We got a pretty late start because I needed vancouver airport rental cars to replace two tires on the Buick before vancouver airport rental cars we could leave. While I was at Belle Tire they told me that my right front bearing was a little loose. But I had just replaced the bearings about 5000 miles earlier so I figured they were just being paranoid and I said I would check it later.
I had a few little things that I needed to finish vancouver airport rental cars before we left to the point where we did not get on the road to Chicago until 4PM. With the time change we made it to downtown Chicago about 7PM. We settled in at the Silversmith hotel and decided to go to Kingston mines for dinner and some Blues.
The first order of business was to do an office hour for my Coursera Internet History, vancouver airport rental cars Technology, and Security course at the Starbuck in the basement of Palmer House. Brent appears in the office hours video:
After office hours, we decided where to go next. The decision was whether to go west and visit places like Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone vancouver airport rental cars or go south to Memphis vancouver airport rental cars and beyond. Brent decided he wanted to see cities so I booked a hotel in Memphis and we checked out from our Chicago hotel.
As we were walking to the car, Brent asked if they had an art museum in Chicago. vancouver airport rental cars I said yes and we were exactly one block away so we decided to spend a few hours at the Chicago Art museum. It was pretty cool and Brent really liked it but by the time we were done it was about 4PM and we needed to be in Memphis that night. Also because it was 4PM we started to hit Chicago traffic and I needed to fill the gas tank as soon as we got on the road. It took over an hour before we were outside Chicago on I-57 going toward Memphis. By the time we were at real highway speeds, the GPS was estimating our arrival time at 12:30 AM. I was getting pretty sleepy so I let Brent drive for a while he was not comfortable driving vancouver airport rental cars the Buick but I was pretty sleepy so I let him drive for about 1.5 hours and took a nap.
I got up and drove the rest of the way. With gas and bathroom stops our estimated time of arrival ballooned out to 1:30AM. For the last hour I was *way too tired* I should have stopped and took a nap. I was sooo happy when we pulled into that hotel and I had not fallen asleep vancouver airport rental cars driving. I used to drive at night fighting sleep and it felt really unsafe for the past few years when I am tired I stop and take a nap and when I awake I go back on the road. This keeps me from fighting sleep while driving. But with the arrival at 1:30 it just seemed like we were so close so I kept wanting to gut it out . Ah well I vowed not to do that again.
We woke up at about 10AM and decided vancouver airport rental cars to go to Sun Studios. It turn out that we arrived during Elvis Week and August 16, 2012 was the 35-year anniversary of Elvis death in August 16, 1977 and the city was full of Elvis fans. And Sun Studios was also full of Elvis fans. It was our second time at Sun Studios and with it packed to the gills with people it generally was not too fun. We waited 45 minutes for the tour and then had a Chocolate Malt afterwards. Sun Studios is awesome and Brent liked it better because this time he is a musician and has done recording and so he appreciated a lot of the artists and equipment vancouver airport rental cars much more this time.
After Sun Studios I wanted to go downtown and kill some time and have some barbeque. It was extremely hot so I wanted to go downtown to Peabody Place the giant mall that we had been to on our previous visit. We found our way to the parking ramp and walked to Peabody Place there was no one downtown and when we got to Peabody Place it was *permanently closed*. An entire gigantic mall was closed. I was amazed I guess the bad economy has hit more than just Michigan.
I thought that perhaps we would walk through vancouver airport rental cars the Peabody Hotel and see the ducks. As we rounded the corner and the entrance came into view there was an extremely long line that snaked around the block to see the ducks. It seemed vancouver airport rental cars that the only thing to do downtown was see the ducks.
After we woke up from the nap, we went downtown to Beale Street. I had never been to Beale Street so I did not know what to expect. We needed some food so we went to Blues City Cafe and had dinner while listening to music. Brent was loving the music and the food was pretty tasty. After we finished at the Blues City Cafe we sat for a while at an outside venue kind of in an alley and listened to a young group playing some classic blues and had a couple of beers. After a couple of sets in the alley, we wandered down the street to listen to a more jazz-oriented band and had another beer.
We got up August 17, and I did an office hour at a Starbucks in rural Memphis but no one showed up so I caught up with some E-Mail and some work. We got on the road to New Orleans about 11:30 AM and with about six hours of driving it looked like it was going to be a pretty mellow day.
We made really good time and were driving through the bayou and near Lake Ponchatrain as the sun was going down. We were in pretty vancouver airport rental cars good spirits and Brent was enjoying seeing the Bayou and the long causeways that drove straight across a lake. While I was driving, the GPS tracking system kept telling us to get off highway to avoid slow traffic. I had no idea where it was suggesting we go so I just stayed on the highway. Pretty much as we turned onto highway I-10, the traffic slowed to a crawl. The GPS was right all along but I just would not trust it. After about 15 minutes in a traffic jam we sped up until we got to the airport and then again slowed to a crawl and then once we got near the Superdome the traffic literally stopped. We moved about a mile in an hour. And it was starting to rain.
Once we got off the highway, we had to deal with insane traffic in downtown New Orleans and we needed to cross from the North Side of the French Quarter vancouver airport rental cars to the south side of the French Quarter. The last mile through town took another 45 minutes. vancouver airport rental cars By the time we pulled into the Holiday Inn parking ramp, we were tired and stressed vancouver airport rental cars and just wanted to slump into a bed.
When we got to the lobby in the Holiday Inn in the French Quarter it was packed with people damp from the rain and it seemed like everyone was checking in at the same time and no one was in a good mood. Brent sat in a chair and I waited to get checked in. After about 15 minutes I got to the check in when I gave them my name, they said, What was your name again? My heart sank. Then they asked for my confirmation number and my heart sank further. I gave them my confirmation vancouver airport rental cars number and after some typing vancouver airport rental cars they said my prepaid reservation was cancelled because of a problem with my credit card. And of course the hotel was full.
They told me that there was a Crowne Plaza a block away that had one room left. I was not in a position to do anything except say yes . We struggled back through the crowded lobby and up the elevators to the parking vancouver airport rental cars ramp and got back in the car. The Crowne Plaza was literally less than a block away and it took about 10 minutes to get there because vancouver airport rental cars of blocked roads and one way streets.
The Crowne Plaza did Valet Parking only and again it seemed like the whole world was checking in at the same time. We were the third car and waited 20 minutes before the valet guy could reach us. And all the time a constant drizzle. Finally we get our car parked handed off to the valet guy and go into the hotel. The hotel is hosting the national convention of the Vietnam Veteran s Mortocycle Club. It seemed like at all times 24 hours per day, the entire entrance and sidewalk near the entrance would be filled with wall-to-wall motorcycle dudes smoking. Because it was raining, all the smokers crowded around the entrance under the small covered entrance. And since it was New Orleans they were always drunk and because they felt they owned the place if you tried to move between them they would always react with attitude .
We finally got checked in and in the room I was exhausted. But I decided we needed to get out and see the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so we would have at least one positive experience in our first day in New Orleans.
We arrived at Preservation Hall about five minutes into their last set but they let us in anyways. Which was really great. This was the reason for the entire trip and it made everything worth while. Brent loved it. It had always vancouver airport rental cars been my ace in the hole and on that day we needed something to leave us with a good feeling.
The next day, we got up about 10 AM and decided to walk down the French Quarter to absorb the French Quarter Experience . We went into stores of various kinds and had a nice lunch where Brent tried Oysters on the Half-Shell for the first time. As we walked, the rain kept coming and going. I was always worried about Brent slipping on his crutches because the sidewalks are mostly slate. After lunch we went to Jackson Square to see all the cool stuff there luckily it was not raining so there was something to see. As we finished with Jackson Square I decided we should see the Mississippi RIver but it started to pour. I pulled out my umbrella and we walked behind Cafe Du Monde and got to see the Mississippi River.
My next plan was to go to Cafe Du Monde and have some hot chocolate and beignets. Unfortunately it seemed as though every tourist in New Orleans had the same idea. It was raining, wet and slippery and I tried to sit Brent in a chair while I tried to get a table. No one was getting up and as soon as someone got up some group of kids would run and grab the table. I decided to give up and go back to the hotel and dry out. But the walk back to the hotel was nearly a mile and it was raining and we had one umbrella and the rain made the sidewalks slippery.
I decided that we would take a pedi-cab back to the hotel. A pedi-cab is a three-wheeled bicycle with seats in the back. It is also covered and has a rain shield. So we grabbed a pedi cab and they took us back to the hotel it was really the first time I had relaxed since we left the hotel in the morning. When we arrived at the hotel
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