USA D14: A cemetery, a river, a streetcar, some fancy houses and one last night in NOLA

It was another hot sunny day with a decent breeze to mitigate the chances of becoming big hot sweaty messes. Still, I was loathe to walk out without a long-sleeve layer handy, as a) I’m a wuss, and b) often the airconditioning can be icy when you venture back indoors.

We stepped out into drying streets – they seem to get water-blasted each morning around where we stayed, which I found quite reassuring – and trotted off to Canal Street. From near here we caught the St Charles streetcar out to the Garden District.

It ain’t fast but it’s economical and it’s got character

A couple of things were on the agenda out here.

A neighbourhood walk. On the tour yesterday we had seen some amazing houses (and plenty dressed up for Halloween) so today we could have a bit more of a nosey. Given the sunshine the ample tree cover was appreciated though the proliferation of trees along narrow streets has led to badly broken footpaths. We also wandered some of Magazine Street’s lengthy shopping strip, though the most exciting things we bought were lunch and a cardboard tube for the posters we’ve purchased.

Mardi gras beads are strewn up in every tree around here it seems, and around the occasional lamp post

No wonder the sidewalks are so rough

Somewhere I’m sure we could live, if we absolutely had to (what you can’t see is the size of the rest of the house – massive!)

Many people chose the repulsive option of attaching huge spiders to their houses for Halloween decorations

Iron ‘lace’ is very prominent in NO

The squirrel returns! This is the only one we saw in New Orleans

Lafayette Cemetery. One of 42 cemeteries in New Orleans, this is the only one that can be used by film crews. The reason for this seemed pretty clear given it’s already in quite a rundown state – though the overgrown and less preserved nature of it provides another layer of character.

After plenty of pavement pounding we took the streetcar back downtown (not even sure that’s the correct expression to use) for more walking.

Mike and I took notes about how to look both stylish and a couple whilst on holiday

We went to the riverfront to a plaza area that’s in the process of being refurbished and so it was quite dead. From here the ferry over to Algiers Point leaves but it seemed so quiet and there were no signs of life on the river that we ended up flagging it, though later it did look like it was running. Instead we just followed the riverside walkway which was busy with people doing likewise. It’s a fairly boring area and you have to look hard for photo opportunities.

Further along and a block or so back from the water, French Market is one of those touristy areas but is worth a look

After adjourning to the hotel for a while we went back out in search of food. This wasn’t as easy as you might think – there are plenty of restaurants but they seem a bit fancy and we’re more casual than that.

After some head-scratching we decided to just go back to the hotel bar for eats and drinks and it was the perfect decision as we could sit looking out onto our less-busy end of Bourbon St and listen to the solo musician play.

Today’s drink, complete with souvenir plastic glass and wee plastic alligator: the Gator Death Roll

A musician in the bar in our hotel

Then it was out for one final lap of the party zone.

This time there was a modest police presence, including this interesting sight

Farewell New Orleans – you’re not my favourite place in the world and if I never see Bourbon Street again I certainly won’t fall into a black pit of despair, but there was plenty else about you that was pretty damn interesting.

Daily stats:

• Souvenir drink glasses coming home with us: 4
• Bead strands draped in trees: 2,000,000
• Bead strands bought: 12 (I’ll give them away if you earn them)