Day 2 - New Orleans to Birmingham

NEW ORLEANS

Abby and Aubrey sticking to Mimi "like cactus."

In front of the Cathedral.

First Stop: Cafe Du Monde.

Beignet faces.

"Isaac, you have something on your shirt...and pants."

Beignet girl...mmm, sweet.

The little girls begged for a carriage ride and the Grandmas were happy to oblige.  It turned out to be a really pleasant half hour tour of New Orleans.

The birthday girls got to sit up front.

We learned that this small pub is actually older than the Declaration of Independence and was built and owned by a pirate.  Cool.

Our first stop after the carriage ride was to the Pharmacy museum, a big part of the Dufliho (our cousin's) family history. 

Robin said, "I've never seen the name Dufilho spelled correctly so much."

Luke, taking his cousins on a tour through "his" museum.

All those old bottles of medicines.

Medical leeches.

The girls at the soda fountain. 

Next stop, St. Louis Cathedral.

This is a horrible picture, but it does the job of showing the awe of the girls when looking up at the painted ceiling of the cathedral.  

I just missed the picture I was aiming for here, but I'll use this and explain.  Our sweet little Protestant kids  have never seen a life-sized crucifix with Jesus on it.  These four, instinctively knelt down and prayed when they saw it.  This is a picture of just after their sweet prayer moment.  

For lunch, Mimi had a sampling of Louisiana cuisine, including collard greens and grits. 

Then we visited the WWII Museum, where all the kids (minus Amelia) really paid good attention and learned a lot about D-Day.  

See the crazed "teacher" expression on my face as I whisper my own commentary in Isaac's ear.  

At the beginning, we watched a short film about how Germany was expanding it's territory.  It showed a map of Europe and turned countries red as they came under Nazi control.  As we got into the D-Day section, and I was explaining how the Allies were trying to gain a foothold to set up base in Europe and regain territory, Abby said, "Oh I get it!  They're trying to take back their map!"

Then we went to Lafayette Cemetery and did a grave rubbing of the Dufilho tomb.

The tombs have to be above ground because of the flooding.

Back on the road, we found some boiled peanuts, a southern delicacy. 

Isaac having fun in the van with Luke.

Mississippi state line.

Abby was excited to get to color in the next state on her map.

We ended the night with a looooong drive to the hotel in Birmingham.  It was too dark to take an Alabama state line picture so we hope to catch one on the way back.