National WW-II Museum

We spent nearly a whole day at this museum.  We went through most of the D Day portion and then watched the "Beyond All Boundaries" a Tom Hanks narrated/produced 4D movie in the theater that was excellent - seats are wired for motion and all kinds of stuff pops up from the stage and drops down from the ceiling.  Broke for lunch (see Acme Oyster House) and came back and finished the D Day section and the went through the Pacific portion fairly quickly as we had just done the War in the Pacific Museum in Fredricksburg a few days earlier.  Moved over to the new Boeing building and looked around, took a few pictures then went on the final mission of the Submarine Tang.  Interesting as this was the most successful Sub in WW-II but due to a torpedo malfunction on the final mission it ended up sinking itself.  Before the tour the guide handed out cards which had names and duty stations of the various crew - once in the mock-up you assumed the duty station of the person who's card you had.  I guess I was lucky - there were only 5 survivors - and I was one!

Po Boy

We had not tried a Po Boy yet so stopped at Acme Oyster House.  Funny, neither of us care for Oysters so we tried a roast beef with debris and a fried crawfish.  The Roast beef is rated as the 10 napkin Po Boy - I had to eat it with knife and fork or I would have had to change clothes but it was GOOD.  The crawfish PO Boy was also good but better when I added McIlHennys Buffalo Sauce (I've never seen this one before).

We sat at the bar and watched the help as the shucked away!

And, the winner is!

Well we have the winner of the "Battle of the Beignets",  we tried Cafe Beignet and Cafe DuMond.  We liked the environment at Cafe Beignet better than Cafe DuMond but the Beignets were lighter and better at Cafe DuMond. 

Breakfast was good at Cafe Beignet, we had a ham and cheese omelet and the Beignets and coffee.

The Beignets were good at Cafe DuMond, it was dirty, overly busy, cold and very noisy.  So buy your pastry here, get it to go with coffee, then walk over to Jackson Square and find a nice place to sit and enjoy your treat. 

New Orleans

We arrive here mid afternoon after an easy drive from Austin.  Settled in and started planning the evening.

We decided on GW Finn's as I was suddenly in the mood for seafood.  We hopped aboard the streetcar heading for the French Quarter and realized we were going the wrong way.  The street car driver realized we had screwed up so he stopped the car, gave us emergency transfers and pointed us in the right direction.

We walked around for about half an hour then decided to head for the bar and await our reservation time.  I had a very nice glass of an Old Vine Zinfandel and Lesley had an Amaretto sour while we looked at the menu.  We had both decided on dinner before ever being seated.

I had sea scallops over mushroom risotto with grilled asparagus and Lesley had golden beet salad, jolt snapper with spoonbread and crawfish maque choux.   very very good.............

This morning we are going to start the battle of the beignets then visit the WW-II museum.

Today in Austin

We headed out early today and parked on South Congress street and started our explorations of Austin.

Lesley wanted to stop in and try on some boots!

Yikes, what a price........

Chicken for anyone?

After a nice lunch at Guero's Taco Bar we hung out next door for some great Latino music.  This group was Columbian.

Tomorrow we are going to Threadgill's for a Bluegrass Brunch.

Fredricksburg

We left Kerrville early and headed for Fredricksburg, TX so that we could visit the Nimitz Museum and the National Museum of the Pacific War.  We had lived in the Pacific for a number of years while we were still working so we had explored Peleliu, Palau, Okinawa, and Singapore while there.  We started our visit at about 9:30 and decided at 1:30 that it was time for lunch.  Headed across the street to the Auslander Restaurant and I had a great draft Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier and shared a swinebraten.  Very good.

The museum was great - having read a great deal about the war I thought that the displays and narratives were super.  We were both amazed at how long we were in the museum.  AFter lunch we then toured the "Combat Zone"

We left Fredricksburg and headed for Austin with a stop at a Wildflower center.  We were running late (we thought) and stopped at the original "Salt Lick" for some BBQ - place was packed but we were able to get in almost immediately.  I took some photos of the place and will post those later.  I had brisket and Lesley had a combo of brisket and ribs - excellent.

Tomorrow we are going to explore some of Austin and try and find a place where we can enjoy some of the local music scene.

Kerrville

We've spent the past 3 days in Kerrville, checking out our future home, talking with a home builder, and enjoying the area.

We parked the truck at the North corner of the property

And Lesley walked to the South corner 

And our neighbor to the South.

We plan to head up through Fredricksburg today and on to Austin for a few days with stops along the way at the Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War, the Lady Bird Johnson wildflower farm and for dinner this evening at the Salt Lick. 

Headed West

We are headed to Kerrville Texas where we plan to meet with an architect/builder and discuss the future home we plan to build here.

Stopped along the way in Mandeville, LA for a few draft beers (Abita Brewery is nearby in Abita Springs).

After Kerrville we plan to spend a few days in Austin doing brews, toons and brisket then head back to New Orleans for a 4 day stay doing the sights/sounds/tastes of the big easy.

Will post photos as we do this years quickey road trip.

Delaware Boats

While I was in Turkey I noticed the large number of Turkish owned boats with Delaware registry - some photos attached - these just from our "J" dock!