We were kind of waiting for a fourth bike to turn up. The house has three and we'd been told a fourth would arrive this morning, but we were due in the French Quarter by 1pm to pick up the bus for our swamp tour, and ended up having to leave the bike idea and walk...which was fine. I'd cycled to the local supermarket (Family Dollar, bit scary) earlier that morning for washing powder, and the bike was pretty ropey anyway, so probably for the best.
So we wandered through the streets of Bywater and Marigny, on our way to the swamp. Returned to Frenchmen Street, scene of last night's disappointing dinner at Marigny Brasserie, and went where we should have gone - Dat Dog. Impeccable service resulted in the most delicious hot dogs we have ever tasted...just divine.
That set us up for the 1½-hour journey to the swamp - we were the first on the bus and numerous stops had to be made to pick up others - out at Slidell on the other side of Pontchartrain.
The boat trip was bloody brilliant. Apparently the weather of the last few days - pleasantly warm from our point of view - is pleasantly cool for the alligators, and so they're out 'playing'. We had seen several within minutes of setting off, and then an 8-footer was spotted sunning herself on a log,
She was coaxed into the water by the captain's marshmallows and sausages...apparently a winning combination.
We spent the 90-minute boat ride pootling up and down the river and into side bayous, spotting alligators, turtles, birds of all kinds, beautiful trees...and being told about it all by our very knowledgeable captain. Didn't get many photos of the animals as they were mostly too small, quick and/or far away, but the scenery was very nice.
Jumped back in the bus for the return journey, and after about 10 minutes the bus started to make an alarming beeping sound. Some kind of, well, alarm. The bus driver casually announced, "I think we're about to break down," and pulled over.
This was where we were:
..in the middle of Lake Pontchartrain, an enormous body of water. One of the other bridges is the longest in the world over water, apparently - 24 miles!
Thankfully, after starting the bus again a few minutes later, there was no sign of the alarm and we limped most of the way back to NO, until a replacement bus could come and rescue us. All good.
We walked from the French Quarter through Marigny along Dauphine Street, marvelling at the gorgeous houses and stopping to talk to the many beautiful cats on the way. It was pretty warm still - unseasonably so, I believe. We crossed Desire Street, for the umpteenth time (it's five blocks west of our street), and this time took a photo of the sign.
The streetcars used to come out as far as the Marigny, and had the destination on the front, much as most buses and trains do, hence A Streetcar Named Desire...
We were headed for The Joint, recommended by our guidebook as an awesome barbecue place. And it was. I couldn't decide between the ribs, pulled pork or brisket, so had all three. We all rolled out of there fit to burst, secure in the knowledge that if we ever came to live in NOLA, as we'd very much like to, we would not last very long before popping.
Definitely feeling like this is a spiritual home - food, beer, music...what more is there?
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