The Famous Saint Louis Cemetery # One, LA

Call us morbid, but come on. How can you go to New Orleans and not see one of these famous cemeteries. I believe this one has been in movies and Nicolas Cage has his very own tomb waiting for him! Kind of weird to have one already built and your not even close to dying! I guess he was just dying to have it built! Lol

Jeff and I have always found cemeteries beautiful and humbling, especially the old ones.

Kathy and I walked around for a while and Jeff waited in the car while Tanner took a snooze. He later brought the boys in to explore and see this beautiful place. I did however get some info from Kathy. She said that when the bodies were layed to rest here, they were not in caskets, their bodies went into the tomb and covered or closed up. We did see some that had been open or opened, but nothing was in there. I understand that they're so old and their bodies have turned to dust, but how weird and scary to be able to look in the actual tomb.

This particular cemetery # 1 is the oldest and most famous out of the 3. It was opened in 1789 replacing the St. Peter cemetery that no longer exists.

Besides walking around and just looking, I took a ton of pictures and I wish I would have known where some of the famous New Orleanians were, but we opted out of the tour. I am not going to name these people, but I will tell you why they were famous. The wealthiest pioneer, first mayor of New Orleans, the plaintiff from the landmark 1896 "Plessy Vs Ferguson (racial segregation)and the first African-American Mayor of New Orleans lay on these grounds. Those are just a few famous to New Orleans. There is also the renowned Voodoo Priestess. I have a picture of her tomb below.

This was me entering the cemetery

Just 1 of the many sign posted around the cemetery

Please feel free to click on the picture. You will be able to see and read these signs and know what the shapes of the tombs mean.

I took a lot of random pictures. All mentally tucked into my travel brain, but there's nothing like looking at them on film. This place was truly beautiful.

Not sure if that's an open spot or someone was taken out.

Probably a more wealthy New Orleans family. Marble and lots of it.

This is a picture of the tomb pictured above, but at a distance. Beautiful

One of the many rows through out the cemetery

Ok, I don't know who this was, but we were told when leaving these thing, especially alcohol or beads, it supposed to make their spirit very happy. We were also informed not to remove those items. Who in the right mind would remove ANYTHING! You have got to be crazy. I don't want anything bothering me!

There were business cards, lipstick, poker chips, you name it was there. We even saw pages saying something that were from California!

This particular tomb is probably the most visited tomb for people who practice Voodoo. Anyone who practices never leaves without marking it with the famous Voodoo X.
I thought this was pretty
The renowned Voodoo Priestess Marie Laveau

She had all of these Xs written all over her tomb as well.

This is the famous Nicolas Cages tomb. It says, "I'm the one" on it. Really, your the one, whatever. These are the tombs I was telling you about in the beginning. Creepy if you ask me. I was hesitant to walk up and look inside, but I figured it was out of curiosity and not to harm anything or anyone. Just trying to be respectful.

Just some random pictures

Jackson walking back to the car! He looked so cute that I had to take a picture of him!

I hope you enjoyed the history lesson! I have always wanted to visit one of these cemeteries in New Orleans.

Some have called it one of the most haunted graveyards. We didn't see anything, but its definitely a different feeling from any other that I have been to.

More Pictures Of New Orleans

I wanted to share a few more pictures of New Orleans with you! They're just to pretty and that would be rude of me not to share them with you! Hope you enjoy them!

New Orleans French Quarter

Where do I even begin with this post! I have to first say that I had no clue as to what to expect before seeing the French Quarters or any of New Orleans. I have only seen pictures, TV shows and heard about the place. It's an amazing thing to see, all of the history and culture that came and is there. The atmosphere alone is awesome!

This would be a place to live if we had no kids and I would definitely want to live downtown. It has that small coastal feel, but in a big city. Kind of like San Francisco/San Diego. You can walk just about anywhere and most of the streets are one way or no cars at all. This place really doesn't even belong in the United States. It's like your in a different country.

We spent the morning exploring the Saint Louis Cemetery, (more pictures to come) walked around the French Quarter popping in some shops, taking pictures and had lunch. We hit the road around 1:30 and headed to Florida. We definitely plan on going back and spending the weekend. There are so many things to do and see. They had a zoo and aquarium downtown that the kids would love to see, so that would be fun for them!

I'm going to give a brief description and include links if you want a history lesson!

This was heading into the French Quarter. I was taking pictures from the car because it was raining. So some aren't that great. Lots of iron railing and most of these building are commercial, but the second and third floors are condo or apartments.

New Orleans is known for their black magic or Voo Doo. This is one of the markets to buy supplies.

A lot of the condo patios were decorated for Mardi Gras which is this Tuesday, Feb 21st!
Random picture.

I took a lot of these that you'll see. The colors are amazing and the flowers were so pretty.

St. Louis Cathedral, it's also known as Basilica of St. Louis, Rio de France. It's the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States. Click on the link and read more if you'd like. There have been three built. The very first was in 1718 and after a fire and then a expansion this is what stands today. Very interesting information.

It's very beautiful and so very large. Maybe next time we will get to see the inside!

Bourbon Street sign.
Waiting for Kathy while she was getting us a treat.
Another picture of the Cathedral. If you notice the cobblestone streets surrounding it.
Random picture
Tanner man checking things out!
Fleur-de-lis

These are everywhere! Fleur-de-lis means flower in french and comes in the form of a Lily or Iris. Its associated with the French monarchy. So this explains why its so popular in New Orleans, the french came to New Orleans long ago.

Kathy running around with Jackson in the stroller!

One of the restaurants we wanted to eat at! It was a little to expensive and we weren't dressed appropriately.

One of the great things down there were the art galleries! Really cool stuff that caught our eye. I couldn't help take this one. Love the color and style.

Beignets from Cafe Du Monde. Can I say heavenly and we ate all nine of them in just a few hours.

Cafe Du Monde

Known for their cafe a lait and french style beignets.
Its a famous cafe in New Orleans and as we were walking around the cemetery I ran into a lady who was very friendly and recommended we go there. So we did and it was wonderful.

So colorful!

Love this picture! I will be framing this one!

Random

We stopped here before heading on out. I got a mascaraed mask and some gifts for my siblings. I can't wait to give them their surprises when I see them.

I also didn't realize what the alligator was wearing until I uploaded the pictures! Go figure, oh well! It was cute and the kids got a kick out of him!

This was by far the coolest place I've seen so far. I can't wait to return and hopefully take some of you there when you visit.

Something that won't be forgotten and I'm so glad the kids got to see it.

I have a ton of pictures I didn't post so if you want to see those let me know!?

I also have another post of the famous St. Louis Cemetery coming! Those are really cool!

West Coast To The East Coast III

I'm sure your all tired of my road trip posts, but I'm pretty sure some of you are interested in seeing what the lower part of the states looks like!

I am also going backwards, but that's why it's called West Coast To The East Coast!

This is also going to be long, but short! I just wanted to share a few pictures with a short description so you can see some of the things we did!

As we drove through El Paso, Texas on the 10 you get a weird feeling looking to the right and seeing Mexico. The border is literally 200 yards from the Interstate. Jeff has told me before that he has seen immigrants walking the fence.

Lovely Texas. No offense to those who love this state. There's just nothing to look at and I don't enjoy the desert seen.
The only good thing about this drive through Texas..... Do you see the speed limit! Awesome!
Jeff really enjoyed the waffles!
They had these babies at the 2 hotels we stayed at in Texas. We thought they were hilarious, never seen this before!
Texas flag before heading into Louisiana

Had to take this being Louisiana is known for Mardi Gras. And boy do they decorate, more pictures to come!

Truckin along!

We had to tow a friends car to New Orleans and drop it off for him on our way. This worked out great because we got to spend a short time site seeing. Although this meant we would pass some friends that we wanted to see. Next time we will take our time and see those people.

This picture is to show you how much water occupies the south. There are bridges every where, I really don't think you realize how much water is there by looking at a map.

This bridge was heading into Baton Rouge and takes you over the Mississippi River. I think we crossed it twice during this trip.

Downtown Baton Rouge

LSU stadium

Downtown New Orleans.

There's the Super Dome!

The Saints practice facility.

We actually got to see a few things driving into New Orleans the first day. It was all from the road, but at least we saw it!
The next day as we were leaving New Orleans, we passed a lot of the Katrina devastation that hasn't recovered. It's hard to explain how you feel seeing all of this. I couldn't imagine what these people went through and how they felt. My heart broke seeing these home destroyed and parts of the city that has changed so much.

Jeff and I watched a TV program after settling here in FL about the history of New Orleans and whats changed. Some for the good and some for the worst. All I know is that it's something to see.

After leaving Louisiana, it didn't take long getting to Florida. We passed through Mississippi, Alabama (which took a whole 60 miles) and finally stopping in Florida for the night. There was a Tornado warning the night before we left LA and it actually touched down in Alabama up by Bham. So we got some weather when we got into FL.

Biloxi, MS

This tunnel is in Alabama, which is really pretty. Lots of water and as you get into these Southern States, I do have to say they are so clean and lush. One thing we missed when we left MS.

More Interstate Bridges

And here we are!

1 more night and 5 more hours till we got there!

So that's what your bottom states kind of look like. All of this traveling is making me want to see more of the world! I am so glad that Jt can remember these things and hopefully Tanner will enjoy our stories and pictures of what his second year of life was like! Desert, Snow and off to the South he goes........