December 25, 2018--Christmas
Christmas started off with morning shenanigans.
Then we went out for a walk.
All the colors
Even the trees looked festive with their red berries.
We walked the Riverwalk down to St. Louis Cathedral.
{Thora, Dancy, Samson, Tommy, Katie, me}
Shad and I remembered this jester from our one-day visit 5 years ago.
Caught some history along the way.
"Transatlantic Slave Trade to Louisiana"
The trade of human beings from Africa to Louisiana began in 1718 with the first slave ships, the Aurore and the Duc du Maine, arriving in 1719. Those ships carried 451 enslaved Africans to the Louisiana colony. Their voyage marked the beginning of a transatlantic slave trade that continued through French, Spanish, and American rule, forcing approximately 12,000 documented and an untold number of undocumented men, women, and children onto slave ships bound for Louisiana.
Wolof, Bambara, Mandingo, Fulbe, Nard, Ganga, Kissy, Suse, Mina, Fon, Yoruba, Chamba, Hausa, Igbo, Ibibio, Kongo/Angola, Makwa, and members of many other "nations" were deported from...
Greater Senegambia, the Gold Coast, the Bight of Benin, West Central, and Southeast Africa. Their skills and cultural practices were foundational to the development of Louisiana. Their Middle Passage averaged more than sixty days, and thousands perished from causes ranging from malnutrition, scurvy, and other diseases to the violent suppression of onboard rebellion. Those who did survive were often unloaded here along the banks of the Mississippi River. In 1808, the United States banned the international slave trade, though illegal shipments of Africans to Louisiana continued, with the last documented slave ship, the Fenix, arriving in New Orleans in 1830.
{New Orleans Committee to Erect Markers on the Slave Trade}
St. Louis Cathedral
We were excited to see this after reading the Marie-Grace and Cecile story arc from the American Girl Collection.
Port of New Orleans
After the establishment of New Orleans in 1718, vessels docked along this riverfront to import supplies to the French colony and export its commodities. By the early 1800s, thousands of ocean-going sailing ships, river steamboats and flatboats, and local schooners and barges arrived annually, and the levee teemed with workers and cargo in transit. Algiers, across the river, specialized in ship-building and repair, while railroads on both banks linked wharfs to interior cities. In 1896, the Louisiana Legislature created the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans, which today oversees containerized facilities uptown, breakbulk cargo along the Industrial Canal, and many other assets.
We didn't stay long at the riverfront because our destination took us inward to Louis Armstrong National Park where a free concert was being given.
This is not the concert, but the sounds of New Orleans.
It was fun to see these signs all over telling us the names of the streets when this was a Spanish city instead of French.
We made it to the park...but never found the concert. I think it was one of those things that got cancelled with the stupid government shutdown.
We know Louis Armstrong aka "Dipper" from the Magic Treehouse Series: A Good Night for Ghosts.
Louis "Satchmo" Armstong
1901-1971
His trumpet and heart brought everlasting joy to the world, embodying jazz as The Pulse of Life.
We enjoyed BubbleLadyLinda's art.
And played hide-and-seek.
And observed the other jazz statues in the park.
And birds.
And Narnia lampposts.
Then we walked back to the Cathedral and Jackson Square.
Thora loved the unicorn balloon.
Shad and I laughed at the balloon movement.
This city is so artistic and colorful!
I knew Jackson Square wouldn't disappoint for jazz.
Tommy got invited in for a picture.
Trump voodoo dolls. I got a laugh!
I traded photography with a French-speaking family. Once again, those charade skills I learned in China came in handy. This time there was no confusion about what the tourist attraction was. (At Monkey Island in Sanya, the tourist attraction was ME, the white girl, not the monkeys. The parents didn't want me to take a picture of their family, they wanted me to be in the picture with their son!)
Then I played with focus in photography.
Walking back on the Riverwalk.
This Santa was gold. This was his gig for the day. He's not flipping me off...he's flipping off everyone and everything. That was his pose for the day.
Our quest for dinner that was 1) open and 2) not $20/plate took us back to Bourbon Street.
Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like Darth Vader #1 Saints fan rocking out to Christmas and Country music.
Canal Street all lit up.
Santa was still there.
Samson fell asleep in the stroller on the walk to Pat O'Brien's. He was only a little confused and disoriented when he woke up!
The kids loved the al fresco eating!
{Tommy and Thora}
Snuggling til the food came.
{Kates}
{Shad & Dancy}
This girl needs to live in NOLA. She *loved* their food! This is her scarfing down alligator bites after jambalaya and gumbo.
I only felt a little out of place walking down Bourbon Street pushing a two-year-old in a stroller with my husband and four other kids wearing our regular day clothes. Only a little.
Mardi Gras beads! We tried to knock them down, but no matter how much I threw my shoe, they wouldn't shake loose.
Tip for future travel: bring entertainment for the hotel when everything is closed for the holiday. Also, extra food, just in case.
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