The trip to New Orleans on Amtrak's Crescent Line left Charlotte at 3am (!) and took 18 hours to chug to New Orleans. We got a sleeper car for the journey. A very comfortable way to travel! As soon as we got in the car, we crawled into our bunks and went back to sleep.

The sleeper is cozy, but the bunks fold up and make room for very comfortable chairs for day travel . . .

. . . and at night fold down into reasonably comfortable bunks! Though bag stowage is tight.

The meals in the dining car are quite tasty, and it's a nice chance to get up and stretch.

The trolley line was a half block from our apartment. We made heavy use of it to explore the downtown.

New Orleans City Park was one of our favorite destinations to go by trolley.

The Park is home to some truly lovely works of art.

Some fanciful . . .

. . . some thought provoking . . .

. . . some representative of the strength of this extraordinary city.

Also representative of the city's strength: the stately live oaks that proudly stand throughout the city.

They also make a great place for resting in the shade.

One such live oak is the Tree of Live, which has been around since about 1740. One rumor is that it was planted by the first mayor of New Orleans, Etienne de Boré, to honor his wife.

Spanish moss festoons the oaks. It's amazing stuff. In the past, it's been used for building insulation, mattress stuffing, and packing material.

Of course, we visited the French Quarter a time or two. This iconic building sits at the corner of Chartres and Frenchman Streets . . .

. . . and just down the block, the Three Muses, one of the myriad jazz clubs, where we stopped for a glass of wine and some cool music.

Speaking of jazz -- street bands just seem to materialize out of thin air, and fill that air with sweet, sweet jazz.

The Saint Louis Cathedral dominates the French Quarter. Formally the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, it is the longest continuously operating cathedral in the U. S.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 dates from the 1850's. It's the third of 3 St. Louis cemeteries. Graves here are usually above ground, because of the flood plain. This cemetery was flooded during Hurricane Katrina, but the graves were mostly unaffected.

A walk on the Moon Walk took us along a portion of the levee system.

During our walk, we were reminded that this city has a varied and thought provoking history.