Day 3 Gray Line Tour

Marlon and I worked out this morning which during the time I did not want to but I did :-)  Ready and leaving the hotel to head towards the river to catch a bus tour from Gray Line Tours.  As we journeyed down the street I saw a iron cable car mounted on a pole.  Someone had did a very good job at painting on the cable car to make it look like street musicians were playing in the streets of New Orleans .

As we walked farther down the street there were times I felt a little uncomfortable like I was in the wrong neighborhood to be safe. Several people sitting on cans close  the sidewalk and on both sides. We walked between them and kept on moving they did say HI. Most of them looked like they were stoned on something.  We are getting close to the end of the street when we see a cemetery.  Marlon and I ventured inside and a film crew was there filming a fellow talking about the history of the cemetery. We met a 78 year old man who decorated his grandma's vault every day and always made sure flowers were placed in front. He talked along time about the history of his family. I found him to be a very interesting person.

The double story oven vaults were in a long row.  The cemetery held lots of interesting history.

 I love all the wrought iron throughout New Orleans. They  

pride themselves in the art of iron.

Looks like Marlon is having to good of a time.....

Just kidding this is Marlon goofing off. We are again walking towards the river to catch our bus for the city tour.  We still have  a couple of hours before we need to be there.  We are going to venture down Royal St., we have been there but have not completed sightseeing.  So we are going to see what the rest of the French Quarter area has to offer us.

 Shopped in several shops and watched the street musicians entertain.  Allot of the shops were antique shops.  I loved this one shop I went in that had specialty mask.  The mask were very expensive but hand decorated and painted. Some even had real diamonds on them.

 Lots of entertainment in the streets.

One shop had an entire store of Christmas decorations.  The wine tree was decorated nicely. Ate lunch in a romantic setting at Antioines Annex. The food was good, and the atmosphere was great.  Dessert Marlon got us a praline gelato which was very tasty.

Lunch was fantastic and now we have 1/2 left before we need to be at the sight for the city tour. I saw the Hard Rock Cafe and stopped and bought a t~shirt. We are finally at our destination waiting in line for the tour.

The bus arrived and the first place we were taken was to sight see a historic cemetery which was labeled Cemetery 3. This cemetery is referred to as "cities of the dead" We also learned about their unique above ground burial system.

Next stop was a park that was completely under water from Hurricane Katrina.  St. John park is slowly being built back up.  There were lots of huge oak trees filled with moss that lined the bayou St. John. 

 The next highlight of the tour was to drive down St. Charles Ave. St. Charles Ave had homes of former Kings and Queens of Mardi Grad. We took a quick tour also of the Garden District which had mansions.

After the tour Marlon and I walked to Riverwalk Market Place.I shopped for a NOLA charm for my bracelet. Yes I did find just the perfect charm. It was a mask with feathers in sterling silver. We got an excellent price for the charm.
 After we made the purchase we wanted to get out of there it was so very hot.  Once we got out of there we walked through the Woldenberg Riverfront Park. Most of the park was a bunch of restaurants.

 Walked back to Bourbon St.

Went and got a couple of drinks and watched Steamboat Willy in the Musical Legends Park.

Ate dinner and walked back to the hotel. Good Night from New Orleans.