Thursday - December 8, 2016This would be my final day in NOLA and I decided it would be a good day to learn some of the history of the city. I started my day with
The Historic New Orleans Collection. This is a museum that focuses on presenting artifacts from New Orleans history. The first floor has rotating exhibits, and the one I saw was about shopping from the 1820s to the 1920s, and it focused on the different types of stores that were popular in the area in that time. The second floor houses a collection of different New Orleans artifacts such as old maps, letters, documents, and portraits. There were lots of interesting maps among other interesting artifacts.

Map of the Territory of Louisiana

Oath of Allegiance to King George II signed by John Winslow, Miles Whitworth, Ephraim Jones, & John Johnson

M1795 Type III Harpers Ferry Rifle Marked to the 1st Regiment Louisiana Militia

New Orleans Political Sign

Desire from A Streetcar Named Desire
After The Historic New Orleans Collection, I headed over to
The Cabildo. This is more of a history museum, going through the history from the Natives (which they interestingly call Indians) through the French, then Spanish rule, through the Louisiana Purchase, and through the war of 1812 with a focus on the Battle of New Orleans.

Playing cards used as currency

Travel Chess Set

Upright Piano

Billiards Ball c. 1790

Napoleon's Death Mask

Report Card from 1842

Melodeon c. 1850

Sugar Lab Equipment

Money

Surgeon’s Chest with Post-Mortem Kit

Printing Press c.1870
After The Cabildo I headed next door to
The Presbytere. The Presbytere is a museum with 2 exhibits, one on the effects of hurricanes on the NOLA area and one on Mardi Gras. The museum is also the location where the Louisiana Purchase was signed. The hurricane exhibit had some interactive parts but some of them didn’t work, so that was a little disappointing. Other than that I found both sections of the museum enjoyable and informative.

Piano from Fats Domino

Man Who Chronicled His Hurricane Katrina Experience on the walls of an abandoned building

Remnants of Highway Signs after Katrina

Garage Door of home destroyed by Katrina

Artifacts Recovered from a NOLA area Shul after Katrina

T-Shirt Mocking the Army Corp of Engineers for the failure of the Levees

Krewe du Vieux Carre

Krewe of NOR

Witch Doctor Costume from Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club

Parade Invitations

Music of Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras Signs

Mardi Gras Beads

Yeah, because that sign worked
After The Presbytere I headed over to the
The New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint. Just as a side note, walking from The Presbytere to the Old US Mint, I walked through a filming of NCIS New Orleans, I had to be stopped while crossing the street to make sure I didn’t end up in a scene (it’s too bad, that could have been my big break!). To be honest this was kind of a bust. There is a small room which focuses on the Old Mint, which had some old coins and some of the machinery used in the old mint, but not much else. Upstairs there were a few exhibits, (which I believe rotate), one on Satchmo (aka Louis Armstrong), one on “Conservation of Musical Instruments,” one on “Soul of the South” which displayed contemporary Southern art, and one on “Visions of Excellence” which was about 2016 photojournalism.
I found the little exhibit on the old mint nice, but small, same with the exhibits on Satchmo, and conservation of musical instruments. Because I’m really not into art, I didn’t bother with the other two exhibits, but they were also relatively small (based on the size of the rooms they were in). I’d say the best part of the Old US Mint was what I experienced at the end. Everyday at (I believe) 2p, they have live jazz sessions on the 3rd floor. I don’t particularly have any interest in jazz music, but it was nice to sit down and experience some authentic NOLA jazz as the end to my trip.

Coin Press

Seals

Confederate Issued Coins

Automatic Weighing Machine (aka Scale)

Coinage Strip Cart

The Millionaire Counter

Painted Piano

Louis Armstrong’s First Cornet

Louis Armstrong’s Final Trumpet & Mouthpiece

Fats Domino’s Piano

Old US Mint Building
After leaving the little jazz concert, I headed (which was on my way back to the hotel) to the original
Café Du Monde in the French Market. I had been to the stand in the Riverwalk a few times but this was my first time going to the original location. The place was insane. For a place that only serves coffee and beignets, I would never have imagined that there would be so many people there, especially in the middle of the afternoon. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that they don’t take credit cards

. I picked up some beignets for those at home (although they sadly don’t really last). They must move fast because despite the place being packed, I didn’t have to wait in line to place my order and I received it fairly quickly as well.

Original Cafe Du Monde
I headed back to the hotel to eat my actual lunch (this time it wasn’t just coffee and beignets), pack up and check out. Twice in the 45 minutes, that it took me to eat lunch and pack up, members of the hotel cleaning staff knocked on my door to see if I was checking out. I told both of them that I was checking out at 4p, which I would have assumed that they’d be able to see since it was confirmed when I checked in. After lunch and packing, I headed down to check out. Unfortunately, the woman checking me out was new and didn’t know the system well enough to figure out how to split my payment onto two cards (since I wanted to use the Hyatt amex offer on two cards). She had to call over another agent, who did it with ease.
Shortly after check-out I boarded my airport shuttle, and after two other quick ups we were on our way to MSY. I was able to fly through security (thanks TSA Pre-Check!), although not as fast as at JFK where there was only one person ahead of me. After the quick trip through security, I went straight for the Delta Sky Club. I’m not someone who can’t stand sitting at a gate, but since I used the airport shuttle, and they decided when to pick me up, I got to the airport (and through security) by 4:40p meaning I had 1:40 until my flight, so I got myself a seat and a beer and started to relax in the lounge. I had to say, this was by far the smallest airport lounge I’ve ever been in. There were signs that said that they would be opening a new Delta Sky Club in 2018, so maybe this one was a temp lounge while the “real” lounge is under construction, but if it wasn’t then it was just plain tiny. Since there was a delayed flight to LGA the place was packed when I first got there. It took about 25 minutes, until after the LGA and other flight were called that the place emptied out.
The incoming flight was a little delayed so we didn’t start boarding until around 6:10p, which meant there was no way we were getting out on-time. Thankfully we made up time in the air and landed on time. When I wrote the first part of this TR, I was still on my trip, and I hadn’t experienced a non-front row of Delta Comfort. When I took my outbound flight there was a crazy amount of legroom. On the way back, I didn’t feel that I had much more space than I have in regular economy. It was nice to get the priority boarding and an in-flight alcoholic beverage, but for the limited extra legroom alone, I don’t think I’d pay for Delta Comfort. Then again I didn’t really pay for it so, it guess I got what I “paid for” so to speak.
That was my trip. Thanks to those on DDF who wrote NOLA TRs before me which helped me plan my trip. I hope you enjoyed the read and I hope it is helpful to anyone planning a trip to NOLA. Thanks for reading!
P.S. I will be adding a link to all the pictures I took not just the ones I’m including in the TR.