Rather than go back into New Orleans I drove along the Mississippi River nearly to its ending.  It’s an excellent road and goes much farther than I expected.  The pictures tell some of the story.  I stopped at Fort Jackson, site of a Civil War naval battle and more recently victim of two hurricanes.  On the return trip I used two ferries.

Obviously the peninsula is a company town, servicing the oil industry.  There are three helicopter airports, each with at least four helipads.  They all had large and full parking lots, testimony to the number of workers out in the Gulf.  There were three schools, all fairly new and all up on stilts.  Though the schools were new and very nice looking, at least 90% of the students live in mobile homes., of varying quality.  Down near the river’s end virtually every home is a mobile home.  The permanent homes are inconsistent, running in elevation from ground level to high up on stilts.  Storm damage was evident, though the roads were excellent.  Down very near the end I was on a road with water on both sides.  I failed to get to the very end because of flooding on the road.

Fort Jackson was an example of building for past wars.  It was built as a result of the British attack on New Orleans.  Obviously, that threat was pretty well over, but build the fort we did (to match one on the other side).  But it was perfectly situated to deny federal access to New Orleans in the Civil War.  Getting past it was a major victory for the Navy.  There is a new Visitors Center, where many relics are on display.  The Fort itself was flooded by Katrina, then again by Issac, forcing its closure.  Funding to repair the damage hasn’t been identified.

About halfway down from New Orleans there’s a ferry, which I took on the return trip.  30 miles upriver there’s another ferry to cross back.  They’re interesting ferries because they dock broadside to the shore, whereas most ferries dock bow and stern.  The reason, which becomes obvious when observing the river, is the current.  To say it’s rapid is to grossly understate the situation.  Ships going downriver just fly.

I returned in the afternoon to visit the French Quarter again.  It was weirder than yesterday, but I grew bored with it.  (Many people highly recommended the new WWII Museum.  I just didn’t have time to do it justice.)