New Orleans - Day 1

When I first entered Louisiana, a lady at the visitor center told me I wouldn't find a better rate than the 5 hotels she had on her list and the St. Pierre was the best one.  I headed towards New Orleans with the name and address on a piece of paper.
I take exit 235A on I-10 into New Orleans, make a left off the ramp and head straight to the French Quarter, having never been here I had no idea what to expect.  I navigate the narrow roads, go past the Louis Armstrong Park, pick the first road that goes south and soon I was on Decatur Street.  I look left then right and see a guy on a BMW GS dismounting.  I head towards him, park my bike and while taking my helmet off I see him looking at my plate.  He looks at me and says: you from NJ? I'm from Brooklyn, NY. What are the odds the first guy I meet lives close to me.
I look across the street and I'm in front of Cafe Du Monde, which is packed with camera toting tourists.  After a little chat he tells me he knows the area well, his girlfriends lives in New Orleans, points me in the right direction and off I go looking for the hotel St. Pierre.  A few minutes later I'm stopped in front of the Hotel St. Pierre, just a plain house I assume, I'm not impressed.

I head inside and my jaw almost dropped to the floor, to my surprise the inside is nothing like the outside, beautifully decorated and looks brand new.  I later found out the outside of the houses can't be changed to keep the tradition.  I ask the room price and my jaw drops again, twice what I had been told at the visitor center.  The front desk clerk explains to me without proof from the visitor center there's nothing she can do.  She also mentions that most motels outside of the zone are not that safe and I would be far from the French quarters.  There would be no way I would pay the quoted rate.  I go back outside to search for cheaper motels on my cellphone and while standing next to the bike she comes out and tells me she spoke with the manager and they would honor the price I had been given.   Now I'm smiling again and follow her back inside.  Tina, the manager, comes out of her office and apologizes for the misunderstanding, explains she would honor the price and since they don't have a lot of parking spots she would rearrange the cars so I could leave my bike in a safe and protected way.  I unload the bike and a few minutes later I'm ready to head to Bourbon Street.

The Lobby

The hotel was built out of a few houses and the rooms are spread out through various properties.  This alley leads to the back where one of the pools is located, yes, there is more than one pool.   My room is across the street from the lobby.

The hotel is only a few blocks from Bourbon street and soon I'm walking down the street where all the action happens during Mardi Gras.  It's not as busy but there are quite a lot of tourists mixed in with the locals getting ready to hit the restaurants and bars.   I will let the photos do the talking.

New Orleans has the fun side with nice restaurants and bars and then there's the seedy side of the French Quarters.  There are a few gentlemen's clubs and stores like Hustler on Bourbon Street.  One guy was walking around scaring tourists dressed as an alien.  He was getting tips from visitors for taking photos with them.

It was getting late and I hadn't had dinner, I look around and see the "Pier 424 Seafood Market & Restaurant" with tables on the upstairs balcony.   I head to the bar, grab a beer and ask a waiter for a table upstairs, unfortunately I have to wait about 30 minutes for a table.   I sit at the bar and chat with the bartender and a guy from France visiting New Orleans by himself.

I order "Shrimp and Maque Choux Grits", nothing could be more typical from the south.  I love shrimp and grits but had never tried the two together.  The plate consists of gulf shrimp, pan-seared and served over a crispy grit cake and topped with a fresh corn maque choux and tasso jus.  Click here for the menu
The waiter walks by, sees me holding the fork and knife and says to me: "you know you eat that with a spoon, right?"  of course I didn't know but I pretended I did.  The food was very tasty, the shrimp were just perfect and the corn maque choux and tasso jus is amazingly delicious.

I had the perfect view of Bourbon street from my table.  There were cops walking down the street, a few on horseback and ladies with less than stellar fashion.

Later, I hang around a bar where loud southern New Orleans jazz is spilling onto the street.  The guys were good and the music very lively and entertaining, the house was packed.

It was around midnight when I head back to the hotel St. Pierre.  It was the perfect time to walk around the hotel taking photos, either the guests were still having fun or sleeping.
This pool is located behind the lobby in a little courtyard surrounded by a few of the rooms.

Walking down the alley seen on the photo I posted earlier leads you to the second pool and another courtyard with more rooms, I was amazed at how they had turned a few homes into such a cute hotel.  I highly recommend the St. Pierre hotel for anyone heading to the French Quarters, let them know you heard about them on "Riding The USA" blog, they will treat you very well.

The view from the upstairs balcony.  The balconies and the outside of the hotel look and feel really old but the inside rooms are first class.
From Wikipedia:

The Hotel St. Pierre is a collection of 18th century Creole Cottages, many dating from the early 1780s. The hotel property includes the Gabriel Peyroux House which was erected in 1780 for Gabriel Peyroux de la Roche, a native of France.

Hotel St. Pierre link

I have lots more photos but I will leave it for another post.  Tomorrow I will visit a few places during the day and then spend another night in New Orleans.

Biloxi Casinos

I have visited lots of casinos, I live about an hour and a half away from Atlantic City and have been multiple times to Las Vegas, but there's something about casinos I find alluring.  Maybe it's the ringing and the sounds that gambling machines make, maybe it's seeing the people staring at the screens while consuming large quantities of alcohol, maybe it's the beautiful design of the lobby and restaurants, whatever it is I never miss a chance to walk through casinos even though I don't gamble.  There are a few casinos in Biloxi and I first visit the Hard Rock Casino.

The resort was constructed in 2005 and a couple of days before the scheduled grand opening, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, destroying the casino and damaging the resort.  The lobby of the casino has a huge colorful display full of memorabilia including Elvis Presley's Army uniform found on a mannequin floating in the Mississippi Sound after Katrina and returned by a local resident.

I guess they cater to newlyweds, as soon as I walk through the front door I come upon this display.

I then moved next door to the Beau Rivage, the tallest building in the entire state of Mississippi, hard to believe since it's really not very tall, only 28 floors.  Beau Rivage was seriously damaged by the 30 ft (9.1 m) storm surge caused by Hurricane Katrina and had to be rebuilt.   I found the atrium beautiful, very colorful and with lots of flowers covered by a beautiful glass canopy. 

One thing that surprised me was seeing people smoking inside the lobby and later inside the casino.  After asking an employee I was told smoking is allowed inside the casinos including restaurants in Mississippi.  After walking around through the casino I headed out and back towards where my bike was parked passing beautiful homes including the one below.

Mississippi has sixty-two miles of scenic shoreline and as I continued west along U.S. Highway 90, also known as Beach Boulevard, I passed Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis as I moved closer to Louisiana.  Stopped a few times to enjoy the warm weather and see the beautiful shoreline with the large swaths of white soft sand.   I was surprised by the "Comfort Stations" located along the beach offering showers & drink machines as well as serving as bus stops for Coast Area Transit Authority buses.  One is pictured below.

Passed a few amazing homes along the way and the one pictured below was one of the largest mansions I saw.   Breathtaking in style with a beautiful view of the gulf.

The beautiful Beach Boulevard is covered by lots of Southern live oaks providing shade from the sun as you drive along the coast.

From Biloxi to the Louisiana border is about 50 miles and after crossing a few bridges I arrive at the Louisiana visitor center.  When I started this trip I had five states in the south missing from my list of ridden states, Louisiana is now the third state I have entered.  In another 45 miles I will be in New Orleans. 

The I-10 Twin Span Bridge at nearly 6 miles long and known locally as the Twin Spans is an impressive feat of engineering.  These parallel bridges cross the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana.  Notice I only takes photos while riding when there aren't any vehicles around me.

I arrive in New Orleans late afternoon and head straight for the French Quarter where I will be spending the next two nights.  First need to find a hotel but that was an adventure in itself and is best left for the next post.

Biloxi

I spent the night in a motel about half way between Mobile and the Mississippi border and didn't take me long before I had covered the 15 miles and entered the welcome center.  Only stopped to get a photo for my records and soon was back on the road following route 90 west towards Pascagoula.

From the border to Biloxi is only 33 miles and soon I was entering Biloxi stopping when I saw the wonderful Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art buildings.  The Museum celebrates the innovative, independent and creative spirit of Mississippi master potter George Ohr.   I was immediately impressed by the size of the "Southern live oaks".   These 2 to 300 year old trees are native to the southeastern United States.  A few were downed during the recent hurricane.

Look at my Super Tenere in the background, looks so tiny .  A typical open-grown tree reaches 20 meters (60 feet) in height, with a limb spread of nearly 27 meters (80 feet).  Their lower limbs often sweep down towards the ground before curving up again.

A little further down the road I stop when I see the beautiful visitor center and the famous Biloxi Light.  There's a very long fishing pier right in front and I first head there for a few photos. 

Biloxi Light is a lighthouse adjacent to the Mississippi Sound of the Gulf of Mexico. The lighthouse has been kept by female keepers for more years than any other lighthouse in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and declared a Mississippi Landmark in 1987. Wiki

After a quick tour of the visitor center I sat on the nice chairs outside and waited for another visitor to arrive, I needed a photographer to get my photo, a nice old lady took my photo.  It was a hot day, temperature close to 90 degrees.

I then headed towards city center where the big casinos are located.  After parking the bike, I grabbed the camera and walked around admiring the beautiful homes and city hall. 

These two restaurants looked pretty good but I had had a good breakfast and usually skip lunch when riding.

I walked around town visiting a few shops, stopped for a cup of coffee and was introduced to the famous Biloxi Beignets.  Beignet is the French term for a pastry made from deep-fried choux paste and are commonly known in New Orleans as a breakfast served with powdered sugar on top.   I was told by the coffee shop lady that her's were slightly different but just as good.  They were delicious.  After my snack I walk towards the casinos but first make a stop along the water by the docks which are right next to the Hard Rock Casino.