A Day in NOLA

First stop in the morning is always the World War II Museum, but today was just a little different. After we crossed the street from the museum parking lot we were looking inside the building pictured below. It's where they restore boats, etc. They've been working on restoring a PT boat since since long before we arrived in LA. While we were trying to see through the tinted windows the man asked if we'd like to come in. I said, "I didn't know we could." His response was, "You can't unless I say so." I'm thinking he must be the boss. Then he kindly showed us around and explained the project.

The plan is to restore it to usable condition then take it around the United States and hopefully the worlds doing tours. But I was so busy taking pictures of the boys that I didn't even take one of the boat. Where was my head? It's a lot bigger in person than I thought. McHale's Navy--with Ernest Borgnine--just didn't do it justice!

What an honor to take the grandsons to the WWII Museum! They loved it all, and we spent more time there than usual. We weren't in a hurry since we'd done much of the NOLA sightseeing on Wednesday. There's a new pavilion, Campaigns of Courage, that opened in December, and we haven't had the opportunity to see it yet, so we were there for quite awhile. This exhibit emphasizes America's effort to defeat the Axis powers in the European and Pacific Theaters. The Road to Berlin: European Theaters Galleries is what we saw. Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries will open later.

I loved the exhibits that recreate actual battle setting and villages with crumbling walls, bomb-torn rooftops and icy pathways. The museum has the great ability to make good use of multimedia which brings the reality of war much closer to home.

Then it was back to Cafe du Monde for beignets--round two!

Later in the evening we introduced the boys to the Louisiana Bass Pro Shop. It's one of their favorite stores in California, so we knew they'd love this one, and they did!