Jackson Square is along the Mississippi River offering beautiful views of river boats and barges.
There were also several street performers in the area. Even pigeons put on a show!
Horse-drawn carriages are lined up awaiting tourists in the square. 
Early on Friday morning we walked back to the French Quarter to get some beignets at Cafe du Monde. This cafe has been in New Orleans since 1862 and if you go to New Orleans you have to try the beignets. They are fried squares of dough drowned in powdered sugar.
Of course the line was long at the take out window. What do you do when there's only one chair to sit on?? You sit on each other, of course! Cory sat on the chair, Ben sat on Cory, Logan sat on Ben and Macy sat on Logan. Simple!
This is the tiny order window and they take about 10 orders at a time. How they keep it straight is beyond me. You have to really pay attention when your order gets passed through the window!
This was a really pretty flowering tree by the cafe. The flowers remided me of our flowering crabs but there wasn't any bark on the tree trunk or branches. It was really unusual. I would love to know what kind of tree it is.
And onto Bourbon Street!
Street performers were everywhere. They expect payment for a picture (notice his treasure chest is open) and I tried to get shot of this Johnny Depp pirate look-alike but when he saw me raise my camera, he turned away. Oh well.
I sure wouldn't want to stand out in New Orlean's heat and humidity dressed like this so I guess they do earn the money that tourists pay them.
The French Quarter is also full of interesting adult type shops as well. We didn't go inside. I don't really want to know what Big Daddy has to offer. There isn't enough hand sanitizer in the world....
I fell in love with the architecture of the French Quarter and couldn't get enough pictures taken. I could spend a whole day walking up and down the streets.
There was an older couple walking ahead of us and Macy suggested I take a picture of their hands. She's got the best creative eye - I love this picture.
And we had to stop at the Hard Rock Cafe and buy shirts and other stuff.
Love the iron balconies on the buildings. And the colors. And the woodwork. And all of it!
Inside the Riverwalk shopping center.
The best gumbo I've ever had.
Along with a po'boy sandwich. Good stuff!
A barge on the Mississippi outside of the shopping center.
Another view of the river. Kind of cool that I've been to Itasca which is the start of the river and now I've been to the southern most point in Louisiana. 
The swamp tour captains always catch a little gator to pass around on the tour. We all wanted to hold him and have a picture taken with him. I was surprised how rubbery feeling he was. Becca holding him.
Stu's turn to hold him.
I got to hold him.
I guess this is a bird from the swamp. Can't remember what he's called....
This is a shack they built to add local flavor to the tour, I guess. Our guide told us that when Katrina hit, it sucked all of the water out of the channels in the swamp. He'd never seen that happen before but it all depends on the strength and direction of the hurricane. 
