As darkness fell, Edouard moved on and we investigated Bourbon Street. We found a cool voodoo store, and had a lovely dinner of local (ish) food). Next day we took a drive through the not-so-touristy bits, then explored the cemetary xontaining the alleged tomb of the "voodoo queen", then after a quick drive-by of the garden quarter, we moved on....

Cemetary.. Marie Laveau's tomb, and the rest...

Great pics. Mr Monster never looks very happy.

looks like it was a good time!

he's just sultry..... "lol"

Mr. Monster = Beest, btw.

That was only the first day and a half..... I have way more to torture you with ...eventually

Well in that last picture, he's in the Big Easy, on Bourbon St.... with a wife & three kids. :haha:

:lol: I should get some more pics up

Those are wonderful!
Moar pls!

It looks like the right age to take the kids to see things as well. They certainly don't look as if they're being dragged along unwilling - they seem to be having the time of their life!

Brilliant. This thread just made my day :) Great pics. Y'all look like youhad a spiffing time:)

SG, the sprogs love to roadtrip. We started the second summer here, when Thor was about 9 months. we take loads of fun stuff to do in the car and we rarely drive for the whole day -we like to stop and see stuff on the way. The educational philosophy of their school is very field-trip based, so when they get on a topic and they can say, oh yes, I went there and saw that, they get more involved in their lessons because everyone wants to hear. Also, that background helps them to enjoy new places and make the most of them.

Also we're like kids -we hate Stately Home type things and we don't linger anywhere. Places like Mount Rushmore (the 4 presidents carved into the rock), take 30 minutes tops. You sort of feel that because it's such a landmark it deserves more time, but once you can get over that and realize "yup there it is. smaller than i thought cool. ok what else is there to see/do round here" is OK, roadtrips rock. We've seen about 36 states in some detail and we've been year 7.5 years

So after the morning in NO with the tombs, we headed out to the swamps to take a boatride and see some gators. it's about $20/head to crowd onto a large pontoon type thing with a squillion other tourists. Unfortunately, there weren't a zillion other tourists, so the company put us on the $80/head airboat for the same price...... Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :lol:

The intra-coastal waterway runs through there, so the first pic is of an airboat and a monster of a barge thing (we think to do with oil production) being pushed and pulled by three tugboats.

a gator nest... and some intrepid explorers

I strongly agree with that philosophy. There is all kinds of information available, especially in the days of the internet, on all the major, and many minor, attractions. The when, where, how, who, why, of each, can be had at any time and don't really matter when you're there seeing it in person. What matters then, is the perspective, the surroundings, and the feeling it conveys. When it's made it's impression, hit the road, because there are plenty of cool sights between the attractions, that you'll probably recall with fondness, for years to come.

Places like Yosemite, Yellowstone or The Grand Canyon, can change dramatically with the light, throughout the day. But if you can't find things to amuse yourself while that happens, it can be boring, especially for kids.

Too many restrictions, perceived obligations, and lack of flexibility, can ruin a road trip.:thumb:

Bless you for explaining to us furriners what Mount Rushmore is (yes, I knew, but I like your attention to detail).

Your eldest son does look so like Calvin. I know he doesn't have braces in the cartoons, but he would have had when he got old enough.

I love the pics and I love what you're doing. Keep it up. Oh and I'm coming out to join you next summer. I don't mind travelling in the boot, honest. And you can sneak me into motels at about 23.00 - I'll just sleep on the floor and eat leftovers.