Please be advised Blogger does not support retro-posting. During trans-temporal dimensional shifts in the time-space continuum Blogger got confused. The actual date is posted below
~Zen Dragon
October 26, 2012
The early bird gets the worm has always seemed a silly saying to me. Perhaps I don't understand the intricacies surrounding this particular wisdom, as its my guess a plethora of worms are available throughout the day for being eaten. In any case, I planned to get my worm on this third and final day in New Orleans, and sadly getting up early just just part of the deal.
Exploration full traveler style was on the bill, and I had a city wide bike tour planned. We would skirt the horribly pocked and disastrous roads of down town New Orleans in search of fairer ground. Our destination was Autobahn Park some five miles away from the B&B. I put my faith into trusty Google and was unsurprisingly not disappointed.
A hodgepodge of bikable streets appeared on the electronic map. With a bit of twisting and turning we could take green roads to Magazine street and that through the Garden District. What an excellent tour it turned out to be. Our grand adventure had gotten off to a rocky start, but with our last day in New Orleans I had high hopes for the very welcome and perceptible upwards shift to continue.
Riding our bikes away from the French Quarter was a godsend. A bike lane appeared amidst the towering skyscrapers of downtown. Paved streets extended west beyond the interstate overpasses and highways. We were riding with the sun shining overhead, a warm wind across our faces.
Swaths of local non tourist shops greeted us on both sides of the Magazine. Several times we stopped to backtrack and check one out, seeking the perfect lunch spot. Closing in on our destination without deciding was not a pleasing direction for my stomach. Tanya whipped out her iPhone, and we quickly retraced our steps to one we'd both noticed upon passing.
Guy's Po Boys was a dirty looking little diner with a sizable lunch crowd. No fancy signs proclaimed them. Cheap seats and tables made up the small dual ordering and eating space. It reminded me of a barber shop. It was perfect. My alligator Po Boy was to my first attempt at local cuisine like Doritos are to stale pretzels Tanya's catfish seafood medley was probably the second best thing I'd tried yet, next to my rabbit jambalaya of course.
With happy bellies we languidly made our way to the park intending a nice walkabout to settle us. A divided bike and walking trail greeted us. It circumvented the entire green space and was probably more than a mile long, so we took a nice languid bikeabout instead. In the park's center a large lake was broken up by several small islands. Hundreds of geese and mallards with a few swans interspersed made their homes among them. We actually saw a few of them fighting. They were jumping and honking. It was quite amusingThe lake was ringed by some of the largest ancient oaks I've ever seen, spreading their limbs over path and waters alike. It was quite a busy place, with others enjoying the day as we did - quite the change from dirty old New Orleans. The unexpected treasure of sunshine and nature brightened my spirits as much as being somewhere and seeing something new.
I had my camera with me, and it was compelled to snap all of the vistas. A beautiful church tower with a shining steeple marked off the north end. The NOLA zoo bordered the west.
It was my intention to check out the animals, but we arrived too late. 'Going to the bathroom' we snuck inside and got a peak at some flamingos and statues of elephants. It's too bad, for the zoo looked quite promising.We returned to lounge in the park and enjoy the grass beneath us before routing ourselves home. St. Charles street on the north end of the park was by far the best biking of the day. The streets I'd been delighted to ride upon earlier were grand only in comparrison to the wretched gravel and pot holes of the French Quarter. Here we had a smooth and dedicated bike lane. It was wonderful.
It was also the coolest street we'd biked on. Mansions bordered the north end, each decked out in its own Halloween style. Ghosts perched on the roofs. A giant spider crawled up the side of one. A wizard the size of a bus cast spells atop another. The best though was the yard full of cleverly absurd skeletons.
Each was some silly play on words. A 'Lay Z Bones' lounged in the grass. 'Murder Miss Tree' hung out with a book in a tree while 'Saturday Night Femur' struck a pose in full disco attire. NOLA certainly has its own flair, and Halloween is a good time to be there.
I decided to visit a cemetery was in order before our final return. It was sadly closed. Peeking through the wrought iron gates we saw spooky mausoleums covering the earth instead of tombstones. Something about sea level and unpleasant nature of bodies to uncover themselves... kind of like zombies I believe, rotting stench and all.
Pleasantly satisfied we headed home to prepare for our final night. Tanya was going in heels, which I knew meant I would later become a piggy back service as drinking turned into drunk and her desire to be a real girl was overcome by that for her own comfort.
We didn't find too much to get into though. Bourbon St. happened for about 15 minutes. Dinner was good, if not great. Midnight soon found us on our way back to the B&B when we decided to stop into a 24/7 local bar for one last drink.
Tanya was playing with the music box when some horrid country song came on. "I did not do that!" she proclaimed... but she had. I shoved a couple of bucks towards her so she could right her error in judgement. She redeemed herself.
We slept wonderfully that night. The bed was perfect. Breakfast cost way too much, but was equally satisfying. I purchased a new fedora hat, which I enjoy immensely. We also found our NOLA bumper sticker. That’s our souvineer from each destination. It now is in its final resting place aside my trailer, proclaiming for all to see, we are travelers.
The road would take us to the woods for a few days next. We needed to get the mess of our lives so hastily crammed into my trailer in order. A day of rest. A day of repacking. Sanity please follow from those woods and ride the rest of this journey with us. Lord knows you have been absent in large degree so far. Until then, may the road lead us.
