The Dawg House Diner in Dwight Illinois on Route 66 is part of a collection of HDR photography included in our Road Trip 2011 Calendar now available for sale, just in time for and making nice holiday gifts.

Every picture tells a story and this one is no different. After the first 8000 miles of our 17,000 mile journey, I came to realize that when Darlene photographs her subject, any sort of thing can happen. From the Texas neighborhood watch that approached us within 2 minutes of arriving at the ward lefrance pumper, to a skateboarder taking his goldfish out for a ride, coasting through our shot while the shutter was open.

After a few days in Chicago visiting historical Al Capone sites including his grave site, touring the filming locations of the Blues Brothers and some geocaching, we decided to spend a day on Route 66 in Illinois. It was on our last day in Chicago when waiting to cross the street to the Museum of Art, we noticed the Route 66 mile zero marker on it’s post on the side of the street. We had been to a few parts of Route 66 while in Arizona a few months earlier and thought “We simply have to see Illinois’ section while so close”.

We started out early and made our way from the Leisure Lake RV Resort near Joliet Illinois, through Joliet and south west to Dwight.

Dwight Illinois

Dwight has an enormous amount of history aside from it’s involvement in Route 66. Downtown Dwight boasts the First National Bank building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905 and the Keeler Institute (now the Fox Development Center) which includes some amazing stained glass windows. I mean really amazing.

It’s also home of one of the oldest operating gas stations along Route 66, the Amblers Texaco gas station. It’s been restored to very near it’s original condition and serves as a welcome center for Dwight. we bought and mailed some postcards from here.

but I get ahead of myself.

The Dawg Diner

We came into Dwight from the north east and one of the first things we saw was this classic American diner. A little run down to say the least and for sale as I recall. Proudly displaying it’s Dawg Diner name on the side opposite from our picture, it stood there along the road in it’s red and white striped brilliance. (Update: Learned later that the most recent name of the diner in Dwight was Big Al’s Hot Dog’s)

We learned earlier from one of our RV magazines that it was national Pick Some Litter day and that RV’ers were encouraged to clean up any liter they found today. We cleaned up around the diner a little before setting up the tripod. It was a bit tricky to get a good angle because of an obstacle in our way (see video), but Dar did her best.

Using a wide angle lens includes objects very near the camera, so like I said, it was a bit tricky.

Video of Dawg Diner on Route 66

Road Trip Calendar

Have a look at the rest of the HDR Photography included in the Road Trip 2011 Calendar and then go ahead and order as many as you’d like using the buttons on the bottom of the page. Stunning imagery of places such as Rhyolite Ghost Town near Death Valley in Nevada, the Tombstone Boot Hill Hearse, a couple of shots of a classic fire truck from Corpus Christi Texas, two more all American diners from Rochester New York and Bisbee Arizona, a vintage corvette on a beach and more from Route 66.

The Dawg Diner was our introduction to Dwight Illinois, but we spent over 2 hours in the little town. Beautiful place and “not just a bump in the road.”

Related posts:

1. Road Trip 2011 Calendar
2. Day 19 – Route 88 The Apache Trail

These will go like hot cakes, don’t hesitate – get yours now!

A couple years ago I did a calendar of some of my favorite images of Peru. I got to thinking, since I took over 17,000 images on our six month RV trip south – I should do the same this year! So here is the official launch of Road Trip 2011 calendar. It includes 13 fabulous images from our 26,000 km (over 16,000 miles for my American friends) in full color glossy pages in 8.5×11.
The calendars will retail for $20 plus GST, shipping is extra if needed – I just charge you what it costs me. Shipping will be added to your total if you order online here. If you pick up your calendar I’ll give you a cash refund for the shipping cost.

CALENDARS MAKE GREAT GIFTS – ORDER A FEW!

Calendars are great gifts, staff or co-workers and those hard to buy for people. The best part is even those tough to buy for guys on your list will like it because there’s cars in it! I went with a theme this year of Road Trip as that’s exactly what our journey was – one big one at that! So the images are things along the Roadside, or things that were once on the road. We even hit Route 66 a couple times so look for some cool diners and gas stations.
Here are the images that appear in the Road Trip 2011 calendar. It’s a slide show, so just click the picture to start it. Of course they are much more impressive in print but this is a good teaser.

Click to play slide show

Odell Station on Route 66

This photograph of the Odell Station on Route 66 in Illinois is one of Rob’s (my husband) favorite images. He says he has a lot of good energy around it. We were running out of light and I wanted to make it to this town to photograph this station. We got there and it was all but dark and no lights on the building. So we started photographing with our car headlights on it for any light at all. We tried using a flashlight on it and as we started running around lighting bits of the station up – the motion sensors came on and we had an “aha!” moment. So we used the lights to our advantage – each one set off in a different exposure, some of them at long at 8 minutes. Then I worked some magic in Photoshop to combine about 9 different shots into the final image you see here. Is that cool or what?

I just remember having to go to the bathroom the entire time and when you’re doing the Pee Dance 8 minutes for each exposure is a loooooong time!  What you don’t see in the image is Rob running around setting off the motion sensors and then hiding behind the posts or around back of the station while the exposure finishes. Trust me, he’s in the picture a lot, but he’s always hiding out of sight.
I asked him why he likes it so much and he told me that after a great day exploring Route 66 with me, we got to this spot as the sun was just setting. It was quiet and peaceful with virtually no other cars around to interrupt us. The stars had come out, the sky was clear and the air was so very fresh. His helping me set up the shot and running around the building setting off the light sensors just allowed him to fully appreciate the place and be fully present during the making of the shot. He says he was in pure joy for a good hour.
Back to the Road Trip 2011 Calendar.

To order your Road Trip 2011 calendar please click on the Add to Cart button below to make your payment by Paypal. If you’re in Edmonton I’ll be keeping a list and you can come pick your calendar from me directly once I get them. If you require shipping and billing to the US, please use the button below for US Orders.

Canadian orders here!

USA orders here! Quantity/price One calendar $20.00 Two for $40.00 Three $60.00

For orders of more than three calendars please email me with a quantity as I’ll have to get a quote on shipping. Then if you want to proceed I’ll send you a custom invoice including the freight.

Related posts:

1. Road Trip 2011 Calendar
2. About Rob and Darlene
3. Dawg House Diner in Dwight on Route 66

Well, this is a bit overdue but better late than never right?

As some of you may already know, we’ve actually been home in Edmonton for over a month now.  Life has been a bit hectic to say the least but I wanted to do a quick update post to let you know what’s happening and when you can expect to see the rest of the trip.

Over 160 Days and 17,632 Miles On The Road

In Front of White House

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms

Victor in Front of Stephen King's House

Niagara Falls Lady of the Mist

Where Route 66 Begins in Chicago

Al Capone's Grave Outside Chicago

103rd Floor of Chicago Sears Tower

Joliet Prison (Blues Brothers Opening Scene)

Family and Friends in Calgary

So we got back June 1st after spending 5.5 months on the road and traveling over 17,000 miles (approx. 27,300 km) in the RV and car combined.  It was quite a journey to say the least.  Once we got home we actually slept in the RV in our driveway for 4 more nights until we could get the house set up to live in again, and really the RV actually felt more like home at that point than our empty house.  The cats, given the choice with the doors opened, chose to go hang out back in the RV on the bed mostly.   We actually had to make them come in the house and not go hide in the basement somewhere.   So when we tell people we (cat’s included) really felt at home in the RV, we really do mean it!

The first couple days back we set about cleaning the carpets in our bedroom, bringing up furniture from its storage area downstairs, and setting up the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom again into a somewhat usable state.    After about a week it finally felt real and we were in the house full time again.

Our Trip Up the East Coast

To give you a quick update on the rest of the trip since our last post, here’s a summary.   After leaving New Orleans we spent a week in Orlando (well Kissimmee), a week in Savannah, Georgia, and headed up the east coast stopping in North Carolina, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City, Cape Cod Maine, into the Canadian maritimes, and finally west to Quebec for my photography convention.  

While in Virginia, Rob did a road trip out to see Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. He’s the farmer from Michael Pollan’s book “The Omnivores Dilemma” and from the movies Food Inc and Fresh. The farmer we buy our eggs and chickens from here in Edmonton is a student of Joel’s and uses the same farming practices. Rob had Polyface Farms on his “Must see” list before we even left. When he got to the farm, they were building a new store and Joel was there cutting his own trees to create lumber for it. Rob was able to shake his hand and share with him how important the work was that he was doing.

In Bangor Maine, we parked the RV in front of Stephen King’s house and took a photo. Our car, towed behind us, was blocking the entrance to his house. Someone leaving the house honked at us as they maneuvered their car around ours. Whoops.

After convention we spent a few days in Montreal and then headed back into the US to avoid the ridiculously high gas prices in QC and ON.   We had been paying about $2.65 per gallon in the States and in QC it was $1.35 a liter which works out to about $5.40 a gallon, yikes! You can see our entire trip log map for a good overview of our adventure.

Our Drive Home From Quebec

We also both wanted to see upstate NY and I wanted to visit the birthplace of Kodak, Eastman Kodak house in Rochester, NY.  

Rob had never been to Niagra Falls, so while parked in Rochester, we drove our toad to the US side first where we took the Lady of the Mist boat ride. Then crossed the US/Canada border to see the falls from the Canadian side. After a few hours there, we drove up to the wine region where we visited 5 wineries before having supper in St Catherines (sushi).

We were lucky to make it back across the border to our RV when the border crossing guard simply could not figure out how we were driving back to our RV which was already in the US. He could not fathom how we drove 2 vehicles around the country and Rob had to explain gently that we towed our car behind us. It was a very unusual exchange of words and we had to be careful about how we described our situation.

From there we started our final journey west and eventually north, stopping in Chicago where we went up the Sears tower to the 103rd floor, saw the start marker of Route 66, had Chicago style deep dish pizza and toured the art gallery. Rob took a day to himself to visit some Blues Brothers filming locations, and Al Capone stuff including his grave site.

After Chicago, we made our way through Millwaukee and North Dakota where we actually saw nothing (there’s a story there but you’ll have to wait for it) and Unity Saskatchewan and Calgary, AB – both of the last stops to visit some of our older family members Rob’s uncles (in their late 80s) and my Grammy also late 80s.

Most of the stops along this journey were short 3-4 days with the exception of Florida and Savannah which were a week each.   So we did a lot of moving, and a lot of touring and seeing new places.  It got really grueling and tiring after a while and I think eventually we were both glad to be in one place for an extended time.    We both even enjoyed the fact we have more than one room we can each go escape to, or friends to go visit for coffee or lunch and have some time apart for a while after having been together basically 24/7 the whole trip.   A little separation was nice as we settled back into our life here.

[Rob's note: Imagine getting married and then living in a small little box for 6 months guys.]

So, you can expect to see posts sporadically quite honestly.   My sister has had a new baby and I’ve got art shows to get ready for this summer, and as well we are attempting to do a house renovation and finish our unfinished basement into a rental suite.  Yes we are nuts!   So we haven’t forgotten about our readers and fans and will get it all caught up eventually, just be patient with us please!

[Rob's Note: we're also preparing for our next adventure, living in Peru for 2 months with a hike up to Macchu Pichu and then a month in Ecuador where we will visit the Galpagos Islands too]

Stats

Miles Traveled: 17,632
Oil Changes: Three. One in Texas, one in New Brunswick and one for the car in North Carolina.
Miles Per Gallon: lowest was 6.25 and best was 7.75 miles per gallon.
Best Fuel Price: $2.39 a gallon in Texas
Worst Fuel Price: ~$4.60 a gallon in New Brunswick
Fuel Anomaly: Paid $3.99 a gallon in Death Valley in the car, but only got $10 worth so we could get out of the valley.
Total Fuel Cost: Approx $4,000 in fuel.
Most States in a Day: 5, from New Jersey to Cape Cod
Border Crossings: Crossed the Canada/US border 6 times and the US/Mexico border once. Twice for Rob.
Interesting Facts: Crossed two of the worlds longest bridges, across Lake Ponchatrain in Louisiana and the Confederation Bridge in PEI Canada.

Photo Credits and Note: All the pictures on this page except for the last one were taken either on Rob’s Blackberry Bold, or our pocket camera.

More Stats and interesting facts to follow in a post on it’s own

Related posts:

1. Home at Destiny RV

When you’re driving an RV, you travel with your toilet, but while the passenger has the luxury of peeing while you move, the driver does not. I’ve learned that before entering any city limits, it’s a good idea to find a place to pull over and pee because while on the Interstate, there are no pull outs to be found. They say the human bladder can hold 18 oz or 1/2 a litre of fluid, but I would wager it to be a lot more.

No related posts.

Day 93 in New Orleans, we got a late start on this day and hopped on the 3:45 pm shuttle bus to the French Quarter. Once there we found the St. Charles streetcar and headed right to the Garden District. I’m not sure what Rob was expecting it to be like but he said later it wasn’t what he thought. I think he was imagining a big park or something like Central Park in NYC.

The Garden District of New Orleans is a neighborhood located a short distance from the French Quarter. The area was first developed between 1832 to 1900 by wealthy plantation and business owners of the day, who did not want to live in the Quarter with the Creoles. It may be one of the best preserved collections of historic southern mansions in the United States. Originally there were only one or two houses per block, each surrounded by a large garden, thus giving the area its name.

In the late 1800′s many of the lots were subdivided which has produced a pattern of each block having a couple large southern style mansions, and being surrounded by Victorian style houses on the rest of the block. So this area is now known for architecture more so than gardens.

Victorian home - garden district

Here are several of my many photographs of New Orleans Garden District. You can still see evidence of beads and decorations from Mardis Gras on many of the streets and houses.

Chickens in the city, New Orleans

Rob was thrilled to see people keeping chickens in the city.  He wants to get some.  They had a little coop to go in and everything.  He says he’ll write more about the chickens separately, but for now – here they are!

This was in one of the gardens, I snuck a photo in between the fence bars

Looks like a great place to sip a Mint Julep

There was a photography crew just leaving this house as we walked by and we learned it is being featured in a magazine for the restorations this owner has done on the home. I keep running into photography shoots everywhere.

"Colonel Short's Villa" or the "Banks House" in the historic Garden District

Doesn't this house just scream "Gone with the Wind" to you?

"Colonel Short's Villa" or the "Banks House" in the historic Garden District

Interesting - things to tie your horse to!

Face of New Orleans Saints on a tree - Who Dat!

Garden district streetcar

New Orleans streetcar - Canal Street

After a day taking photographs of the Garden District all day, we were looking forward to spending St Patrick’s day in New Orleans. Our evening plans were to be in the heart of the French Quarter off Bourbon Street and more than likely finding a parade. Pat O’Brians would be a good place to start Rob figures… with their signature drink, the Hurricane.

Related posts:

1. New Orleans Café du Monde and French Market
2. Day 91 New Orleans Plantations
3. Day 92, New Orleans French Quarter
4. Day 85 – Dolphin Connection dolphin tour

After a morning exploring other parts of the French Quarter, enjoying coffee at Café du Monde and then the French Market, we spent the rest of the day and evening completely immersed in Jackson Square and its history. Street musicians, artists and landmark buildings like the nearly 150 year old St Louis Cathedral and the incredibly cool Pirate’s Alley filled our time, while jazz in Preservation Hall and Pat O’Brien’s Hurricanes filled our senses. New Orleans Jackson Square in the French Quarter; the heart of the Crescent City.

Outside a shop, loved the light and the bottles in the window

And inside the same shop, had to see what it looked like from the other side

Interesting shop we found. They had antiques, junk and a suit of armor. Rob bought a wrought iron Fleurs de Lis.

Evidence of the New Orleans Saints big Superbowl win were everywhere!

"Who Dat?" is the slogan for the Saints, this one is suggesting that they ARE dat!

Pirate’s Alley New Orleans

Rob was pretty insistent that he wanted to try absinthe so we found the original absinthe bar, Pirate’s Alley Cafe and Olde Absinth House, and he ordered one while I watched.  It’s quite a process, I’ll let him tell you about it.   I just liked the old bar and the fact it used to be a jailhouse for pirates back in the old days.  Pirate’s Alley itself is really interesting and on a weekend you’ll find artists around the fence in behind the cathedral.

Pirate's Alley Cafe and Olde Absinthe House

Absinthe

Inside Pirate's Alley Cafe and Absinthe House

I just loved the light and shapes happening here

Jackson Square in New Orleans French Quarter

Finally we stopped to rest in Jackson Square, which is THE place to hang out in the French Quarter.  You’ll usually find street musicians, artists, skateboarders, fortune tellers, magicians, people dancing, buskers and all sorts of interesting things going on at any given time.   The square was originally called Plaza de Armas, and was renamed Jackson Square after the Battle of New Orleans in honor of General Andrew Jackson.  It was also declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.   In the middle of the square is a statue of the general on a horse dating back to 1856.

Statue of General Jackson and the St. Louis Cathedral

Jackson Square Landmark Buildings

Jackson Square has many landmark buildings around it as well, and the history in the area is astounding.  The finalization of the Louisiana Purchase was done nearby in the Cabildo (old city hall) and opposite that building is The Presbytere which was used for both commercial purposes and even housed the Louisiana Supreme Court.   Both buildings were built in the 1790s and are registered National Historic Landmarks.

Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans French Quarter

The St. Louis Cathedral is one of New Orleans’ most notable landmarks, standing tall with it’s triple steeples that look down on Jackson Square and the statue of General Jackson. The landmark building was completed in 1727 and has gone through many disasters, both natural and “man made” in the years since. We noticed that a pope had presided over mass in the St Louis Cathedral recently, but for the life of me, can’t find the details about it. We remember seeing it though.

St Louis Cathedral

Inside St Louis Cathedral

Jackson Square, the Cabildo building

artist in Jackson Square

Jazz band in the square

These guys were really good

This guy gave me the finger and I had it in the frame and I didn't take the photo. I wish I had, it was classic. He looked right at me and flipped me the bird.

Television and Movies Filmed in Jackson Square

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, disobedient slaves were executed in Jackson Square.   More recently it has been featured in many a TV show and movie including:  Angel Heart, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the HBO TV series Tremé (which we managed to walk through a set of, more on that later) and even an episode of Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine.

As we stood on the corner of the square, we overheard a tour guide telling his clients that part of a scene from Interview With a Vampire was filmed inside and the building was used for the fire scene as they burned the French Quarter and left by boat for Paris.

Anyway, after watching a band play in Jackson Square for a while, Rob went to go find somewhere to sit and have a cold drink while I wandered around some more and took photographs.  I also popped into a gallery near the cathedral that featured some great local photography.

There are many different tours available in the French Quarter, one of them being by mule or horse buggy.  While we didn’t do one this time, I did on my last trip to the city and it was well worth it.  Comfort of sitting, a local guide and you can pick which places you can stop and get out at like one of the cemeteries.

Mule buggy tour leader

He told the mule she was naughty because she head butted a lady that was walking by. So he told her she had to kiss him to make up and this is what happened. Too cute!

Street Musicians

You can practically find musicians on almost every street corner in the French Quarter at almost any time of day or night.   If you stop to listen please support them by tossing in a few dollars, this is how they make their living. In fact, Rob suggests everyone have a wad of single dollar bills for just this purpose. Stop, listen, and leave a tip.

Street musicians are everywhere in the Quarter much to everyone's pleasure

Iconic Places You MUST SEE in the French Quarter

The French Quarter is a place of history. There are some things you simply MUST do when you’re here. These are are top “things to do in the French Quarter”

Pat O'Briens, home of the original Hurricane drink

Pat O’Brien’s

When I was in New Orleans in 2005 Pat O’Brien’s was on our Must See list and we were told to have the Pat O’Brien’s world famous Hurricane drink.  Little did I know then in that 8oz drink was 4oz of rum!  Three Hurricanes later and finding the bathroom become an issue (you have to climb a winding spiral staircase to get to the bathroom).  My advice:  drink slowly, make sure you have a DD or someone to watch over your drunk ass after having a few, and be aware of your drink count.  They are very tasty and go down way to fast like Koolaid – don’t say I didn’t warn you.  They also have some other great specialty drinks like the Cyclone and they sell the Hurricane drink mix in powder and liquid form to make at home.  We bought some and had a Hurricane party for friends which was a big hit.   Their piano bar is usually hoppin’ too and one night we witnessed a marriage proposal and engagement of a young couple.

Preservation Hall, home of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - and simply a MUST DO

Preservation Hall

Preservation Hall, home of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band – this is a definite MUST DO!   Blink and you’ll miss it as Preservation Hall is a very unassuming, hole in the wall place and if it wasn’t right next to Pat O’Brien’s it would be almost impossible to find.   No flashing lights.  No billboard.  Just an old sign that notifies you that you’re there.   Oh that, and the line up will give it away any time after 6pm too.   Preservation Hall is all about the music and nothing else.  There’s no food or drinks and not even bathrooms.  It’s a small $12 cover fee to get in and you can stay for one or all three sets if you get in to the 8pm show.   Inside there’s about 6 wooden benches, pillows in the floor and the rest is standing room only.   Get there early to line up, usually by 6pm and if you get in for the 8pm show you can choose how long you stay, then it’s all done by 11pm.   Buy a CD too!   I didn’t the first time and regretted it the whole five years until I was back this time.   The music is old-time jazz at it’s finest – just go!

[Rob's note: I requested they play Happy Birthday for Darlene. We went there on her birthday]

Pirate’s Alley

I’ve already mentioned it once but it’s worth another. Pirate’s Alley is located right beside and behind the cathedral.  Pirate’s alley is a treasure trove of neat little places to discover. On weekends artists often display their work around the fence behind the cathedral. You can pop into the Faulkner Book shop which was the home of Nobel prize winner writer William Faulkner. It’s crammed with books of all kinds literally from floor to ceiling and is almost overflowing. Upstairs is still a private residence and I’d loved to have had a peak up there, but that was not in the cards this day.

Central Grocery

Central Grocery is home of the original Muffuletta, a sandwich of mammoth proportions made out of a whole ciabatta bread. Although we didn’t have one here on this trip, I did partake of the grocery’s sandwich last time. It’s a big sandwich so either bring a big appetite, only get 1/2 or 1/4 or one, or share with friends like I did. It’s full of Italian meats and cheese and a wonderful olive spread that’s to die for! They have a little eating counter at the back – grab a drink and take a load off for a while.

Coop's Place

Coop’s Place

So after cruising around on my own for a while I went and found Rob and we headed to Coop’s Place for a really fast dinner. We wanted to catch the last shuttle back to the RV park and had less than an hour by the time we got to the restaurant and got a table. It’s a dark tiny little place and we picked the dishes that would be delivered to us the quickest so it wasn’t the best opportunity to sample their wares. It is recommended highly by most locals and is another of the little hide-aways that make this city so unique. We vowed to come back and give it a full chance to impress us. What we did have was very good but too rushed to enjoy it. We’ll be back! Besides, we had to eat here – Coop is Rob’s nickname from his days at Peak Potentials.

Café du Monde

As I described in an earlier post about Café du Monde, this is THE place for coffee in New Orleans. Their café au lait and beignet are New Orleans in a cup and a pastry.   Serving the French Quarter for 150 years, everyone and their dog has been into this place. Expect to hear “Don’t line up. There is no line up. Find a seat and sit down.” over and over again as the line up’s begin.   There ARE NO LINE UPS.   Find a seat.   Make a new friend at a table and have a coffee.  Highly recommended.

New Orleans French Quarter Restaurants

If you’re looking for suggestions for New Orleans French Quarter Restaurants, we’d easily recommend Coop’s Place, the Central Grocery and without a doubt, hands down, the place to find clean food in New Orleans is Meals From the Heart, just a little down Decatur street in the French Market.

Another restaurant in the French Quarter is Mother’s. Absolutely fantastic place to eat. It’s just on the outside edge of the French Quarter, over near Harrahs Casino

Returning to the RV park we had a chance to see a free show from a Neil Diamond impersonator.   Apparently he was traveling by RV also and did the show for the park in exchange for their parking fees – very smart!   His 2 year old son came out and did an Elvis impersonation to open the show and Neil himself was very good.  Had to remind myself a couple times it wasn’t actually the real singer.   We didn’t take any photos of it, we just enjoyed the show.

The French Quarter of New Orleans offers the visitor many restaurants, music, art and landmark buildings like the Saint Louis Cathedral. Of the places you must see in New Orleans, make absolute sure you line up and hear a set or two in Preservation Hall. Get a drink from a walk up bar and then get in line. Just do it! Make sure you check out Pirate’s Alley and if you decide to sit in one of the chairs in the photographs above, know that a scene from Treme was filmed there where you sat. Check out the old bookstore next door too. Jackson Square in the French Quarter is the heart of New Orleans. Imagine hundreds of years of musicians, poets, artists, generals and lovers as you stroll the area.

Related posts:

1. New Orleans Café du Monde and French Market
2. Day 91 New Orleans Plantations
3. New Orleans Garden District
4. Day 4 – Mormon Temple Square

Day two in “The Big Easy” (one of New Orleans other names) started off by actually getting on the shuttle bus from the RV park this time relatively early in the morning.  I think we got on the 9:30am, first one out.  We headed straight for Café du Monde’s famous coffee stand at 800 Decatur Street.

Sidebar anecdote:  funny thing, on my first trip here I was expecting to hear French spoken quite commonly.  Many of the street have French names and of course there’s the French Quarter. Nope – not even a little bit. In fact, names I’d expect to be pronounced in a more French way were completely murdered, in my opinion. Decatur is one of those. I expected it to sound more like “deck-a-tour” and when I said it that way they looked at me like I had two heads. They said it “dee-katter”. One of the odd things I noticed anyway. So don’t try and use your French here, it’s long gone.

Café au lait and Beignet

Anyway, established some time in 1862 Café du Monde  has been serving café au lait and their famous beignet donuts for 150 years.   Taken right from their site, here is the history of this coffee stand:

The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. The Cafe is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It closes only on Dec 25th and on the day an occasional Hurricane passes too close to New Orleans.

The Original Cafe du Monde is a traditional coffee shop. Its menu consists of dark roasted Coffee and Chicory, Beignets, White and Chocolate Milk, and fresh squeezed Orange Juice. The coffee is served Black or Au Lait. Au Lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk. Beignets are square French -style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar. In 1988 Iced Coffee was introduced to the cafe. Soft drinks also made their debut that year.

This is the sight you’ll see as you approach the sidewalk café.   What appears to be a long line up gets quickly cleared by an anxious server yelling “No line, no line!  Find a table and sit down!”   So you do and often it’s to share with another couple, which we did, or join a partly empty table.  No space is wasted here and quick turn over is their goal – get you in, get you served, get you out – so they can serve more people I’m guessing and make more tips.

I’m sure I saw the lady in the photo below 5 years ago too, and in the TV show The Treme which we actually stepped into the set of by accident one other day (more on that later).    She’s the one that ushered us in hurriedly.  I learned later that they take the customer’s order, go to the back to get it, and PAY for it themselves.  Then they have to collect from the customer to cover what they paid and hopefully get a tip.  I hope they pay less than we would if we walked up to the window, but it makes sense then why they want you in and out so fast. The more served per hour, the more tips they can make.

Cafe Du Monde Beignets

Here we see people of all ages and backgrounds enjoying their beignets.  I have to admit I did have some, while Rob abstained.  But the Cafe Du Monde chicory coffee is out of this world!   I love the little girl with powdered sugar all over her face.  She was watching me take her photo, but didn’t seem to mind.

In the photos below you can see the staff, busily serving their tables.  After they collected a plate of beignets and poured the coffees, they’d go pay the cashier waiting for them at the end of the line.  I watched for a while and it’s a steady stream of coffee and donuts coming out.  You’ll also notice the staff counting their money, I saw that quite often too.  I’m sure they wanna make sure they are making more than they’re paying for the coffee.

Then of course there’s Cafe Du Monde take out, so here are three tips on taking stuff home with you.

1. order any canned coffee and/or souvenirs from your server when you order your coffee and beignets.
2. do NOT buy the canned coffee from any of the stores down the street or in the French Market.  A can of coffee is $5.45 in the café and you’ll find it as high as $9 a few steps away.   We ended up paying about $8 a can just because we didn’t want to get back in the take out line at the café.
3. go to the Café du Monde gift shop at 813 Decatur Street literally across the street.  They have the same prices as the café and can ship stuff if you need that service.   See photo of the sign below so you know what to look for.

New Orleans French Market

A short stroll north up Decatur street and you get to the French Market.   As the sign below indicates it was here well before the café, and is the oldest city market in America.  It has changed quite a bit since my fist visit in January 2005.  The junk and tent stalls have been replaced with permanent stalls with secure windows and doors and the vendors have gone from dollar store nick nacks to really nice hand made crafts, food items, art, produce and more.  A place locals and tourists alike visit.

This happy guy’s name is Oscar.  He makes resin jewelry that is very colorful, just like him.  I talked to him for a while and listened to his story of Katrina and how his life has been different since that day.  He talked about how hard it was to come back and for him there were no customers, no tourists, so his market had disappeared here.   He told me he lived in another city, I can’t remember where now, and started coming back on weekends once the market reopened and finally moved back home.  But it was a tough go for him and many other locals.

I talked to two other ladies as we ate lunch and they live in East New Orleans and said many things are still not opened like stores, schools, clinics.  They have to travel farther now to find those things.  All of the people I talked to were super nice and seemed eager to talk about their experience to someone that was really listening.    I feel for the people of New Orleans who, in many ways, have been treated like second class citizens in their country.   I bought a couple books on the disaster, one on a group that rescued stranded pets after they had been left behind by their owners.  The sad thing was the city told the people to leave them behind, that they’d only be gone a day or two at most.  2-3 weeks later many of those pets were still tied up to leashes, left in homes with 8′ of water, or left to wander the streets to find food.  Some were found still treading water as they were tied to something and couldn’t get away.   I don’t want to get on a rant, but this was a disaster of mammoth proportions that was utterly and completely preventable and it’s shameful how the government on all levels (municipal, state and federal) responded.  (stepping off my soap box now).

Anyhow, continuing on  - we had what was probably our best meal in New Orleans at a place in the French Market that I’d found out about on the internet (what a great resource hey?!).

Meals From The Heart

Meals from the Heart advertises low sodium, low fat and no transfat – fabulous!  In a city full of rich, heavy foods this was a great find!   We totally loved the food and have recommended it to others already, and they loved it too.  If you are looking for a nice light, clean meal – this is the place to go.  They also do catering and bulk orders – take home a couple dozen crab cakes today!

Rob's grilled salmon, brown rice and veggies

I had the crab cakes with lemon remoulade sauce, and fresh organic greens - yummy!

Chef Averill Lazard who created our fabulous meals at Meals from the Heart

Related posts:

1. Day 92, New Orleans French Quarter
2. New Orleans Garden District
3. High Desert Market and Cafe Bisbee
4. Day 91 New Orleans Plantations

St. Joseph Plantation

Inside St. Joseph Plantation's foyer which is on the second floor

We were the only ones on the tour and we which we led by an older lady (not a family member though).  She carefully recited her speech on the stories of the house, but if we interrupted to ask a question she got a bit flustered and had to start that room all over again as she’d memorized it, or so we figured.

Bedroom at St. Joseph Plantation

The tour and grounds were okay and mildly interesting but the plantation itself was still being restored and wasn’t in all the great a shape.  They didn’t have a lot of furniture, it was pretty simple.  Not what I would have though of when you say “plantation”.

We did learn that the kitchens in those days were outside the main house in a separate building.  That was mostly because the stoves were wood burning and fires were very common, so to keep the house safer the kitchens were separated.

St. Joseph plantation kitchen

Stove - St. Joseph plantation

Kitchen St. Joseph plantation

I took a few photos of the outside, the grounds, and the slave cabin.  Every plantation seems to advertise their slave cabins as “the most authentic” or “in the original locations”, etc, in the area.  More on this later but I wondered how different they could be at this point.  They all looked pretty much the same – a plain wooden two room shack, that housed entire families of up to 5-7 people.   It’s bizarre to see how much disparity there was between the plantation homes and how the owners lived and how the slaves were forced to live.   I often wondered how people that owned plantations now, felt about their sordid pasts – more on this later too.

Slave cabin St. Joseph plantation

Slave cabin St. Joseph plantation

Slave cabin St. Joseph plantation

Laura Plantation

Our next scheduled stop was Laura Plantation.  It proudly advertised that it was named “Best History Tour in the United States” by Lonely Planet Travel and was awarded the title of “Top Travel Attraction” by the Louisiana Office of Tourism.  I was starting to think they make up awards just to sound good and draw a crowd.  This one however, was way more impressive than the first one.

We paid another $30 to join a tour with about 20 other people, being busy was a good sign we thought.  We were quite impressed with the information, the stories and the actual house at Laura Plantation (so named after the last actual lady to run it).

Kettles like this were used to boil the sugar cane

Laura Plantation main house

They use figures on boards to represent the characters in its history going back 3 generations.  Inside the house were many photographs of Laura, her parents, her grandmother and the rest of the family.  This was a Creole plantation and as such was colorfully painted, compared to those of their European neighbors which were typically white with large Greek style columns.  We learned that Creole families did not wish to show their wealth at their plantation homes because their business partners and buyers would think they were making too much money and that their prices were too high.  They chose instead to furnish them simply and have second homes in New Orleans in the French Quarter or Garden District which were much more opulent.

Figure depicting Laura's grandmother, the first women to run the plantation

The tour covered three generations of this family, starting with the grandmother (who we learned ruled with an iron fist), Laura’s mother and finally an unwilling Laura (who didn’t want any part of the plantation and had actually left but inherited it and got stuck running it).  The homes along the river were built with living quarters on the second floor and pantries and dining room on the ground floor.   (this was due to the river flooding it banks often enough to become an issue, until the put in the levee years later).  This family also had a heavily fortified wine cellar as the grandmothers husband had come from Italy where his family were wine makers.  The family then brought the first wine to this region and sold it from their cellar (notice the bottles in the photo above with the female figure).

Slave cabin Laura Plantation

Slave cabin Laura Plantation

During this tour I started up a conversation with an African American man.  I was curious what he thought of the history of the plantations regarding slavery.   His first answer when we stared was something like “I’m curious myself, that’s why I’m here”.   Then once we got to the slave cabins, I asked him again and he had a very different answer.  He felt very odd there and that if it had been him forced to endure what they did he couldn’t have done it.   I pointed out that if his ancestors had felt the same he wouldn’t be here today.  It definitely makes one think about life and how can one human being treat another the way those people were treated?   But the sad reality was that it wasn’t just one person doing it – it was many.  Another sad thing is that racial discrimination and hate still abound in the world today and we’re no closer to eradicating it.  I urge you to visit places like this – stand in a slave cabin and look up at the big house and wonder – could you have done it?   What will you to do today to help stop hatred?

Slave cabin Laura Plantation

Cat - Laura Plantation

He was so impressed with the stories of Laura that Rob bought the book created from the papers and memoirs she left behind.  We rushed out after the tour as it was almost 6pm and we wanted to make that shuttle bus in less than an hour (remember it took us an hour to get here?).   We hit some traffic (I have to interject and say that Louisiana roads are absolutely some of the worst we drove on in the whole country) and got back to the RV park just to see the shuttle pass us on the driveway as we were heading in, and it was already heading out.  Damn!  Time for plan B.

Mothers Restaurant in New Orleans

We now had to drive ourselves in to the Quarter so one of us was now going to have to be the DD.  We got the Quarter (only a 10-12 minute drive) and parked at Harrah’s casino.   I knew where is was on the edge of the quarter and I knew there was parking – so we just did that and started walking.  We had no plan other than I wanted to go eat at “Mothers of new Orleans” (advertised “best baked ham” and last time I was there they had absolutely THE best sweet potato pie!) and wander the area and Bourbon street a bit for our first night.   We waited in line outside Mother’s, then again inside until our order was taken at the front and we were allowed to get a table (you can’t go take one until you’ve ordered).   I remembered the sandwiches being better, but the pie was still great!

Of the many New Orleans French Quarter restaurants, Mothers ranks up at the top for both authentic Louisiana cooking, as well as an old local favorite. Make sure you check it out.

Inside Mother's restaurant

The rest of the evening we did just wander.  It was Rob’s first taste of New Orleans so I wanted to give him a broad feel and we’d come back and do the things we wanted specifically another day.  We did see the famous tossing of beads by men (and women I might add) from  balconies on Bourbon Street as they yelled to young women below “show us your tits”, to which many of the women did oblige.   I must admit that on my first visit to Crescent City (New Orleans) I myself did indeed participate in the aforementioned behavior and received my fair share of beads.  I was however much more intoxicated on Hurricanes from Pat O’Briens and this time around I wasn’t feeling it.    If I recall correctly I even drove home that night.

Window shopping New Orleans style

You can find music in pretty much every bar on Bourbon street

Police patrol on horseback in the Quarter and I've seen the horses go right inside even

One of the MANY drinking establishments on Bourbon Street - we learned later that locals have secret spots where drinks are 3 for one.

A new look for Rob? We were shopping for St. Paddy's day hats

One of many diners in the Quarter dating back over 100 years

Bar we stopped to watch a band, had a one drink per set minimum. At something like $8 a drink they may as well just charge admission! We only stayed for one set even though the music was good.

Anyway, after touring two New Orleans plantations, eating at Mothers and walking through Bourbon Street, our first day was done. We headed back to our RV Park and prepared to do it all again the next day.  Our plan is to spent a total of six days in New Orleans, two of which we’ll catch up on some work, a blog post, etc – yeah that probably wont happen!

Related posts:

1. Day 92, New Orleans French Quarter
2. New Orleans Garden District
3. New Orleans Café du Monde and French Market

We drove past this fire truck just about every day when we were staying at Sea Breeze RV Park. Every time I went to the gym or we drove to Corpus Christi we saw it. It just sat there along the fence, under the tree, all alone, asking to be loved. We planned a couple of shots.. some basic ones, some using a special technique that would result in an HDR Photograph of a fire truck and then a technique Dar has used in the past called “painting with light.”

We drove up to the lot where the fire truck had been parked for what seemed like years. We got out and I began extending the legs of the tri-pod. HDR Photography requires that each shot taken has to be exactly from the same location but then with the different exposures and such within each photo. I am only beginning to understand the technique, so forgive me if I get some of it wrong.

As we took our time having a look, and choosing the angle, a fellow from across the street approached me.

“What Y’all doing?”, he asked.

Ah ha.. the owner of the truck obviously, living across the street, had parked the fire engine here and then forgotten about it. Barking dogs had roused his suspicion, and he must have looked out the window.

“Well, ” I began to say when another truck came around a corner a little up the street and then pulled across the road coming to a stop in front of mine.

I turned my head to see who I soon came to learn was Lupe J Jimenez, the actual owner.

In less than 5 minutes, one fellow was on his way across the street to check us out after having called the owner to say “there’s some people messing around with your fire truck, you better get your arse over here!”

Click the image of the fire truck for a larger version

While Dar continued to take photos, I introduced myself to Lupe and assured him that we were simply photographers wanting to capture this amazing classic vehicle. I couldn’t help but ask about the neighborhood watch they had in effect and comment on how well it worked.

“We all take care of each other”, he said, that much being obvious.

Fire Truck For Sale

We chatted about the history of the fire truck and what he plans to do with it. In short, we learned that he may have bitten off more than he could chew with this one, and is more interested in selling it than doing any sort of classic auto project. If you’re looking for a used fire truck for sale, I’ve been given permission to give you Lupe’s phone number and email address. You can reach him at 361-728-4373 or by email lupejj (at) charter (dot) com. Might be (dot) net though.

Before he left, we explained that we wanted to do a second set of images taken at night where we use the special “painting with light” technique, and that if he heard any reports of people around his fire truck with a lot of flashlights, not to be alarmed… it was just us again.

Painting With Light

Bear with me as I attempt to explain how this is done.

The photo above is a combination of about 7 different photographs. The tripod is set up and for between 1 and 2 minutes, the shutter is kept open. It’s completely pitch black out, with little or no ambient light. While the shutter is kept open, someone begins to light up or highlight sections of the truck with a flashlight… bringing attention to certain details. For example, the headlights and the chrome around the headlights or the hood ornament, the wheel wells and the door handles. Then the shutter is closed.

That’s right. There are people within that photograph. However, you dont see them because a) it’s pitch black and b) over a long exposure, the person actually becomes a ghost in the final image.

Then, it’s done again, but highlighting a different aspect. For instance, for 2 minutes in one of the shots, I’m behind the drivers side door waving the flashlight into the passenger area, through the front windshield (from behind) and then through the cherry on top of the cab. Then in yet another shot, Dar goes to the rear and lights up the rear wheels and the piping along the upper rear of the fire truck.

Details in the trunk of the tree and the lower branches are lit up in another shot as well.

The only real “trick” to watch out for is not to point the flashlight directly at the camera. Doing so results in a “hot spot” or “trace” effect.

During processing, all images are combined and the result is what you see above. A 1956 Ward LeFrance Pumper fire truck, in the dead of night, surrounded by darkness, but “pained with light”. Very cool stuff.

It took a day and a night to get the photographs we wanted and I would like to thank Lupe for allowing us access to, and his time spent with us, telling us about the fire truck. It was great getting to know the owner after having driven past it for so many weeks. By all means, please get ahold of Lupe if you’re interested in making him an offer. It’s not too often you find a classic fire truck for sale.

Related posts:

1. Classic Corvettes On The Beach

Meow!  Hi, I’m Pumpkin, Rob’s orange cat.  I’m about 15 years old and my buddy Boo is a black kitty, who’s 16.  This is our side of the story of our current situation.

Pumpkin on the bed

Boo on the couch

We’ve lived with Rob for almost our whole lives.  We’re pretty timid and don’t really like visitors much (I hide under the bed and Boo usually hisses at them).  We also aren’t all that fond of changes to our lifestyle and home.  Being over 15 makes us senior kitties and we’re pretty set in our ways.

How Our Motorhome Adventure Began

That brings me to the beginning of this adventure. We were pretty cozy in our home in Alberta.  After moving with Rob into Dar’s house 2 years ago, we had just finally trained her to let us stay upstairs full time and sleep on the bed.  We were sooooooo tired of the basement.  Dar and Rob started acting all weird and many of the things we were used to climbing on around the house were disappearing and more and more boxes appeared daily.   Strangers would came and walk around the house – we didn’t like that one bit!   We knew something was going on.

My Secret Hiding Spots Were All Gone

Then one day the house was almost empty and even my hiding spot under the bed was gone and the bed was part of the floor now.  Next morning Rob came and picked me up (I protested with my usual loud meows) and took me from the nice warm house, out into a strange place we’d only been a couple of times.  It was very cold outside (I heard them says -35c, whatever that means) and my bladder instantly stopped working.  I was very upset and cold so I just peed – it just so happened that I peed ON Rob, oh well serves him right!

This new place he put me had more of those boxes and Boo was here too.  I think she found a spot in the closet to hide, she’s very good at not being found as she’s black.  This is like a house, with a bed and furniture and stuff, but there wasn’t as much room, and nothing smelled like our familiar things.  We’d have to fix that really soon!

Eventually Rob and Dar came into the new mini house too.  After much cursing and some crying, things started vibrating and rocking to and fro.  Now Boo and I were very confused.  It was like going on a car ride, but it wasn’t a car.  I just hoped we weren’t going to the place we usually go in the car where all the other dogs and cats were and some mean lady pokes me with needles.

Boo and Dar

A New Day, A New Smell

Well, ultimately we didn’t go there – whew!  But we didn’t go home either. Every day the humans would move stuff onto the bed in the morning, more vibrating, and then later they’d move it all to the big window in the front.  Boo noticed that every day when the big door opened it was different outside.  Different smells, sights and sounds – very weird.  At first we didn’t want IN this mini house, then we didn’t want out cause we thought we’d get lost or see strangers out there.  So we agreed it was best to just hide inside.  One night it got very cold in the mini house and I crawled under the covers by Rob while Boo curled up on Dar’s pillow as close to her cheek as she could.  They may not be the brightest creatures, but we love them and have to take care of our  humans and keep them warm.

Very odd that they don’t have fur.

Great Places To Sit

Oh, the small inside issue gradually got taken care of too.  Each day we’d pee in a new spot so everyone would know that was our area.  We also discovered some really good places to sit.  Boo likes to sit in the big window up front when it’s sunny.  She can watch the stuff outside move from there too when the house is vibrating.  Rob gave me a pillow and blanky on the couch right behind his chair, so I was happy to sit there.  He’d reach back and touch me now and then too, so I’d purr.  Lately I’ve been going in the window too and Boo rides on a warm spot on the floor she found.

one of Boo's warm spots

One of my favorite spots on the couch

Exploring The New Places

Finally all the boxes were gone and the ground outside was the same every day, so Boo start going outside to check things out.  She’s the brave one so I encouraged her to go scout and report back.  She said she could see a dog across the road, but he was tied up so that’s safe – and many other of these mini houses all in rows.  Dar and Rob tried to put collars on us and tie us to a table outside – yeah like we’d let that happen.  Boo got out of hers no problem and tangled the line around and around a chair to confuse them and wonder how she did it.

Cats thinking about going out

Boo, you go first and look around

At night we heard strange scary howling, so we mostly stayed inside.  We noticed too it was much warmer, even hot, outside now.  We heard the humans talk about Arizona a lot.

We Pee In The Bathtub – Sort of

So we cats adapted to the new house and got the humans retrained.  Our litter box is now inside this tub we have to jump up into – the humans pee in the same room which is kinda weird for us but put up with them and their smells.  Sometimes we got locked out of that room so we had to teach them about that.  Usually Dar leaves some clothes on the floor by the foot of the bed – so we used that spot to relieve ourselves.  She doesn’t seem to happy about it when we have to use her pillow or pajamas though.  She should be honored we are marking her with our smell, to show other cats we own her and those spots are where we want to sleep too.

I like to sleep here when Dar's not sitting here

After finally getting some routine again, we packed up and move.  We’re smart cats – we figured out the vibrating is the house moving.  The new place had lots of birds and the humans often went to neighbors while there burned things at night.  Humans do such odd things.  Boo went to see what they were doing one night but she got lost and Rob had to use a light to go find her.   That was scary for Boo, but she did get to hiss at the little dog over there so all was not lost.

Boo ventures outside

Visitors To Our House

We have gotten used to the new places, but still don’t like the moving too much.  We’ve done a lot of that now.  One cool thing is we met Kandace (they called it Florida) the lady we’ve heard Rob and Dar talk to on the phone. She brought two small humans of her own with her and a friend of theirs. I sat in Rob’s chair and let them pet me, and didn’t even hide under the couch.  Seems some new people are nice too, maybe I’ll be more open and not hide so much now.  I kinda liked that Mike guy  that came to visit us a few times too,  he’s nice and pets me.  We thought maybe he was moving in with us, but he didn’t.  Just as well, not much room.

Ah a piece of paper to sleep on!

Boo sleeps in the window

Pumpkin and Boo on the beach of Padre Island Texas

To The Beach

One day after moving, Rob took me out far from the house and put me in a large litter-box.  Boo came out with Dar too.  We didn’t know who’s litter-box it was and we didn’t like how it felt on our feet.  Then the earth was moving towards me and my feet were suddenly wet – we I just put it in reverse and backed up.  I was about to leave when Dar took me back home.  My feet needed cleaning and they tasted all salty – weird.  Boo told me her tummy got wet and her feet were stuck (they probably weren’t really, she’s such a drama queen sometimes) and Rob had to come save her.   We didn’t like that place too much. They said something about taking the cats to the beach? Dunno.

So that’s about it for now.  Rob and Dar often go out all day now so when they’re home we all like to curl up on the couch and watch TV.  At night I sleep by Dar’s hip or between Rob’s feet.  Boo sleeps in Dar’s armpit under the covers with her feet on Dar’s shoulder, or her her pillow next to her, or on Rob’s neck.  We’re very happy.

Boo breaks in Rob's new computer keyboard

I can see you Rob

Related posts:

1. Day 79 – Taking the RV to the Beach
2. Cats On the Beach