Swamp, battlefield, and WWII

Last year one of my favorite experiences was our time in Big Cypress and the Everglades in Florida. Yesterday we were in a similar ecosystem although in this case it was a true swamp (which isn't true of the ones in Florida). On Wednesday we began our time in Louisiana at the airport which is on the west side of New Orleans. We traveled east to go to the zoo and then farther east to the French Quarter. The farthest east that we will be on this two-week trip was in Slidell, Louisiana. We spent the first night at a Comfort Inn in Slidell. Oliver enjoyed swimming in the outdoor pool. Yesterday morning we took a two-hour boat trip on the Pearl River (Honey Island Swamp). We saw many alligators also spotted racoons, turtles, little blue herons, great blue herons, anhingas, prothonotary warblers, one diamondback water snake, and crawfish. Oliver enjoyed holding a small lizard. 

We bought some food for lunch at McDonald's with a gift card and drove to the Chalmette Battlefield. There were two battlefields Paul asked me to add to the itinerary, and this was one of them. It was the site of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. Even though it was 90 degrees outside, Nadia and Ian decided to take a long walk together while Paul explored the battlefield. Many times, Paul wishes that we could have spent far more time at a battlefield, but even though we were only there for about one hour, he saw everything he wanted to see this time except for the fact the Visitor Center was closed due to the air conditioning system not working. Our final stop of the day also had Paul's name written all over it - the National WWII Museum which is H U G E (284,000 sq ft). We spent 2.5 hours walking through the exhibits and then about 45 minutes watching the movie Beyond All Boundaries. The 4D movie was VERY, VERY well done. The USS Tang submarine experience was also unique.

After the museum, we drove to Parkway Bakery and Tavern which has been in business since 1911. We ate another iconic New Orleans food - po'boys. I forgot to mention yesterday that the hot dogs we had on Wednesday night had the best hot dog buns any of us have ever had before. For our sandwiches yesterday Paul picked one that contained roast beef, gravy, and potatoes inside. Oliver had catfish, I had smoked pit ham, Nadia had roasted turkey, and Ian had spicy sausage. After dinner we drove west of New Orleans to spend the night at a Holiday Inn in La Place. Oliver put on his bathing suit only to find out the outdoor pool doesn't open for the season until Memorial Day weekend, even though it was 90 degrees outside. Before we checked into the hotel, we stopped at a Walmart for some groceries, sunscreen, and Band-Aids. We got ice cream novelties that the kids ate last night and food for our lunches for the next few days (bread, peanut butter, jelly, etc.). Today will be our last day in Louisiana as we will be beginning our time in Texas this evening.