Day 10 - New Orleans and Natchez

Set off at 7am for New Orleans. Just outside Grove Hill there was a little town called Coffeeville – and we thought, we really should stop for a coffee in Coffeeville. We stopped at a little independent shop/cafe where we were welcomed by the owner, the towns mayor’s wide. The town has a population of 187. The woman was so excited to hear we were from London, the next 3 people that came in to the cafe she made sure she told them where we were from.

The approach to New Orleans was a massive bridge across what must have been about 5 miles of water – this is the mouth of the Mississippi river when it hits the Gulf Coast. Immediately, it signs of the devastation Hurricane Katrina from 05’ brought became apparent. The bridge was actually a rebuilt one – the old one was ripped to shreds for most of the 5miles beside the new one. Once into NOLA, you could still see boarded up remnants of houses and there was a lot of new development – we’re guessing from where whole blocks were destroyed. If we were in NOLA longer, I would’ve really have liked to take a tour of areas that were hardest hit and how they are going at rebuilding.

Anyway, we went straight into the French Quarter. Really beautiful architecture. All the buildings, no higher than 4 storeys and all have iron balconies all the way around. Quite a few street entertainers – simple stuff like tap dancing, singing and harmonica, but really great. We were really surprised at what was in the French Quarter. It felt like a whole collection of high end antique and art galleries. Felt like it was aimed at older travellers with quite a bit of money. But food was the main reason for our ½ day visit. We attempted to go to a place recommended by Lonely Planet, but the queues were huge and we couldn’t be bothered waiting in the cold, so we went across the road. I had turtle soup, blackened alligator and sweet potato chips, while Darren had Seafood Gumbo and Jambalaya rice. Gumbo is NOLA’s speciality and it did not disappoint! It was so good we went and bought a recipe book so we could make it when we get home.

We left New Orleans after lunch so we could get to Natchez before dark. But whilst driving we both felt really tired, so felt it was best to pull in and have a little nap in the car before continuing. Back on the road half hour later, refreshed from our car nap, we got into the town of Natchez, Mississippi at 6pm. Natchez is a historical town on the Mississippi river. It has been an English, Spanish and Indian town and showcases some great colonial houses from about 1845 onwards. Spring and Fall is pilgrimage seasons for Natchez and they open up the historical houses with costumed characters and re-enactments. But, not in January! So we went to Berry’s Seafood House for dinner, where we got to try some of Alabama and Mississippi’s famous foods. Fried Green Tomatoes, stuffed crab, deep fried oysters, Louisiana prawns, fried okra, and Peach cobbler. It was an average kinda place, but afterwards we went for an explore of the town. We found the river and on it, a big paddle boat that had been turned into a floating casino. So we decided to check it out. Bizarrely, it was called The Isle of Capri casino and it dawned on me that all the visuals, logos etc were very familiar. That was because it was the same company that opened the casino in Coventry that I did the PR for years ago. The bouncer didn’t seem to believe it was me in passport picture, but let me in anyway.

The casino was boring, smoky and filled with very fat, older Americans, so we left pretty quickly.