This is post #7. The previous day is here. The next post is here.

Today we took a bus, a trolley, and a ferry! Plus, we used our feet, for 8 miles. Also we had the day Debora Haas would want to have, as you will see.

We got off to a bit of a late start so I could attend a work meeting. While I did that, Daniel went back to Ayu Bakeshop - and oh goodness, those were some great baked goods. We got a scrambled egg on a bun that was one of the best I’ve ever had. We got sweet things - an unreal, fluffy, crispy-coated cinnamon roll, and a strawberry yuzu tart. Everything was incredible.

We hopped on a bus that took us straight down Esplanade to City Park. On the way, we hopped off in the Bayou St. Johns neighborhood for a look at the Bayou St. John, some choice houses, and St. Louis Cemetery #3, the closest look we would get at one of these iconic above-ground cemeteries.

We emerged a mere 2 blocks later into City Park. Where Audubon Park had been organic, nature-forward, and informal, this was a cultivated park with lots of built environments. The New Orleans Museum of Art is there, for instance, as well as a whole amusement park, a sports stadium, a sculpture garden, and some other things you will see.

We did see lots of shore birds here, including several ibis. These have been very impressive birds.

It started to pour down rain, and we ducked into a conveniently located shelter. How lucky we had been to be saved from the rain.

When the rain diminished, we ventured out further. If you look closely at the center, you can see one ibis on the shore, and another flying away. Those are swan-shaped pedal boats in the distance - fun!

Great blue heron - we were very close!

Sculpture garden - this was only part of it, there were many!

We headed to the botanical garden in the park - I’ve been to my share of botanical gardens, and this is maybe the best one I’ve ever seen.

Let me pause though to make some general comments about Louisiana flora. We have arrived while the crepe myrtles and the magnolias have been in full, glorious bloom. We have also been blown away by how lush and tropical everything is. I hadn’t really remembered the sheer fecundity of plants, and honestly in my 20s surely was not paying attention. But all around, plants are growing in people’s yards and on their porches that would have to be carefully and painstakingly tended in Oregon and California. Banana plants, citrus, boston ferns, all manner of things - they just happily grow outside, no special anything required. Every yard looks like a hothouse.

There was so much to love in the botanical garden:

Wish I had something for scale on this crazy lily pad - it was enormous, at least 2 feet across:

The edibles garden from the outside:

LOL, this was the hothouse inside the hothouse - some plants need even more humidity than Louisiana can provide.

The paleobotany collection:

The tropical rainforest:

Have you ever seen orchids like this in your life!

Water lilies in many varieties. They seem perfectly at home in swampy Louisiana.

The butterfly garden - that thing sure worked, there were butterflies everywhere.

In the shade garden, we found the world’s most relaxed cat:

The rain was picking up and we had been walking a long time - we explored probably not even 50% of the garden, but what we saw was WOW. Next time, NOLA Botanical Gardens. We made our way directly to the park’s very own outpost of Cafe du Monde, for beignets and the real cafe du monde - a world-sized cup of cafe au lait. While we leisurely enjoyed our snack, the rain absolutely dumped down. How lucky we had been to be saved from the rain again.

To our delight, the streetcar picked us up right in the park. We rode down exquisite Carrolton Street, which was replete with Craftsman houses - I love a Craftsman, but it was sad to think of architectural fashion declaring the incredible townhomes of the French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny passe, and embracing a more conventional and northern idea of a fancy home. Still, beautiful.

We had a great ride down Canal Street, and got a good look at some downtown shopping districts. We hopped off, then hopped straight on board the ferry! We tootled across the Mississippi, and landed at Algiers Point.

There was Jax Brewery and the St. Louis Cathedral, all the way across the Mississippi River!

Off we set, to explore Algiers. This is an exceedingly graceful bedroom community, with lots of very NOLA architecture at its own pace.

And then we found it! The cutest library in town.

We headed back to the ferry. Thunder rolled menacingly from the approaching dark clouds. It had been a little rainy…then a little rainier…then quite rainy…but we made it back to the ferry, a little damp, but how lucky we had been to escape the worst of the rain.

And then we watched as the sky got black and the lightning flashed, and the rain started to pour so forcefully we could hardly see across the river. We were well over a mile from home. We had been making dinner plans. The rain dumped like a bathtub faucet. We checked the weather fretfully, but it forecasted two hours of this wild, intense rain. We decided the only way out was through. We protected our electronics as best we could, and set out in the deluge. We were no longer lucky, we were in the worst of the rain.

We stopped our wet selves at Verti Marte for food to take home. This had been our favorite food spot in town so far, and we loaded up on chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes, and another muffulata - the one we got on our first day had been so good. We got our stuff home, stripped off our wet clothes, and greeted our kitty friend. We were so lucky to be in out of the rain.

We spent a dry evening listening to the rain thunder down, around Ellis Marsalis piano jazz and the tinkling of our kitty friend’s little bell. There was slow and delicious yoga, and foot rubs, and writing to you.

Tomorrow the weather looks even more volatile. It’s hard to say what we will do with the day, but consider us deterred. We have some doings in the French Quarter, but our goal will be staying dry…or at least less wet.