New Orleans, days 3 & 4

Haven't read the first part? Read it here!

After our adventures in the French Quarter, the next day we went to the World War II Museum, what was formerly the D-Day Museum. A little fun fact for you-- the reason why NOLA has this museum is because the boats used in D-Day were produced there. Anyway, my aunt & uncle joined us at the museum as well (my uncle spent 30 years in the Air Force), and it was definitely a great museum. It has a lot to see & read, and it presents everything in a very interesting manner. I would highly recommend it for anyone going to NOLA.

The breakfast of champions-- king cake & Dr Pepper

Yeah, the one thing I took a pic of inside the museum. Airplanes, duh.

  Following the museum, we went to visit my family's crypts. As you may know, NOLA is actually below sea level. That creates several problems, including how to deal with burials. The wet marshes aren't suitable for burying people in, so instead they have the above-ground burials in crypts. I had never seen my family's crypts before, and my aunt had just recently found the map (yes, map) to them, so we went on that adventure.

Walking to find the family...

I believe this is my mom's mother's side of the family

And then my mom's father's family.

Ah, look. There's room for more. Matt? Just kidding...

 Then that night we settled in to watch our Aggies play in the Cotton Bowl. We will not mention anymore about that game. 

The following day, Jan 8, is a very significant day. It is my mom's birthday, as well as Elvis's. It is also the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. Don't remember that significant battle in the War of 1812? Read up on it here (don't worry, I didn't either). So being the anniversary, we decided to visit the battlegrounds. Their brand new visitor center was having their grand opening that day, and they also had reenactors. Matt & I may have been the only people there in our twenties, but it was still fun.

This (rebuilt) wall was a key in the victory

Foreground- Brit; Background- Americans. Check out the pants on the British reenactor

Cannon demo

After that visit was complete, my uncle did a little driving tour of the city for Matt, to show him the 17th St Canal and whatnot, followed by a delicious lunch. I had the most amazing roast beef sandwich ever so you need to go to R&O's, k? Following lunch, we went back to their house and chilled before dinner. My uncle, being the history buff he is, used to do reenactments and he showed us his musket. Matt was very much enjoying all the weapons talk...

My uncle with the musket, complete with a bayonet

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from dinner, but we drove a little bit to meet my uncle's friend who is one of the coolest people ever. He was on the security force of the Air Force in Iraq with my uncle, and has also been a sniper for the swat team. Now he is one of the LA governor's helicopter pilots. He had very cool stories, to put it simply.

The next day we drove home. Nothing crazy there, so I won't share the boring road pictures again. It was a great trip and Matt & I really enjoyed it. Now we're back in College Station & classes start Tuesday. Looks like my winter break is done!