Need to catch you up on the kast few days

Oil production platform in Biloxi Bay

A building on the corner of Royal and one of the streets leading to the waterfront in New Orleans

The door to my room off the courtyard at the Royal Inn.

Sorry I was unable to update the blog till now (and I apologize for the formatting) but the internet connection at the hotel I was staying in in New Orleans for the last two days was very poor.

I started off July 4th in Baton Rouge. I had wanted to have a look at the Mississippi waterfront there but, because of the holiday all roads leading to the riverfront in rhe city were blocked off. So I rode around the State Capitol building and then started off for New Orleans.

The ride along the Mississippi into New Orleans is not very spectacular. There are refineries and, except for a few plantations, sugar cane fields and the odd church, not much elase. And you can't see the river because of the tall burms that have been erected on either bank.

In New Orleans I stayed two days at the Royal Inn on Royal Street in the very heart of the Latin Quarter. I had a couple of good meals at the ACE Oyster House and took in some of ther sights by walking around a fair bit. In particular I walked Bourbon Street, the waterfront and many other side streets. The architecture is quite distinctive particularly with the wrought iron railings that are on the streetsides of many buildings. The fireworks from the two dueling barges on the river were spectacular and they were viewed by tens of thousands who had taken up their positions on both banks of the river.

This morning I headed East along the Gulf Coast up to the city of Pensacola Florida where I'm now parked for the night. The most interesting bit was the ferry ride accross part of Biloxy Bay where I saw many oil production platforms, like the one in the picture above.