Cemetery No. 1 and Garden District, New Orleans

Sunday's weather was clear and sunny. We decided to drive over the causeway into New Orleans again, this time to take a cemetery tour and visit sights outside of the French Quarter. The only way to see the above-ground Cemetery No. 1 was to book a guided tour. The cemetery is about 2 blocks from the edge of the French Quarter and has a nice sized parking lot with reasonable rates. The lot can accomodate RVs, something to keep in mind if we need to park big vehicles in New Orleans. This is also a stop for the Hop-on Hop-off bus. The visitor center was very nice, the gift shop was designed as a street car.

The cemetery tour was nothing to shout about, a few interesting stories about the individuals and families who were buried there.

After the tour, we walked to the French Quarter in search of lunch. I had my sights set on The Gumbo Shop which have good reviews and reasonable prices. It was a challenge to find it, even with the GPS and after a bit of walking around, there it was. We ordered a platter with a variety of food to share: jambalaya, crawfish etouffe, gumbo. The alligator sausage appetizer was amazing. The waitress gave me the ingredients for the sauce that came with it which included Creole mayo which I later bought in a local store. Can't wait to try it.

After lunch, we walked to downtown New Orleans which was a huge contrast to old French Quarter. Modern skyscrapers and big stores, with wide streets. We took a streetcar to the Garden District, the ride was quite an experience. Nadine used a guide on her phone for us to find historical houses in the District. It was nice that they put up information plaques on the walls/pillars of a house to describe its significance.

We went back to the parking lot at the Cemetery Visitor Center by way of the Congo Square and Louis Armstrong Park, very pretty park with surprisingly few people in the early evening.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped by the Northshore Area of Mandeville to catch the last of the sunset. Great way to end the day.