New Orleans mish mosh

After several fun days in Mississippi and Alabama, Carol and I spent the last day of my trip in New Orleans, Louisiana.

To get there, we drove over the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, something I had done but Carol had not. 

The Causeway is the world's longest continuous bridge over water, stretching more than twenty three miles across Lake Pontchartain. Driving over it is a unique experience that I highly recommend.

We arrived in New Orleans a little too early to check in to our hotel so we filled the time by looking for a tack shop. We found one in the City Park area.

The shop itself wasn't impressive, but the stable it was attached to more than made up for that.

The facility felt really familiar. I think I've been there before, but thirty plus years later, I just can't be sure.

Our hotel was in the French Quarter, which gave us plenty of opportunities to see the area's iconic mules at work.

I brake for mules.

I also couldn't help but notice the multitudes of horse head hitching posts throughout the French Quarter.

While they appear to be remnants of the 19th-century horse-and-carriage era, most were installed in the late 1950's and early 1960's to act prevent drivers from parking their cars on the sidewalk.

In June, I shared a memory about the time my sweet dog, Abbie, and I spent an unexpected month in New Orleans. I closed the post with these words.

Abbie died in 2010. She can never go back to Cafe Du Monde, but I can and I did.

Everything looked exactly the way I remembered.

There's the spot where Abbie and I sat every morning before work, sharing beignets and soaking up the sunshine.

Of course, Carol and I had to do the same.

The beignets were not as fancy as those we had at the Vintage earlier in the week, but no one was complaining.

It was a perfect New Orleans morning.

When the buskers played You Are My Sunshine, it felt like a gift from both Abbie and Olive.

I'm so glad I got to visit New Orleans again. Thank you, Carol, for making that happen.