New Orleans Day Trip

Two weekends ago we took a day trip to the awesome city of New Orleans. It had been nearly ten years since Ben and I had been and I was anxious to share my love of the city with Kai. A trip to the Aquarium and The LA Children's Museum was on the agenda.
The drive down was pleasurable. Our road trips usually mean being on the road for at least 8 hours, so an hour-and-a-half was easy. The I-10 bridge over Lake Ponchartrain is currently under construction, replacing what Katrina destroyed. And from there we witnessed, 5 years later, the devastation that is still looming. It is sad to know that the people that own the dilapidated frameworks will probably never come back. The city itself is tired and worn, but the spirit of the city can still be felt if you listen closely enough.
The aquarium was the same that I remembered, but with some new animals that replaced the ones lost in the storm. The shark exhibit sponsors.
Thought this was ironic, with yet another catastrophe threatening our gulf coast. Kai enjoyed the aquarium although I think he liked the gift shop the best. He picked up two new friends, a shark and a penguin.
Next, we walked to the Riverwalk and enjoyed some leisurely shopping and some great Louisiana food and a little bit of jazz.
The Children's Museum was well worth the trip. It was less crowded than the aquarium and Kai had free reign of the place. Lots of fun things to do. The best part for me, was watching Kai in the miniature Winn-Dixie. Kids could grocery shop or run the registers. Kai decided to shop and would carefully select a plastic orange or banana and give a good look-over before placing it in his buggy. His choices were very healthy ones, and only one trip to the bakery to get one awesome plastic sprinkle covered doughnut for his mommy adding, "there is no sugar in it". What a sweet boy.
After that, we headed out in the sticky humidity to the parking lot and gave my left arm and Ben's right leg to the parking attendant. Really though, parking was high only because it was too hot to walk everywhere we were going.
It was an enjoyable day trip. We didn't make it to Jackson Square, or the Garden District to take pictures of the Brevard-Clapp house, or to the Audubon Nature Park, but I have a feeling New Orleans will see more of us soon.