First Taste of New Orleans

Well, yesterday we had our first "adventure" (not the good kind). As we were driving down to New Orleans, we said "Hey, since our campground is so far from the city (35 mins), let's skip setting up camp and just head straight into the city and check out the French quarter upon arrival! That way, we'll have two days to explore New Orleans instead of one!" It seemed like a good idea, BUT...

We forgot to account for the fact that New Orleans is a very old city with *very* narrow streets, and we're driving a wide, tall, 28-foot long RV. We got off the highway and into the French quarter and quickly realized that driving and parking was going to be a significant problem. All streets were narrow, one-way, with cars and delivery trucks parked along the curbs, crowds of pedestrians, horses, trolley cars, and low-hanging branches. :(

While I was trying to Google "RV parking New Orleans" on my iPad, James turned into a one-way street with a Public Parking sign. It got narrower and narrower, ending with a gate that appeared to be exactly as wide as our vehicle. It wasn't safe to proceed forward, but there were cars lined up behind us, and we were on an active railroad track! I jumped out and directed James to turn around (on the tracks!), but the other cars wouldn't let us go the wrong way down the one-way street. Finally a lady in a van came over and said that we *must* proceed forward... and that once we were through we should be able to exit out the other side. So, we turned around again on the tracks and *barely* made it through the gates (2 inches max).

It was so stressful that I was nauseous and shaking for 45 mins afterwards. We managed to get back on the highway and to our campground, where they informed us that they provide a free shuttle to the city. We decided to chill (read "recover") at the campground for the rest of the day and head into the city on the morning shuttle. Lesson learned!

More coming soon about our *fun* day in New Orleans! :) - Connie