t afford to stay there to begin with. What makes a hotel affordable depends on the city. In New York, for example, finding a decent Manhattan hotel for less then $200 a night is a good price to me. But in New Orleans, paying $200 a night for a hotel would have been quite excessive for a weekend when no major events were going on.

4. Wi-fi- Ever since I got an iPod touch and discovered how incredibly useful it can be while travelling, I’m constantly on the hunt for wi-fi hotspots. So a hotel that offers wi-fi, especially if it’s already included in the room rate, is a must for me.

5. Continental Breakfast- If I’m in a culinary hotspot like New Orleans where there’s great food everywhere, having a hotel breakfast isn’t a big deal. But otherwise, being able to start the day with a bagel or a bowl of cereal before heading out the door is a big plus for me. It saves me the trouble of having to stop at a coffee shop along the way.

Things that don’t matter as much to me

1. Airport Shuttle- It’s a nice perk, but there’s usually other ways that I can get back to the airport/train station/major transportation hub.

2. Reviews on websites- The reviews on the various hotel consolidators’ websites are useful for getting an overall impression of a place, but the reviews alone generally don’t cause me to pull or add a hotel to my list.

3. Hotel Pool- I live in Florida. The beaches are just down the highway.

4. Mini-bar/Cable service/Room service- I don’t spend much time in a hotel except to sleep and shower. So a hotel that offers a lot of in-room entertainment and services just doesn’t interest me much.

Things that turn me off

1. Mandatory “resort fees”- If a hotel feels the need to charge a resort fee for the use of the pool, exercise room or other amenities but give guests no option to opt out of it, then the fee needs to be included as part of the room rate. Period.

I suspect the reason that many hotels have this seperate fee is so that they can have a lower room rate which gets them higher rankings on websites that sort rooms by price. It’s a deceptive practice and I refuse to stay at any hotel that engages in this kind of behavior.

2. Not having a well-maintained website- This is more of an issue with non-chain hotels. I like to check hotel websites for more information, so if their website isn’t well-designed or is outdated, it really annoys me.

Of course, everyone’s list of what’s important to them is different. What’s important to you?

Beignet machine at Cafe Du Monde. Flour is put through the rollers and cut into squares.

On my last day in New Orleans, I decided to get out of the French Quarter area for a bit and head over to the museum district to visit the WWII museum that several people recommended to me. On the way over, I stopped for another tasty beignet breakfast over at Cafe du Monde’s riverwalk location. At that location, I was able to watch barges go up and down the Mississippi river. I also watched beignets getting made, as the machine and the fryer is located next to the order counter behind a window.

The WWII museum had a lot of interesting films and displays about the war. One of my favorite displays included war propaganda and posters. Some of the propaganda included a US comic about how to tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese people and how the Japanese portrayed the US in their media. The blatant racism shown by both sides was shocking but par for the course at that time in history. Some of the other displays included first-hand accounts by people living during the war, interactive maps that showed the major battles of the war and actual planes used at the time. Overall, the museum was a good way to learn not only about WWII, but also the role that the state of Louisiana played in it.

One of several warplanes on display at the museum.

After the museum, I decided to head back over to the Central World Market to get a muffaletta. Unfortunately, I failed to check what days they were opened the first time around and was foiled again in my efforts to get a muff as they were closed on Mondays too.

So I went over to Pat O’Brien’s instead and got their tasty foccacia muffuletta and a glass of New Orlean’s signature drink- the hurricane.

After lunch, it was time to get my bag from the hotel and head over to the airport. The co-worker that I was helping out was gracious enough to give me a lift to the airport. Otherwise, taking a taxi or using the airport shuttle service would have been my other options. The Louis Armstrong International Airport is one of the smaller airports that I’ve been through. It has two runways and most US airlines provide connections from New Orleans to their respective hubs. The advantage of the airport’s smaller size is that getting through security was a breeze. I was through as quickly as I could get my bag on the belt. There’s not a lot of stores or restaurants past security in the B terminal, but that wasn’t an issue for me as my Southwest flight was leaving in an hour anyway.

The flight home was quite light- only 23 passengers on a plane normally designed for 137 people (and I suspect will be

Pat O'Brien's Hurricane

the lightest load I’ll see this year).

Overall, the trip was amazing. The food alone is worth the visit. The history, the music and the Mardi Gras spirit gives the city a unique culture that can’t be found anywhere else. If I get the chance to return again, I would dine at places I didn’t have time for this trip. I would also go down to the Garden district and maybe take a cruise down the river. And even though the city will be mobbed during Mardi Gras, it would fun to be there with all the people and see the parades.

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Cafe Du Monde Beignets

The number one thing I think of when I think of New Orleans is the cuisine there. From creole to cajun to seafood dishes, there’s a wonderful variety of dishes to choose from. And the number one food item that I wanted to try during the trip was some beignets from Cafe du Monde. So on Sunday morning, I took a stroll down Decauter Street to the cafe. When I got there, the place was already hopping at 8:30 in the morning. Almost every table was taken, and as soon as one came free, it was quickly claimed by someone. I managed to get a table fairly quickly and soon had an order of beignets and a cafe au lait before me. The beignets were drowning in powdered sugar. It’s pretty much impossible not to eat one without getting some of the white stuff on you (and really, that’s half the fun of eating one).  After brushing off all the sugar, I headed over to visit the National Park Service (NPS) office.

National Park Ranger talking about New Orleans

The NPS has several parks in and around New Orleans. One of the free activities that they offer is a morning walking tour that goes from Decauter St. to the riverwalk area and back over to Jackson Square. Along the way, the ranger talks about the history of the area and points out various places of interest. I found the hourlong tour informative and it served as a nice introduction to the city for me. After the tour, I just walked around the French Quarter for a few hours, visiting places like the old US Mint, Louis Armstrong Park, the French Market and Jackson Square. I did try to stop by the Central World Market for a muffuleta, but they were closed on Sunday. So I headed over to the Gumbo Shop instead to get some tasty chicken and sausage gumbo and shrimp jamabalaya.

After lunch, I wandered down to the riverwalk and took the free ferry across the Mississippi river to Algeirs Point. There really isn’t much to see on that side of the river, but it was a good spot to really look at the city skyline. I also found the area where many Mardi Gras floats used to be built and stored at.

The evening was the highlight of the day for me. My uncle had recommended going to a place called Preservation Hall to hear some good jazz music. The hall itself is quite small and doesn’t offer things you might find in a jazz bar like drinks or dancing space. Instead, the goal of the hall as it’s stated on the website is to “welcom[e] people of all ages interested in having one of the last pure music experiences left on the earth.”

And that is exactly what it was. The doors to the hall opened at 8pm, and when I got there at 8:10 it was nearly full.

The Preservation Hall Band

The band that night was going to do three shows of 45 minutes each, separated by 15-minute intermissions. I ended up staying for all three shows. It was a completely immersive experience for me. I had gotten a spot on the floor front and center of the band, so I could watch them work their instruments and hear all their comments. Many of the band members had been playing for several and the leader of the band jokeily introduced most of the songs as “songs that had been played around the city for many, many years”. The band was made up of a saxaphonist, pianest, trumpet/clarinet player, bass, drum, and a vocalist. During some of the later performances, an elderly man in a dashing gold suit would come up and sing and dance to the songs as well.

But the most fun moments came from a 92-year-old woman sitting near the front of the stage. I don’t know what her story was, but she was completely into the music. I got the impression that she may have been in a jazz band in the past. I’m not sure what was more fun- watching the band, or watching her watch the band. She would often close her eyes and sing along or tap her foot to the beat.

Alas, the show had to end evetually. So I headed back to my hotel by walking down Bourbon St. one more time. And ended up getting hit in the head by flying beads. Only in New Orleans.

Stay tuned for Day 3 and the conclusion tomorrow!