January 3 - Happy New Year to all. We are in New Orleans, the Big Easy, the Crescent City, looking at grey skies once again. It's been the case for several days now, cloudy, rainy, cool, not overly southern in that regard. Soggy is the word. Almost got my mitts and scarf out yesterday, but soldiered on without.

Bay St. Louis was the same. Only soggier. We were told that after a major drought all summer, with the earth actually cracking in places, they have had nothing but rain for the past month. Our park was soggy, and there was a bit of flooding along roadways, ditches full, medians full in places. However, the hosts of the campground were really nice, so we had a good stay there despite the elements. We only stayed two nights, and spent part of our one full day touring around Bay St. Louis, dropping in at the Silver Slipper Casino down the road on the way. Half an hour in the casino, with the clanging and clatter of hundreds of money gobblers reminded us of why we aren't casino people. Reminded me of pachinko parlors in Japan, which are even worse. Enjoyed a walk around the town, which is a nice mix of large homes and tourist shops, with a few good eateries near the water front. We had lunch at the Blind Tiger, and watched some football on a big screen. Hadn't seen such a big screen for awhile.

This is hurricane country, being as close to New Orleans as it is. The area was devastated by Katrina, which is still referenced by folks you talk to because of the terrible impact it had. Our owner, Joe, told us of the wall of water that came to his property, despite the fact it's about 4 miles from the Gulf shoreline. And it went another couple of miles past his place. His campground was taken over by the government for more than two years to provide refuge to folks displaced by the storm. He was shrewd enough to work out a special contract with the gov't people, so maintained control of his property and was able to keep it safe and orderly.

We had a nice New Year's Eve with the people staying there, organized by Joe and his wife in their pavilion. Everyone brought food, and as each hour was struck, we would celebrate the area of the world starting their 2016. We even made lots of noise at 9:30 to celebrate with Newfoundland. There was also a neat coincidence. As soon as we walked in to the party, Debbie Zschuppe from Belleville let out a whoop, and we had a big hug. She worked at one of  the schools in Belleville in the office, and I had gotten to know her quite well through my work with the International Student Program. We knew she and her husband were somewhere in the south, but had no idea where. And there she was.. She and her husband are doing a trip somewhat like ours. So it was great to have some time with them, and we'll keep in touch as we go our various ways.

On to New Orleans on New Year's Day. We found our 'park', which has everything we need. Wifi, t.v., full services. It's in a rather basic area the size of a good parking lot, but it serves our purposes, as the facilities are clean, and it's run by a really nice young guy named Dave. He filled us in on how to get downtown, which is about an hour by bus and streetcar, and we managed very well yesterday. We were the only white guys on the bus, all the way to Canal street, but that was no problem.

We had a good day in the city, revisiting our old haunts, and adding a few new ones. The city was busy, as always, especially since the Sugar Bowl was played here on New Year's Day. Lots of happy Ole Miss fans were on the streets. Lunch in the French Market; a free big band concert at the Mint, which also houses three very good exhibitions, one focusing on Louis Armstrong, who was born into poverty here, and rose to become an honorary citizen. The other two were also very good: a collection of artworks done by very unschooled artists, mostly from Louisiana, and a photo exhibit displaying winners of an international contest judging the world's best photos across a variety of categories. They were amazing.

We then headed to Frenchmen's Street, and got into several clubs that do really good music, as opposed to the Bourbon Street general fare. We enjoyed a little quartet led by a pretty blond trumpet player/singer, their specialty being tunes from the early eras of jazz. We also found a very good blues band, after we caught the tail end of a group featuring a terrific older guy who sang up a storm, especially doing Cohen's "Hallelulia" as well as I've ever heard it. Pulled pork sandwich and a beer, and life is good. Caught the street car, connected with the bus, and home with no problem by 10:30. We'll do it again today, and probably tomorrow, with hopes the sun comes out today.