Day 15 Panama City to New Orleans

Another O'dark thirty morning for us. We wanted to get into New Orleans at a decent hour and relax a bit and look around a little.

As we were driving down the Emerald Coast Pkwy, somewhere around Destin, Fl, I was having some serious thoughts.( I know, be careful... Me and serious thought don't get along some times.) anyway,
It was about 75 degree's and sunny, the roads were great, the traffic was light, the scenery was beautiful, and life was about as good as it ever gets.

I got to thinking about what it is that makes riding a motorcycle so great, and I realized that I was in a state. Those of you that know Tony Robbins, and Neuro-linguistic programing, know what I am talking about. When I get up, I have all these aches, I am tired, I feel old and overweight. (Ok so I am old and overweight...)
I get on the bike and within 10 miles or so I am not only all better, but in my mind, I am 25 years old, my whole life is in front of me, I weigh 155 lbs again, I am limber, I can do anything. I am invincible all over again, just like I used to be.

I compare it to falling in love. You fall in love, not because this other person is so great, or pretty, or funny, or whatever. You fall in love because of how that person makes you feel about yourself. You like yourself better when you are with them.That is what is so great about motorcycles. I like who I become when I am riding.

Anyway, enough seriousness.

We crossed through Alabama and Mississippi and into Louisiana and stopped at a rest stop there. It was like an entire little town with a great yard. This is what rest stops should be like all over.

This part of the country is so green and lush. You drive from state to state and it is always, warm and green. No wonder people like the SE so much. The pacific coast is great right on the coast, but gets real hot and dry as soon as you get 50-100 miles inland. Not so here. You can cross 10 states and it is still green.

We got into New Orleans and found our hotel. We are in the French district and the building we are staying in was built 1845 and recently renovated. It is a great hotel that has a lot of charm, but you can tell the building is old. The doors are are very narrow and tall. I guess people were taller and thinner back the. LOL

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

It is interesting that they still have gas street lights on the buildings.

We got out and wandered to Bourbon street and boy what a zoo! You can find just about any kind of person, store, bar, food item and even sex clubs there that you can imagine. The streets were cordoned off to allow only foot traffic and it was wild. One lady even came up and gave us a ticket for not party'ing hard enough. :-)

Lori and I found a great little court that has some neat places and there is Jazz being played there all the time. I guess it is famous for some Jazz greats playing there.


We did make a mistake though. Don't drink alcohol if you have been riding all day, until you are hydrated and have eaten. It goes right to your head.

We headed back to the Hotel for the night to get some sleep and be ready to meet Cliff and Jackie in the morning.