All in all, it was a great trip. I’m glad that I won’t have to drive through Texas again (we did it last winter for our Texas roadtrip and the summer before that for our post-wedding trip through the South) – and that was enough. It was interesting to see another part of the country (you’re up next New England!), though I am yearning for some large, wilderness parks.

• Most surprising unit: Vicksburg National Military Park
• Most disappointing unit: Chalmette Battlefield (or New Orleans Jazz NHP)
• Unforgettable memory: New Years Eve in the French Quarter
• Forgettable memory: having a dead car battery on Christmas Eve at a New Mexico rest area
• Best food: Oceana, just off Bourbon Street. We ate there consecutive nights.
• Worst food: Chuy’s restaurant in Van Horn, Texas.
• If we would have had more time: we would done walking history tour of New Orleans
• Best part of the trip: spending it with Kim

National Park Service units we visited (9 new, 2 repeat visits):

• Big Thicket National Preserve (TX)
• Cane River Creole National Historic Park (LA)
• Poverty Point National Monument (LA)
• Natchez Trace Parkway (MS)
• Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (MS)
• Vicksburg National Military Park (MS)
• Natchez National Historic Park (MS)
• New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park (LA)
• Jean Lafitte National Historic Park (LA)
• Jean Lafitte National Preserve (LA)
• Fort Bowie National Historic Site (AZ)

Blog posts on scottandkimmie.com:

• An inauspicious start
• Christmas driving, Riverwalk, and the Negotiator
• The plantations of the Cane River Lake
• Poverty Point and Vicksburg
• Driving the Natchez Trace and touring an antebellum mansion
• Ringing in the New Year in NOLA

Blog posts here on rscottjones.com:

• An inauspicious start to the roadtrip
• More thoughts on Big Thicket, Cane River Creole, Poverty Point, and Vicksburg
• Thoughts on New Years Eve in the French Quarter of NOLA
• This just in: John Madden has terrible taste

Some final random thoughts:

• Natchez Trace Parkway is full of really cool stuff and it’s a nice drive too. I definitely recommend some time along it.
• Jean Lafitte National Historic Park & Preserve is one of the more diverse units in the system. It contains several cultural centers, a prime French Quarter visitor center, the Chalmette Battlefield and the Barataria Preserve. Not bad for a relatively obscure park.
• Vicksburg National Military Park could do with a more reasonably priced auto tour drive – or at least allow visitors to borrow it for the tour (Lyndon Johnson National Historic Park did this well).

The post Roundup of our Bayou roadtrip appeared first on rscottjones.

As a nondrinker, many of the festivities of a New Year’s Eve celebration are lost on me. I only partially understand the dominant drinking culture, and usually choose not to participate, so overpaying to get so wasted that I can’t remember the night I was celebrating just doesn’t do it for me. The most annoying and disgusting part of the evening were the byproducts of this drinking. First, New Orleans needs far more bathrooms; it was hard to find a doorwall or planter that wasn’t leaking pee onto the sidewalk or street. I won’t even comment on how this comes to be, and how girlfriends are often charged with covering for this kind of behavior. We’ll skip the vomit and spilled drinks – and even the horseshit from the mounted police forces – and focus just on the litter problem. After just an hour or so of the party, there’s a heap of trash pushed to each edge of the street. It’s a huge pile, and it’s covering the streets. Everything is filthy, trashy, and a clear hazard. You occasionally wonder if you’re wandering through a third-world country.

Nonetheless, the atmosphere of Bourbon Street was definitely festive, and it was fun watching both girls and guys scream for beads from the balconies that made it memorable. In general, it was pretty crowded but not as crowded as I expected. Most of the girls had definitely dressed up for the night: some wore short tight skirts, some ballgowns and dresses, but every one of them featured as much cleavage as possible. Some couldn’t flash for beads given their outfit, but others stepped for them to substitute. One young woman wore no top, for instance, allowing an unzipped leather jacket to casually and only occasionally cover her nipples and chest. Given the Sugar Bowl, many beads were being tossed to guys chanting a fight song. For as much effort goes to getting the beads, you’d think that they contain mini-diamonds or something.

There was some live music, but the main stage shut down before 12:30a, and it seemed like only a few venues had any additional live music. The best part of the evening was the fireworks display, which was centered over a barge floating in the Mississippi River. It lasted longer than I assumed it would, so I was pleasantly surprised.

All in all, it was definitely one of those “you have to do this at least once in your life” moments. I’m glad that I did, and I definitely had fun.

The post Thoughts on New Years Eve in the French Quarter of NOLA appeared first on rscottjones.