Last Leg

After Texas, we had three stops left before heading to Cincinnati and only a week to take them all in. We left San Antonio early since we had a pretty long drive to New Orleans. On the way we stopped in Baton Rouge briefly to check out the Louisiana State Capitol which has the distinction of being the tallest state capitol in the US. It's not domed like a lot of capitol buildings are and, at first glance, looked like any old skyscraper, but it did have a cool art deco look to it. We reached New Orleans about and hour and a half later and ate pasta at Arabella before planning the next two days in New Orleans.

Louisiana State Capitol

New Orleans

We spent both the morning and evening of our first full day in New Orleans in the French Quarter. We took a Lyft to Jackson Square in the morning to avoid parking and walked through the square and explored the St. Louis Cathedral on the other side. This old church reminded us of our Europe trip and all the amazing old cathedrals we visited while overseas. After taking some photos we enjoyed some world famous beignets at Café Du Monde right next door. They only accept cash and we were lucky to have just enough to split an order of "French doughnuts."

Cathedral - Basilica of Saint Louis

We explored the French Quarter for a bit and got some coffee before walking to the Garden District for a vegan lunch at Seed. New Orleans is famous for its above ground cemeteries so after lunch we walked down the street to Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. The cemetery takes up an entire city block in the Garden District and is home to over one thousand family tombs! From there we found a couple of breweries, NOLA and Urban South, and drank some beer before making our way back to the French Quarter to get authentic creole food at the Gumbo Shop.

After dinner we hit Bourbon Street as well as we could for the middle of the week. It didn't help that part of the street was torn up due to construction but we still had a good time. We saw a combo play some jazz standards at Cafe Beignet, an awesome brass band playing in the street, and a fun group of middle aged women in New Orleans on a girls trip at a dueling piano bar. Maureen and I split a hand grenade on the balcony of the Tropical Isle to end the night and enjoyed the view.

Our next day and last day in New Orleans was less jam packed than the first. We got a very slow start in the morning and didn't get out until lunchtime. We ate at Sneaky Pickle in the 9th Ward and planned out a couple other breweries to go to. We enjoyed the warm weather at Port Orleans followed by a snack at the Avenue Pub. We made our way to Wayward Owl which is located in an old theater called the GEM. The theater was the last African-American theater in New Orleans and opened in 1951 and not only hosted movies but also served as a gathering place for many black musicians traveling to New Orleans. Check out Wayward Owl's website above; they have the history of the theater and photos of their renovation on their website.

The GEM, now home to Wayward Owl

We had one last brewery to visit, Courtyard, before grabbing some dinner and heading home for the evening. On our way out of town the next day we headed north across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge which crosses the entire lake of Lake Pontchartrain (24 miles!) and is the longest bridge over a body of water in the world. It was a little terrifying, especially in the middle where it was foggy, but at least we don't have to drive that every day. Continuing north, we stopped for lunch in Jackson, MS and a picture of the Mississippi State Capitol before ending up in Memphis, Tennessee.

Memphis

We were in Memphis only one full day and we spent it at the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum is located at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. The museum is a powerful and emotional place. It details the history of the struggles African-Americans and other minorities have faced from slavery, to Jim Crow laws, through the 50s and 60s, and the ongoing fight to provide basic human and civil rights to everyone. History is not glazed over here and for every up there has always been someone trying to bring oppressed people back down and it is our responsibility to keep fighting for everyone's rights. It's an important museum you should definitely visit if you are in Memphis.

We also managed to find a few Memphis breweries, our favorite being Wiseacre which had everything: delicious beer, and awesome outdoor seating area, and a tasty taco truck for dinner. We left the next day and were briefly in Arkansas before our final stop: St. Louis.

St. Louis

We made it to St. Louis on a rainy afternoon in time to watch college football at 2nd Shift Brewing. The rain let up by the time we were ready for a vegan dinner at Lulu's Local Eatery. The next and only full day in St. Louis started by going up the Gateway Arch. This was my third time in St. Louis but only the first time I've been to the top of the arch. On the ride up you sit in small pods that can seat five that constantly are adjusting to keep you upright as you make your way up the arch.  The observation deck curves along with the arch; theres not that much extra space! You can peer out the windows and almost look straight down from the top. We admired the view for a bit and headed back down and found our way to some lunch.

Busch Stadium and the Old Courthouse from the top of the Gateway Arch

We were debating what to do with the rest of the day and finally decided on going to the City Museum. The museum is an amazing, eclectic array of activities, tunnels, and slides for kids and adults alike (although many of the tunnels will not fit adults). We explored both inside and outside and made our way to the top of the building and down their dizzying 10 story slide. We had a lot of fun and ended up exhausted and sore, longing to be kids again and small enough to explore the entire museum.

Stairs and the 10 Story Slide

After the City Museum we found some beers and dinner and relaxed at our Airbnb before the drive to Cincinnati the following day.

We had an amazing trip across the country and back and saw so many awesome sites. After a long month and a half we are happy to be in one place for a while, but the urge to travel and explore will definitely be back! There is still so much to see in our country (and so many national parks we can use our pass at) as well as around the world. If you have any suggestions of places to travel let us know! Also, keep an eye out for a wrap up post like we did after Europe where we'll talk about some of our favorite places and have stats from the road!