2017: New Orleans

WWII Museum

April 10

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We spent our last day in New Orleans at the National WWII Museum. This is a massive place, with multiple buildings joined by elevated walkways across two streets, all devoted to the history and artifacts of World War II. The subject holds a special interest for me since my father was a bomber pilot in WWII, flying 65 missions over Germany between 1942 and 1944.


The long line to buy tickets was in an enormous entry space with several airplanes hanging overhead. On the floor were some land vehicles plus the cockpit of another plane.

Corsair. C-47. Spitfire. B-17.
Cockpit of B-24D. Cargo truck. P-51 Mustang. Sherman tank.

The museum was a maze of placards and displays that led through the timeline of the war, separated into the different geographic theaters. There was a wealth of information that once again I was unable to absorb. It was like trying to read a thousand-page book in a couple of hours. I wish I could visit the place once a week for a year, there was so much to see and learn.

  Kamikaze propeller.

Beach landing craft.

Norden bombsight. Opel sedan.  China with Nazi emblem.

Japanese machine gun and cannon. Japanese propaganda poster.  Portable X-ray machine. Captured Nazi flag.
 Howitzer. Japanese 37mm gun. Italian flag.

Joe's Cafe.

The next day was our last day in the beautiful Bayou Segnette State Park. We made preparations for our departure, but first we had to revisit our favorite breakfast spot, Joe's Cafe. We'd been turned on to this place about a week earlier by our friendly state park ranger, in the wake of a rather disastrous breakfast experience at another local hole-in-the-wall.

In addition to a full breakfast and lunch menu, Joe's makes their own scrumptious donuts, muffins, and my favorite, apple fritters. After we stuffed ourselves with delicious omelets, I filled a bag-to-go with confections for the road.

Those look good... ...ooh, I like those... ...oh wow, look at that... Yep, I'll take 'em all.