Travel - New Orleans and NCL Escape - November 26, 2025

The sun is setting, I'm being rocked back and forth to the rhythm of the wheels on the tracks as I travel on the Amtrak Crescent through Mississippi.  This trip started as a plan in April of this year when I was contemplating how to spend my holidays as a single person.  Maybe I'm reveling too much in this newfound freedom of not having to answer to anyone or maybe this is just my time.

I spent the first year after my separation and divorce traveling to heal and now I am ready to travel to live.  That's not to say the grief is all gone or that my work is done processing the divorce but I've turned a corner and I'm ready to fully lean into experiences that feed me, teach me, and help me live fully.

So this morning I packed a suitcase, quite a bit more last minute than usual but that's okay, and then walked over to the train station.  

I checked my large suitcase so I would have less to manage as I climbed the steps onto the train.  I've never done that before so we will see how the process goes in retrieving it at the end.  I did watch it get brought up in the big freight elevator so I trust it made it on the train.

To give an overview, I will be spending the next three nights in New Orleans near the port.  On Saturday, I board the Norwegian Escape for a seven night cruise and then when the ship returns to New Orleans, I will have one more might night there until I take the train back to my hometown.

I think this is our latest schedule for the cruise.  It has changed several times.  Initially they dropped the port of Costa Maya.  Then there have been some time adjustments.  Speculation is that the ship is having engine trouble and thus can't go as fast and get as far in a week.  And with Royal Caribbean Corp building up Costa Maya, I can guess why NCL might choose to drop that port.  I was a little disappointed as I want to get to the Kohunlich Mayan Ruins and those plans keep getting cancelled.  Oh well, there will be more cruises and more chances.

But back to the train, it's a pretty full train.  I had a seat mate until about Meridian, MS when I managed to snag a seat by myself from someone who had departed.  There are a lot of families traveling together so I've been enjoy the sound of children and the general sound of people.

I bought a nice journal for this trip.  I don't remember the last time I bought a nice journal.  I'm usually writing on my computer or in a cheap spiral notebook.  So I opened that journal, hesitated because who wants to make a mistake in such a beautiful notebook or mess it up with sloppy handwriting?  But then I put pen to paper and started a poem.

I brought some food so I wouldn't have to buy from the limited menu in the cafe car and am now just enjoying the slower pace of a train trip.

We are set to arrive in New Orleans about 9:15 p.m. although I am hopeful we might be a few minutes early as that has been the trend lately.

There is so much time built into a lot of the Amtrak itineraries because they have to share the tracks with freight trains that have priority and in today's case other Amtrak trains.  As a result, there was time to be made up even though we got a little behind for a while.  We arrived in New Orleans about 8:45 p.m.

I had to wait a couple of minutes for baggage but not long and the collection process was simple - grab your bag and then have security check your claim ticket against the bag you grabbed.  I'm glad I checked my bag.  It was quite painless and nice not to have to hassle with it.

I booked three nights at the Hilton Garden Inn New Orleans Convention Center which is 1.1 miles from the train station (and just blocks from the port).  It was a nice night to walk it and I felt comfortable that there were people out and about and business still open along the way.

I checked in through the app the day before and requested a digital key.  At some point on the train, I had received notification that my room was ready.  I did still briefly stop at the front desk to ask about the food and beverage credit, breakfast, and where the elevators were and then was relaxing in my room by 9:15 p.m.  My phone reminded me that with Thanksgiving tomorrow, I might want to turn my alarm off.  And off it shall remain until I get back home at the end of the trip.

Now it's time to rest and maybe sleep in tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to doing some walking tomorrow morning and maybe finding Cafe du Monde and then I have early dinner reservations at Landry's Seafood House at 3:30 with views of Jackson Square and the river.

I love this painting over the bed!

New Orleans - New Orleans and NCL Escape - November 27, 2025 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  When I woke up, I opened the drapes to see the view of the bridge peaking out over the convention center and the sky was a beautiful splash of color as the sun was starting to rise.  I took a photo through the window but the grime on the window interfered too much with the beauty so you will just have to use my words to imagine it in your mind.  Maybe tomorrow or Saturday I'll get up early enough to be out on the riverwalk to take some photos of sunrise.  I think I'll be able to see the top of my ship poking up over the convention center when it arrives on Saturday.  That is what I had hoped for when I chose a seventh floor room on the side facing the river.

I went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast this morning.  My loyalty level gives me a $10 food and beverage credit at Hilton Garden Inns.  In my past stays in other cities that has been enough to cover the basic eggs, meat and potatoes breakfast with coffee.  Here, all it gets you is some yogurt.  But I still enjoyed a leisure breakfast with several cups of coffee and eggs, turkey sausage, and breakfast potatoes that were all cooked very well and served hot.  And they had almond milk for my coffee!  It was nice to be served and the food was much better than the free buffet style breakfasts at some of the other Hilton brand hotels so worth a few extra dollars.

I'm feeling great and I think I'm ready to start exploring this fascinating city.

I headed out to wander about 9:15 a.m. and I don't think I got back until close to 2:00 p.m.  I walked along the Riverwalk, checked out the space where my ship will dock in a couple of days, enjoyed watching the barges going down the river, and stopped to photograph the trolleys that run that route parallel to the river.

Palm Trees!  I had to take a selfie with the first palm trees I saw of the trip!

Heart Full of Rhythm by Rontherin Ratliff

The Riverwalk

This is where the NCL Escape will park on Saturday!

There is something about my long shadow that caught my attention this morning.

Sculptures leading up to the entrance of the Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium - I hope to visit on that Saturday my cruise returns to New Orleans.

Holocaust Memorial

A view of Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral from the Riverwalk -
the city is all decorated for Christmas!

The French Market was open and fairly busy for a holiday especially as the day went on!  (These next photos were taken fairly early.)

I spent some time talking to this author who was selling this and other books he had written.  It sounds like he has a fascinating life that includes overcoming a lot of adversity and hopping freight trains.  I'm excited to start reading it, although have a few more books in line before it.

I don't know what made me step into this sock store but I did.  And then the sales staff repeatedly reminded me that there was a Black Friday sale going on, buy three get one free.  Socks are my weakness.  At least I kept it to only four!

I walked by Cafe du Monde on Decatur hoping to grab a beignet and coffee but the line was out the door and there wasn't a table open anywhere as people circled.  It was all way too overwhelming for me so I moved on.  Maybe later in the trip, I'll find a quieter time or maybe I'll just check out Cafe Beignet instead.  I think they are pretty good too but not as famous.

I just love the balconies of the French Quarter!

Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral

Jackson Square

Wanting to find something to eat to tide me over to an early dinner, I stepped into Croissant D'Or on Chartres for a fish croissant sandwich.  I enjoyed it and it was nice to rest my feet for a few minutes.

Canal Street

I came back to the hotel mid-afternoon to rest my feet and then dress for dinner.  I had made reservations for 3:30 p.m. (the only time left on their website) for Landry's Seafood House with views of Jackson Square and the river.  

I like this long mirror in my hotel room with the unique frame.

I was seated on the second level by a window overlooking Jackson Square.  I had the perfect people watching spot.  The restaurant was a lot quieter than I expected.  I didn't really need a reservation.  

A glass of Mer Solei Exotic White Blend

Shrimp and crab Gumbo - it was very flavorful but a bit spicier than I like.

Crescent City Snapper - Snapper with shrimp, crab, and crawfish on top, dirty rice, green beans with a good garlic flavor to them

On the table, they had an ad for a special drink so I decided to make that my dessert.  It was fun to watch and really good.  I posted a video of it on my Instagram here.  

Then after dinner, I walked the half block from the restaurant to the riverwalk.  I sat for a while on some steps that lead partially down to the water.  Tourists of all kinds sat on the steps around me.  We all got an interesting people watching experience.  

At the bottom of the steps on the rocks was a lot of junk - a bicycle, broken carts, shoes, etc.  A man climbed down to the stuff, I imagine it was his stuff the way he was comfortable around it.  He took off the beads he was wearing (probably from the parade that had just happened) and threw them in a kitchen garbage can that was part of the stuff.  I wasn't watching him all that closely but then I noticed him climbing on the rocks directly in front of me with a large machete!  He continued to the far edge of the steps and then climbed up on them, surprising a couple of tourists on that end before he disappeared into the city.  

It was a moment where I didn't quite believe what my eyes were seeing.  New Orleans is filled with all kinds of interesting people doing interesting things - I imagine most of it harmless things but I do wonder where this particular person was headed with a machete.

As the sun started to dip behind the horizon behind me and turn the colors of the sky in front of me beautiful pastels, I got up and continued my walk along the riverwalk.

Aren't these cute little palm trees?

Woldenberg Riverfront Park dedicated in memory to Malcolm Woldenberg

I found the end of the world but somehow survived!

Below is the sculpture from this morning.  When I looked it up online in my hotel this afternoon, I misread the website which listed a number of sculptures along this stretch of the city and thought this was Cicadence, an interactive sculpture where you can turn the crank to get it to move and make sound.  Cicadence was listed below the photo of this sculpture but above the actual Cicadence sculpture, hence my confusion.  I even briefly posted it on my Instagram story (although removed it when I realized my mistake).  

So I went back looking to see if I could turn what looked like a crank at the top, not realizing how tall the sculpture was.  Oh well!  Eventually I discovered my mistake.  I should go find the actual Cicadence sculpture.  

This here is Heart Full of Rhythm by Rontherin Ratliff.  It is NOT interactive.

That's as high up as I could comfortably get in a dress and dress shoes.

Back at the hotel, in search of a water fountain to fill my water bottle, I wandered to the pool area (which is also where the gym is) on the fourth floor and got to enjoy this beautiful city view as the last lights of the sunset faded away.

This was a great Thanksgiving Day!  The weather was perfect.  There was enough activity in New Orleans to find plenty to do and the people were so interesting.  Tomorrow I look forward to touring the National World War II Museum and then going on a Cocktail History Tour.