New Orleans, USA

Leaving Texas and entering Lousiana, our next destination is New Orleans. A wrong turning that cost me a dollar (it forced me over a toll bridge I didn’t need to go on) later we entered the city. You can see how this place was hit hard by the Hurricane last year but there is lots of rebuilding going on. The trouble is, there is so much that still needs to be rebuilt, its evident that not enough is being done. So I thought I may as well help out and pump some money into their economy (but not much, Im on a budget still!). Tourism is still doing good here and stayed in great motel that had the feel of a bohemian Australian hostel rather than an inner city motel. Cruising round the renowned French Quarter you get to see a whole host of crazy shops and curious French architecture that makes it feel quite different to other US cities:


“Get out of the bloody road!”

You get to see things like these two guys playing harmonica and singing in the middle of the road. Of course there are a hell of a lot of tacky tourist shops selling things like real gators, stuffed to look like waiters holding an ash tray. And also, a much more appealing Santa Doll this time:


“Jingle Jazz”

Wasn’t long before all the walking got too much and we had to hit a bar for a super strength Margarita



“Its got a shting in its tail”

Got suitably drunk for the evening on a street where pretty much every bar has live blues or jazz. Ended the night chatting to 2 girls who told us all about how they lived through Katrina and how it affected both the rich and the poor and that the police were shooting people with AK47s simply for being out on the street. Lovely. God bless America. Then one of them told us about how she ran away from home when she was 13 and was being chased by the FBI for hacking. Hmmmm.

Its at this point on the trip we had a cross roads. Initially wanted to head up to Chicago then go across to Detroit on the way to New York. But as the weather is pretty much freezing up there and Im not sure how good the car will be in the snow, it was decided to stay south for as long as possible and try and catch one last bit of sun before I have to head home for Blighty. So the new destination is Miami with a plan to go off the interstate on the way in Alabama and try and get through some small towns.