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Travelogue: New
Orleans, November 2016
By Roger W.
Reini
This is the
story of a brief trip to New Orleans during Election Week
of 2016. Why then? There were only three days of work this
week at the office, as Election Day and Veterans Day were
holidays. I wanted to go somewhere, and I'd never rally
been to New Orleans before. I'd driven near it several
times, and I'd driven through it once or twice, but I'd
never really visited. Now I had just been on a vacation to
Houston a month earlier, so why didn't I go then? There
wasn't that much time then; also, if I'd gone then, I
would have missed out on some enjoyable events. And this
was also an excuse for me to take the train out of
Dearborn for the first time from the new station.
November 4
The day started much like an ordinary workday, except that I
worked from home this morning instead of going into the office.
That way, my work laptop and phone would remain safe at home
rather than in the trunk of my car. I suppose I could have left
them at the office, but I didn't, I’d started early, so by10:30,
my workday was done, and I finished my last-minute packing. I
had to put out a bag of garbage that wasn't full but was giving
off an odor. I turned the temperature on the thermostat down to
65, and then I got into my car and left.
It took the usual amount of time to get to Dearborn, a half-hour
or so, and then I was at the new train station, a much nicer
facility than the old one. I retrieved my luggage from the
trunk, locked the car, and went inside. I visited the restroom
and then found a seat. I made sure that my e-ticket was on my
iPhone (it was). Soon, the boarding call came, and those of us
taking the train went out to the platform. At the old station,
one had to go up to the platform by steps or by ramp, but here,
the track was at station level. It was 11:45 when the train
pulled in and we boarded. I was holding onto my suitcase with
one hand and my iPhone with the other; I should have put the
phone in its holster, for I stumbled on the steps; I didn’t
fall, fortunately. I found a seat in the next car from where I
had boarded; it was a rear-facing seat, so I would be seeing
where we had been but not where we were going. But the route was
familiar to me, even if I hadn't been n the train for 6 years.
I noticed that it took around 20 minutes to reach I-275. 25
minutes after that, we were nearing Ann Arbor, which still had
its 70's-vintage train station, similar to the old Dearborn one.
Later on, I went to the Cafe Car for my lunch: a cheeseburger, a
bag of chips and a bottle of water. The cheeseburger was very
hot after being microwaved; it was edible. At times, I plugged a
charger into one of the plugs at the seat and charged my iPad.
Not knowing these plugs were there, I had bought a
large-capacity external battery.
We passed through Battle Creek; I did not eat any cereal in
honor of the occasion. We went through Kalamazoo and Niles and
New Buffalo. When we crossed into Indiana, I reset my watch to
Central time. My iPhone reset automatically, and once I'd
connected my iPad to the iPhone, it reset too.
An hour or so later, we were in Chicago. Union Station was a
madhouse filled with people trying to return home from the
victory parade for the Cubs, who had won the World Series two
days prior. There was no way to get from the train concourses
into the Great Hall. I had to leave the building in order to
cross the street and enter the Great Hall. The place was packed!
I went to the Amtrak kiosk in the middle of the hall looking for
a boarding pass for the train to New Orleans, but I was told
that due to the crush, passes were not required today. That was
fine by me.
I knew there was a food court on the second level. It took some
time, but I made it up there. All of the escalators had been
turned off, so I had to walk up one. I took off my coat (the
jacket I had worn on my Alaska trip) and put it in the suitcase
because I was getting warm. I wasn't sure what I wanted, other
than a diet, caffeine free drink. I found one at one of the
newsstands, and then I found my dinner at Asian Cajun. That
meant lo mein, lemon chicken and an egg roll. Honestly, it was
more Asian than Cajun, But it was good enough, and it
enabled me to sit down and enjoy my supper. I took my time
eating, for I wanted the crowds to thin out. I saw several
people pass by in their Cubs gear; they were happy.
After I finished, I went back outside for a while and walked
around. It wasn’t easy, not with rolling a suitcase behind me,
but I managed. I eventually went back inside, found my way to
the Great Hall, and had a seat. The crowds were gone by then,
but there were still some vendors of Cubs memorabilia inside.
Several “W” flags were hanging on the walls. For the next hour
or so, I waited to board the train on the benches that became
harder and harder as the minutes passed. Eventually, at 7:35, we
got the call to board. We lined up behind a clerk carrying a
sign with the track number for our train, and we paraded through
the station. Soon, we reached track 22, and I walked down to my
coach car: coach 20, seat 22.
At 8:05, the train left the station. It was going backwards, for
it had to align itself correctly for the trip down south. That
didn’t take very long, and soon, we were heading out of town.
This train did not have a proper dining car; it just had a cafe
car. I went to that cafe car for a can of Diet Pepsi. At times,
I conversed with my seat mate, a Polish-American woman heading
to Memphis to return to her family after the death of her
mother. We mainly talked about smartphones. The train went
through Homewood and Kankakee; by that time, most everyone was
settling in to sleep.
Top
November 5
The seats were harder than I remembered them -- or was it that
my rear end was less padded than in the past? Either way, it led
for some uncomfortable sleeping. I couldn't really stretch out.
I did sleep some, that I know, no thanks to the nearby
snorers
When we arrived in Memphis, my seatmate left me and got off the
train to return to her family. I got off the train briefly to
get a stretch and some fresh air; I did have to stay away from
the smokers to get that fresh air, though. Back on the train, I
had a 2-part breakfast: an Atkins bar first, and then a cinnamon
bun and a Diet Pepsi. At one of the points where I had good
phone service, I was able to learn that Clear Creek ended its
football season on a winning note, beating Clear Falls. When I
didn't have good service, I continued reading the book Islam at
the Crossroads.
At 9:45, the conductor said we would be 45 minutes late into
Jackson, MS, but when we arrived at 11:35, we were only 15
minutes behind schedule. We must have made up some time en
route. Later on while the train was near Hazelhurst, I had a
slight mishap in the bathroom. It wasn’t anything serious; it
had to do with one of the problems inherent to using the
bathroom on a train where you don’t know if/when the car will
lurch on you while you’re going. It’s more of a problem for men
than for women.
Lunchtime approached; I decided to have another cheeseburger.
Our train passed Middendorf's Restaurant, where the cuisine is
much better than the cafe car (spoken from experience, as I had
eaten there a few years earlier), but we didn't stop. We
continued onward along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain and
occasionally beside some freeways. Finally, around 3:15, or some
15 minutes ahead of schedule, we pulled into the New Orleans
train station. It was within walking distance of both the
Superdome and the Smoothie King Arena, as well as my hotel (more
on that later).
The inside of the train station reminded me of an airport
terminal of the 50's or 60's. The building was probably of that
vintage, I figured. After making a bathroom stop, I took a
glance around. The vending machines carried Sprite Zero; good!
There was a Subway restaurant there; that might be where I have
lunch on Tuesday, I thought. Then I walked the 3 blocks or so to
the hotel, the Hyatt House on Poydras west of Loyola. I should
have put my jacket in the bag, for I was rather warm and sweaty
after walking there with temperatures in the 70's. The hotel
lobby was on the 11th floor, wth guest rooms on the 11th though
17th floors. My room was 1670, which had a good view of the
Superdome and the arena. And far below, I could see the swimming
pool of the Hyatt Regency. It was available to us in the Hyatt
House, but I wasn't going to take advantage of it ( no swimsuit,
for one thing).
As evening approached, one decision loomed in front f me: what
would I do for supper? The hotel guide mentioned one of
the restaurants over in the Hyatt Regency, so I decided to go
there. Unfortunately, that restaurant was closed; I would later
learn it was never open for dinner. Many people were walking
around in black tie; there was definitely one or more fancy
events taking place there. I would not be eating supper there,
that’s for sure. After checking on my phone, I found a Mexican
restaurant, Las Margaritas, not far from the hotel on Rampart
Street. As I ate my three-enchilada meal, I was listening to the
music playing in the restaurant. I swear that one song was
played by a group that sounded like the Police except that they
sang in Spanish.
Back at the hotel, I turned on some college football. Michigan
State’s game was long since over, and in a few weeks, so would
be their season; they lost their seventh game today, meaning no
bowl game. The only bowl they would see this year would be the
toilet bowl. Oregon and USC were playing, and I started to watch
them, but I fell asleep before the game ended. When I awoke,
another game was on, one involving Washington. I didn’t stay up
for that one, for I was sleepy. I turned it off and called it a
night.
Top
November 6
Tonight was the night the country returned to Standard Time. I
had changed my watch but had left the hotel clock alone,
wondering if it would change on its own; it didn’t. But the
extra hour of sleep or rest was helpful, though. When I got up,
I took a shower; unfortunately, the bottom of the tub was rather
slippery, so I had to really be careful in there. I’d already
experienced a slip in my bathtub at home (I caught myself) and
didn’t want a repeat. I turned on the TV for a news report and
saw a campaign ad for John Kennedy for Senate. This John Kennedy
was more of a conservative than any of the other Senators
Kennedy.
The breakfast bar was similar to that at the Hyatt Place hotels,
perhaps slightly fancier. One thing that was different: I was
asked to show my room key to prove I was a guest and thus
entitled to the bar. What did I have to get ready for the day
ahead? I dined on scrambled eggs, sausage links, home fries,
Special K and a small danish, along with glasses of orange and
apple juices.
Back at the room, I used my iPhone to figure out the best way to
get to the Audubon Aquarium. It ended up being more or less a
straight shot down Poydras Street from the hotel, about a mile
away. The weather was nice, so I decided to walk there, taking
my iPhone and my DSLR camera with me. As I walked to the
riverfront, what I saw reminded me of Galveston. I couldn’t say
exactly how it did, but it did. One thing that didn’t remind me
of Galveston was Harrah’s, the casino/hotel complex at the end
of Poydras Street. Now I was very close to the aquarium, but I
didn’t want to go in right away. No, I walked along the
riverfront for a while, seeing what there was to see there. I
saw seagulls, some boats heading down the river, the Crescent
City Bridge, and other people enjoying the warm weather. By this
time, it was 10:30, so I made my way to the aquarium and went
inside. I went to the bathroom, got a guide, and started my
tour.
The aquarium was pretty busy that morning. I didn’t know if that
was usually the case, but there was a reason for it to be extra
busy today. What was that reason? Mermaids from Florida’s Weeki
Wachee Springs would be performing for two weekends, and today
was the last day of the first weekend. I made my way
through most of the exhibits fairly quickly (I would come back
to them later) and reached the Gulf of Mexico exhibit, which was
jam-packed with people waiting to see a mermaid. Suddenly, there
she was! She swam around the tank, taking occasional breaths
from her air hose, waving to the children at the base of the
glass, blowing kisses and making bubble hearts. There were
sharks in the tank with her, but safety divers with large sticks
were always on the watch, keeping them away from her. I moved
around from one location to another as best I could to get
better perspectives for pictures. I wasn’t sure how well the
pictures would turn out, for the tank appeared rather dark.
After a half-hour or so, there was shift change, and another
mermaid swam in the tank.
By this time, I was hungry, so I moved on and went back through
the exhibits, taking a little more time to review them, and then
visiting the food court on the second level. I got a grilled
chicken sandwich that wasn’t very good, but there wasn’t much
alternative. Afterwards, I continued my tour. The Gulf of Mexico
tank was empty, meaning that the maids were no longer there and
neither was the crowd. They’d moved to the Maya Reef tank
elsewhere in the aquarium, and so did I. Here, visitors could
get right next to the glass for closer encounters with the sea
life, or in this case, the mermaids. They were here for two
hours, which enabled me to see three of the four mermaids in
attendance; I’d go around and visit the other exhibits for a
time, then come back after the shift change.
When I left the aquarium, I walked downstream along the
riverfront for a ways, passing by the steamboat Natchez as it
pulled out for an afternoon cruise. I walked up to Jackson
Square in the French Quarter. The Washington Artillery Park
across the street made a good platform to observe the activities
in and near the square, and there were a lot of activities.
Horse-drawn carriages lined the street, and sellers of art lined
the sidewalk. In the distance, I could hear Dixieland jazz. I
went inside the fenced-in square and took some pictures, but I
wasn’t in the mood for exploring more of the French Quarter
(that might sound sacrilegious to come), so I started walking
back towards Poydras Street and the hotel. It felt like a long
walk back to the hotel than going to the aquarium. Once I got
there, I went to the Hyatt Regency to get a bottle of water and
a bottle of caffeine-free Diet Coke. When I returned to the
Hyatt Place lobby, I happened to see some coverage of the Lions
game: they had beat the Vikings in overtime and were heading
into their bye week with a 5-4 record (hurray!).
Back in my room, I saw that Housekeeping had not come. I’d been
out of my room for over 6 hours, and that should have been
plenty of time for my room to be cleaned, but it wasn’t, not
today. I put out a Do Not Disturb site and turned on the
Saints-49ers game while I downloaded pictures onto my
iPad. I had taken a LOT of pictures today, and it took a while
to download them. Some of them were out of focus, but many of
them turned out quite well; I was happy I’d visited the aquarium
today. Later on, I stayed in the hotel for supper, taking
advantage of their Bar Bites. That meant some tomato bisque and
some boneless chicken wings, along with a Diet Pepsi. They were
all right. I just wished there had been more dining options
nearby. Then it was back to the room for some Sunday Night
Football.
Top
November 7
As I was waking up, I noticed that it was fairly light outside.
I looked at the clock radio: it said 5:15. That didn’t
seem right, not for early November. I looked at my watch: it
said 6:15. I looked at my iPad: it also said 6:15. It looked
like that the clock radio DID change by itself to standard time
after all; I shouldn’t have reset it manually yesterday. So I
reset it to the correct time. Later, I went down to the lobby
for breakfast and ate about the same as I had eaten yesterday.
Today, though, I discovered that grits were on the menu, so I
had some of those.
My plans for today were simple: visit the National World War II
Museum. I thought I would walk there again today, as it was less
than a mile away from the hotel. Now rain was in the forecast,
but I didn’t bring an umbrella with me. I’d considered bringing
one from home, but I didn’t. I was monitoring the weather
reports, which suggested that it would arrive later in the day.
And so, I set off for the museum without an umbrella. I could
have borrowed one from the hotel front desk, but I didn’t. It
was fairly warm that morning, and I was a bit sweaty when I
reached the museum before 10. I tried cooling off as best as I
could while I waited in line to buy my ticket. Actually, I
bought two tickets, one for the main museum and one for the
introductory film Beyond All Boundaries. The next showing of the
film was 10 AM, so I took the skywalk across the street to the
theater, making sure to visit the restroom beforehand.
There was a short pre-show before the main attraction, which
summarized world events leading up the the attack on Pearl
Harbor. At its conclusion, we went inside the theater and took
our seats. The film was actually more of a multimedia
attraction, for various artifacts were integrated into the
production (an old-time radio, the nose of a bomber, etc.). It
provided a good overview of the main events of the war. When it
was over, I crossed back over to visit the Dog Tag Experience,
which consisted of boarding a troop train and registering the
electronic “Dog Tag” I was given when I bought my tickets. by
registering, my dog tag would be associated with the story of
one particular soldier. I would learn about his experiences
during and after the war. My soldier was Joseph Diamond from New
Jersey, a combat medic in the European Theater. Then I ended up
crossing that skywalk again to the main exhibit halls.
The two main exhibits focused on the road to Tokyo and the road
to Berlin. A mix of informative displays, artifacts from the
period and film displays showed the course of the war in both
theaters. Electronic displays allowed one to track the story of
the soldier associated with one’s dog tag. I did so in the Road
to berlin display and learned that Diamond had originally been
in the Signal Corps, tried to become a pilot in the Army Air
Corps but couldn’t pass muster, then finally became a medic. He
served with distinction, and after the war, he sold insurance.
At some point during my tour, I noticed that it was raining
outside. I had no umbrella, and I didn’t relish the thought of a
long walk in the rain. Fortunately, the gift shop sold
umbrellas. I got a small umbrella with a flag design (small for
packing in my suitcase), along with a shirt with the message
“Than You Veterans For My Freedom,” a very appropriate message
in light of Veterans Day being near; heck, it’s a very
appropriate message at any time. I tried to eat lunch at the
American Cafe, but there was a 20-minute wait, so I
passed. By this time, I was a bit tired and wanted to go
back to the hotel. I’m not sure, but I might have missed viewing
one of the exhibit halls; if I did, I’ll have to make a return
visit.
My walk back to the hotel was a wet one. The umbrella did keep
me dry, somewhat; it was a bit small for someone of my size, and
my back would get wet. Of course, my shoes and the bottom of my
pants were getting soaked. I returned to my room only to
discover that Housekeeping had still not been by (this was 2
PM). But before I could get too angry about it, there was a
knock at the door: it was Housekeeping. At last! I waited in the
elevator lobby while the maid cleaned my room; that took 5 to 10
minutes. When she was finished, I went inside and then changed
out of my wet clothes, hanging them up to dry in the bathroom. I
couldn’t watch TV because the hotel used DirecTV, which doesn’t
work well during rainstorms, so I used my iPad.
A couple of hours later, it was suppertime. It was still raining
outside, and my shoes were still soaking wet. I did have bedroom
slippers that could pass for regular shoes, so I went over to
the Hyatt Regency in my slippers. I checked the Lagniappe
Exchange for sandwiches, but they were out, so I went to the
Vitascope Hall and had a burger. That burger (including bun and
toppings) was so thick and messy that I eventually had to resort
to using a knife and fork to eat it. My table was facing a bank
of TVs tuned to ESPN, so while I ate, I was treated to an
up-close-and-personal view of Monday Night Countdown. Back in
the room, I turned on the Monday Night Football game between
Buffalo and Seattle. My clothes from earlier today were still
wet; I would not be doing any packing tonight.
Top
November 8
Today at breakfast, I did something I’d never done before: I ate
oatmeal from a plate, not a bowl or dish. That was very strange,
but I and no choice. The breakfast bar had three sizes of
plates, but there were no dishes or bowls. They did have cereal,
but it came in individual serving packs, so no dishes were
necessary there.
I wore my shoes for breakfast. I’d had to use the hair dryer on
them to speed up the drying process, and I never got them
completely dry, but I got them dry enough. My other clothes had
dried off overnight, which enabled me to pack. And now I had a
long wait. The train would not leave until 1:45 PM, but I didn’t
have to check out until noon. While I waited, I watched the
WeatherNation channel for a time, then turned on CNN with early
Election Day coverage. I wouldn’t be able to watch the election
returns come in on TV, for I would be on the train (more on that
later).
Around 11:30, I decided to leave the room and check out. It was
still too early to head to the train station, so I sat in the
lobby for an hour or so before leaving through the Hyatt
Regency. I made it to the train station around 12:50 or 12:55.
There was time for lunch, so I went to the Subway and got a
6-inch carved turkey sub and a bottle of Sprite Zero. I had just
enough time to finish the sandwich before I heard the call to
board the train. I was on the rearmost coach car, and I didn’t
have a seatmate There weren’t that many people on board, period;
whether that was normal for a Tuesday or whether it was due to
Election Day, I didn’t know. The train pulled out of the station
on time, and we were heading northward — well, once we got past
Lake Pontchartrain, we were heading northbound. The skies were
cloudy, and it looked like it might rain again. In fact, it did
rain, for I got dripped on as I traveled to the cafe car some
three cars away.
As the train continued northbound, I once again encountered
several areas where I could get no signal on my iPhone. That
meant that I couldn’t get continuous updates on the election
returns; I’d have to get my news in bursts, mainly near the
cities and towns. And when I could get news, I was somewhat
surprised. Based on news coverage and polls, I was expecting
Hillary Clinton to prevail, but the returns showed Donald
Trump holding his own, then pulling ahead. It looked to be a
long night ahead.
Top
November 9
The coach seats that were uncomfortable Friday night/Saturday
morning were still uncomfortable, and I could not get a good
night’s sleep. That proved to be an advantage when monitoring
the election returns — when I COULD monitor the election
returns, at least. After one period of sleep, I woke up and used
the bathroom on the lower level (all of the bathrooms were on
the lower level), and I checked the news again: Donald Trump had
reached the 270-electoral-vote level. He was going to be the
next president.
When I gave up trying to sleep, I monitored the news again.
Reaction to the Trump victory was coming in, and there was a lot
of surprise. How could the conventional wisdom have been so
wrong? The pundits would speculate and postulate for days. As
the train rolled toward Chicago, I read many stories about the
reaction to the election. And when we arrived at Union Station,
I went to the food court and saw what the local papers were
saying. The Sun-Times had a picture of Trump on its front page
with the headline “You’re Hired!”. I missed out on getting any
breakfast on the train, so I got a 2-burrito meal at McDonald’s.
After breakfast, I went to the Great Hall. I didn’t feel like
going anywhere or doing anything. I read the copy of the
Sun-Times I had bought, and I charged my phone. The W banners
that were up on Friday had come down, and Christmas decorations
were starting to go up. One Christmas tree was being constructed
I got my boarding pass for the train to Dearborn. Occasionally,
I’d get up to use the restroom and then find a seat somewhere
else.
When 12:20 came around, those of us taking the train to Detroit
lined up and were led to the platform. At 12:50, we set out. It
was sunny as we rolled through Chicago and northwest Indiana
(and Michigan, too, at least until the sun set, and then you
could say it was “moony”). I got another cheeseburger and chip
combo for lunch in the cafe car; after that, I swore off
cheeseburgers for the next several days. I read some more
about the aftermath of the election. Later on, I listened
to two podcasts of the 1776 Club (for supporters of the Thomas
Jefferson Hour) and then listened to SiriusXM Radio via their
app; first, it was the Cousin Brucie show, and then it was The
World At Six on CBC Radio for a Canadian perspective on the
election. I couldn’t listen to the whole show due to signal
dropouts, though.
When the train reached Ann Arbor, we were delayed there for
several minutes. Apparently, someone got on the train without a
ticket and had to be found and thrown off. Once that was done,
we set off for Dearborn, getting there around 7:30. That’s where
I got off, got into my car, and headed home, reaching there
shortly after 8.
Top
THE END
Back to Travels page
©2016 R.
W. Reini. All rights reserved.
Written by Roger
Reini
RevisedDecember
11, 2016
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