Pike Place Market (Seattle) in October; and 

Atlantic City & the Jersey Shore in October, 

Paducah, Kentucky trip in November

more on the Aurora Fossil Museum, March '08

Aurora Fossil Fair, May '08

Art show, Myrtle Beach, May '08

Outer Banks, NC, May '08

LOUISIANA & MISSISSIPPI

View of Lake Pontchartrain showing the new bridge (left) and the old bridge never fixed (right), and the view through the reeds of the sunset

Going back over the new bridge, note the destroyed road through the slats of the bridge railing, and the railroad bridge further in the distance, it was nice to be able to make an art form of the view:

Plenty of other road and bridge building going on close to New Orleans:

Canal Street, some original buildings, some demolished, some being remodeled.  It looked better than I had expected though I am not kidding myself on the work going on behind closed doors and the frustrating delays.  Here is a grand building on Canal Street, street cars, a horse wearing a hat, pulling a carriage crossing the street

Downtown New Orleans, near Harrah's Casino, the Mardi Gras theme is evident

Downtown New Orleans, still beautiful, music in the air, horse or mule drawn carriages.  Here was an unusual white mule we saw:

We're on Decatur Street in New Orleans in the French Market area.   Here's a Joan of Arc statue at the beginning of the Market

We spotted a wonderfully strange van embellished with glass dinner plates, saucers, stained glass, glass nuggets, etc. what a sight!  The Motto:  "It's better to go somewhere slow, than nowhere fast".  Note the top of the van that has a glass chess set glued to it, and many drinking glasses.

This man painted silver uses a special powder that breathes so it is not harmful to skin, he shows us the jar.  He is part of the "Silver Alliance", a group that paint themselves silver and walk or ride through New Orleans.  Others paint themselves gold.  This is a growing group that do this 

A restaurant was boiling crawfish by the handful from this cooler, the hostess showed us how to break them apart and suck out the meat. 

Many original buildings showed evidences of humidity (grass growing from the bricks) as well as permanent damage from Katrina, though the charm was surprisingly  intact.  We were saddened and proud at the same time, very conflicted feelings.  Those who live here and remember the Way it Was will never be fully reconciled with this New Normal, as many historical buildings & homes are gone forever.

Note the interesting piano keyboard railing, and armored knights:

One store (Auntie Sally's) making chocolate pralines, we couldn't resist buying a box after seeing so many throughout the French Market.  They were delicious. 

Music evident everywhere, here is a musician pulling his specialized guitar in a rolling cart

  Colorful tile mural and sculptures

A donut with no hole, covered in powdered sugar called a "Beignet" is popular everywhere in New Orleans.  This is a typical "post-Beignet table".  They taste much like Spanish Sopapillas but with powdered sugar instead of honey:

We heard jazz music and followed it to an art center with a terrific band, Glen Andrews and the Lazy Six, music to heal the soul and bring laughter back:

A sampling of the beautiful flowers in the French Market

Oops - a SPIDER on the window outside, looks like the Monster Spider that Ate New Orleans:

In a Mardi Gras store, an appropriate T-shirt statement we could agree with..."Make Levees Not War".  There's Heidi, masking for the camera

Here we are in Irish Bayou, a tiny town virtually untouched since Katrina.  Here a unique castle home is leaning into the bayou, damaged from Katrina.  Note the steps to nowhere beside the castle

Mississippi

This beautiful new marker is on Lake Pontchartrain on Highway 10 at the beginning of the bridge

GULFPORT

Evidence of many piers that used to dot the Crescent coastline, now just the supports remain, though one or two of the piers have been rebuilt, along with a marina.  The beaches were scraped clean.  We saw hardly any tourists walking the beach, as the infrastructure is still scanty though you can drive to hotels and casinos not far away.  The one beach where we saw umbrellas and flying American flags was like an oasis

A historic beachfront property with Spanish style buildings that comprised the VETERAN'S HOME in Gulfport was uninhabitable.  It was more than sad to see the empty buildings.  A whole lot of work to rebuild.

This "Gator's Souvenir City" structure is being re-created as it was before, a welcome sight along the coast:

Post Katrina

Another destroyed structure, very typical of almost endless work yet to be done.  I could not possibly document more than a tiny bit, but I hope this gives you an idea.

by the Mississippi Master Gardener Association, 

Operation Rejuvenation Project

One of the most heartening sights we documented were the dead trees along Highway 90 (in the median and on the north side of the road) on the coast between Bay St. Louis, Gulfport and Biloxi that have been transformed into animal carvings of dolphins, pelicans, sailfish, shark, sea turtles, cranes, eagles, parrots and seahorses.  The sight of these lifted our spirits as I am sure they do to thousands of others every single day.  Making lemonade from lemons.  Bravo.

On Highway 90 in Biloxi, we found the Camille Memorial, a beautiful hurricane shaped mosaic, surrounded by black marble tablets with the names of the victims.  The bent flagpole is the intentional message of the impact of Camille.

Unfortunately, we did not learn about the Katrina Memorial built by the Extreme Makeover folks in Biloxi (and the same mosaic artist that did the Camille hurricane swirl did the Katrina wave) until we returned home and did some research:

http://www.gulf-coast.com/Attractions/KatrinaMemorialBiloxi.html

One of the beautiful live oaks, many did survive the onslaught of Katrina, a welcome sight:

A link to view some of the significant damage documented by the Gulf Coast News and some of the progress.  A lot of these landmarks and certain areas mean a lot more to us after being there:

http://www.gulfcoastnews.com/KatrinaPhotos1.htm

This was under construction at the time Katrina hit, there has not been a lot of progress to rebuild this as yet, but it looks like there are plans in the making.  They are operating out of another transitional building elsewhere in the meantime.  Great simple art hanging on the fencing too, bright and cheerful

Across from the Creek Poarch Casino right off the freeway near Atmore, Alabama was a little gas station with R. J's Hickory House, Barbecue & Grill inside, the best barbecue we'd had in quite awhile, strange but true

We couldn't resist a stop in downtown Atlanta, right off the freeway, to our favorite hot dog joint. "What'll ya have?" is their favorite phrase to keep the lines moving with placing their orders.  It is ALWAYS busy but seldom a long wait.  Three levels - the main level where the food is made & served, another level with tables, a third area of parking with roller-skate servers to your cars.  Generations of customers continue to come for all the obvious reasons, the food and the atmosphere.

 We looked for long-time employee Erby Walker to serve us, it turned out he had passed away the week before.  A wonderful tribute was displayed in appreciation.  

FRANKLIN & CHEROKEE, NORTH CAROLINA

ALLIGATOR ADVENTURE, Myrtle Beach, SC

Featuring UTAN, the largest croc in captivity in the United States

Link to Gators page 7 to view the Virtual Tour:

Gators Page 7

BOURBON STREET

We drew quite a crowd to see all the OTHER gator items we had brought.   But since we were parked in a cockeyed position (no parking spaces, of course)

we spent just a few minutes inside.  I'm sure once they position him at his best, he will be quite impressive!  The restaurant is beautiful, two stories high, with wrought iron railings, a huge wooden mantel behind the bar, Mr. Gator on the right hand side.   A real re-creation of the flavor of New Orleans.

Through the Lincoln Tunnel:

A sandwich board ad for a barber shop on a street corner

PHOENIX, BENSON Arizona trip

The fact that this was a dual birthday for both Glenn's brother Frank and Frank's wife Diane made this a special trip from the start.

Here's Frank & Glenn in front of Glenn's birthday gift to him last year, a big jasper rock for their yard

 

We went to the Kartchner Caverns in Benson Arizona, though no cameras, purses, anything carried or in your pockets are allowed in.  A mist sprayed at the entrance kept lint attached to our clothing for the duration, we went on tours through two different caverns (The Rotunda  Room, and the Throne Room where we saw the Xanadu Kubla Khan throne).  We were impressed at the policies and care taken to keep this growing, virgin cave alive and as pristine as possible for future generations to enjoy.  It is closed part of the year, as it is a bat habitat, during the breeding season.

Discovered in 1974, it was kept a secret for 14 years until laws and plans were in place to protect it from vandalism, exploitation and ensure the survival of its delicate ecosystem.

http://www.explorethecaverns.com/cave.html

    Flowing Rock (calcium deposits from flowing water)

And an angel wings "Shield Rock" that is not on the public tour..

Due to a malfunction, the entire cave was lit, rather than the lights shutting off behind us, so we had a rare panoramic view of the caverns that even some of the guides had never seen before.

Note the crashed car halfway down the slope, we saw quite a few of these unfortunate vehicles, not to mention their former occupants

Apple Tree Restaurant in Benson, Arizona

MCLELLANVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA

 

Glenn opted for the baby clams for which he was glad, I had the home made coconut custard pie that was like no other, I took another piece with me of that and the Charleston chocolate pie.   Wow!

Inside we found a gigantic wooden head, there on display from a local artist.  

The owner has such a sense of humor, we saw a fantasy creature made of a deer skull, (gator or dolphin, unidentified but assuredly legal) skeleton and a horned tail.

A giant shrimp that kids & adults would pull a string to make it "swim" through the air

And a Crab from Hell (keep your sense of humor and your fingers to yourself!)

PADUCAH, KENTUCKY Trip

Atlantic City, NEW JERSEY SHORE Trip

SEATTLE TRIP

Photos will be posted shortly, Alaska is DONE, link below:

Alaska trips

FRANKLIN, NORTH CAROLINA Gem Show

Renee and Heidi in the parking lot of the Whistle Stop Mall, having a light-hearted girly moment

EL PASO, Texas

We actually went to El Paso to cross to Juarez to get dental work done (American-trained dentists that do terrific work on crowns & root canals for a fraction of the American prices).  We, of course, explored the surroundings and have much to share!

At the post office near the airport, there was a LONG line...it turned out this was a designated day to file your passport papers for the new regulations.  This is a big deal for a border state such as El Paso.  Here is Glenn with Margie, the postal clerk who explained it to us.  Thankfully for us, the SHORT line was for postage.   A great and friendly post office!

A place everyone must visit when coming to El Paso, it retains the flavor of the Old West, and the colorful Mexican history as well

http://www.yesboutique.com/index.html

Then an unusual kiosk

The famous Rosa's Cantina from the song "El Paso" by Marty Robbins:

Another colorful restaurant: