The Great Killingly Tomato Festival

I did say I was having a different year. Howsabout a trip to New Orleans?

Most of the first day was spent on a plane. I dislike that, took no pictures, and did my best to sleep through it. Note I say dislike - it is a hassle and you meet homogeneous people on planes. Good boring people trying to get to their excitement. I would rather drive and meet folks on the road (even if they are closer to their work-a-day existence), but time marches on and I have class tomorrow and the dog hates kennels and the boy needs direction blah blah blah normal little man. I want to get to my excitement too.

My daughter drove the rental. I dog licked the air with my camera - these are not technically good shots. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome looks tiny from the highway.  But a quick crop shows that one doesn't quite see the whole structure, and the monochromatic view makes distance difficult to judge. This place holds 73,000 people during a Saints game! Facility Specification Here.

One can see the lower levels in this view, as well as a walkway and doors to see the enormity of this structure.

 Individual structures are interesting, but for one used to NYC (or even Boston), NOLA's skyline creates a big yawn. I'm sure the soft soil, climate, and impending global doom has much to do with this fact. Besides, the best music is on the street.

We arrived at our LSU themed rental hungry and tired. This is called a shotgun house - one can shoot from front door to back should someone intrude. This particular house might be considered a double barrel. 

Here's a picture from gate to gate. As one walks through it contains a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen/dining room, then the bath and laundry area. No space wasted on hallways, without the puritanical values of the northeast privacy is of little concern, and without the economic props of the northeast, costs are.

Hungry. Noticed a restaurant a block kitty-corner and walked to it. Turned out to be a fairly hi-falootin  place with fresh food well prepared. Just not the type of place one would expect in this neighborhood.

 Delicious and very courteous service - my tap water never emptied.

This mansion was a block removed from our double barrel shotgun.

Here's the rest of the pics from the same neighborhood. 

This shanty was almost directly across from the fancy house above. Note the transmission lines cutting right through the residential/commercial/industrial area.

At the end of the street we stayed and also the street of the restaurant, mini-mansion, and shanty, was and large scale industry area located close to the river for easy shipping. The mix of land use would outrage Connecticut planning and zoning folks. In fact, across the street from our double shotgun was an Ice Cream manufacturer; one could hear the chillers turn on and off all night long. Good thing we were exhausted from sleeping on the plane!