Thunderstorms Do Not Discourage Out-of-State Adventurer

April 13, 2015

New Orleans, Louisiana

Technically I am not in New Orleans. The New Orleans International Airport is not in New Orleans. Yesterday's bike ride to Lake Pontchartrain did not extend into New Orleans. I've been in Kenner, LA the whole time.

Today I am going to New Orleans. I got the break in the rain that I was hoping for and the local TV weatherperson assured me that the next wave of thunderstorms wouldn't be rolling into the area until "around the same time as you pick up your kids from school."

"Great!" I thought. "It's 8:30 now, so I should have a good six hours to bike to the city, explore the French Quarter, and ride back."

Like weather reporters everywhere, she was wrong--unless kids in New Orleans get out of school at 10:40 a.m. But I'll get to that later.

I easily found the Mississippi Levee Bike Trail, which really wasn't much of an accomplishment since all I had to do was ride a few blocks south toward the 3rd biggest river in the world, wheel my bike through somebody's yard, and walk up the steep embankment that was right in front of me. I rode joyfully on top of that embankment (the levee) with views of the river most of the way.

Now, it is true that I live in a town located right on the Mississippi River, but THIS does not seem like the same river at all. In Hastings, MN a few barges come through each day. In New Orleans, the river has huge ocean-going vessels. Like the upper Mississippi, this area has an abundance of herons, egrets, seagulls, geese, and ducks, but it also has a host of other aquatic birds I can not name. After all, I am NOT an ornithologist.

After I was forced off the trail by a construction project, I got lost for a little while somewhere near the town of Jefferson. That's where it started to rain. I managed to find my way back to the Levee Trail where it started to rain harder. I put on my rain jacket. Then I saw a flash of lightning and heard a roll of thundering thunder. (Thundering thunder, I like it.) Soon thereafter, I saw a vicious cloud-to-ground lightning bolt.

I must be the luckiest bike rider of all time. On most of the Levee Trail one is quite exposed to the elements and lightning is a serious threat. But within seconds of the lightning bolt, I cruised into the famous Audubon City Park and took refuge under a picnic shelter. The shelter was nothing more than a big tin roof, but it blocked the rain and it felt safe despite the deafening sound of pounding rain an a sheet of tin.

The storm passed in about 20 minutes and I proceeded on through more of Audubon Park to St. Charles Avenue.

Bird life in Audubon Park. Swans? White Geese? Turkeys? I'm a biker, not an ornithologist.

What a street that St. Charles Avenue is! Lined by many stately homes, it reminded me of St. Paul's Summit Avenue--IF Summit Avenue had streetcars running up and down its boulevard.

I blame the rain for this blurry picture of a St. Charles Avenue street car. (Blurry or surrealistic? I'll let you decide.)

There was a lot of traffic on St. Charles Avenue and also a lot of standing water due to the many days of rain the city has been experiencing. My choices were to either plow through a couple of inches of water without knowing what was underneath, or to swerve into traffic to avoid it. Let's just say I got very, very wet.

As I approached the downtown area, those incredible restaurant aromas came back. Minneapolis and St. Paul have many fine restaurants. Why can't I smell their foods from the road like I can in New Orleans? Could it be that, because we are a "blue state" our government makes the restaurants install sophisticated, expensive, environmentally friendly ventilation systems that remove those delicious smells and send them straight up into the heavens? The very thought of such a thing almost makes me want to renounce my liberalism and become a libertarian. Almost.

I went past a very posh inn called The Pontchartrain Hotel. I considered going inside to get out of the rain and to see what they thought of the "Lake Pontchartrain" ditty I wrote yesterday, but I nixed the idea because I figured my drowned rat appearance might have detracted from the overall quality of my song. I kept riding.

In the heart of downtown New Orleans I almost got hit by a car. Had I been flattened by the black SUV, it would have been my own fault. I made a mistake. I admit it. Glad to be alive, I kept riding.

Some kind of downtown monument to some guy who must have done something.

Finally I arrived at the French Quarter. The architecture was visually interesting and it still has a very European aura to it. The drawback is that it is touristy almost to the point of ridiculousness. I went to the French Market thinking it would be the Frenchiest of the American French Markets, but all I learned was it was the touristiest of the American French Markets. Even on a rainy, uneventful Monday afternoon it was packed. I don't have much more to say about the French Quarter. I'll just display a few of my notoriously bad pictures.

Bourbon Street with the big buildings of modern New Orleans in the background.

A stop light gives me the opportunity to take a selfie while in traffic.

Overall, it was a fine day. The rain did not spoil it for me one bit. I took the more direct Hurricane Evacuation Route back to the motel. It was about half the distance of the meandering levee trail. By the end of the day, I had ridden about 28 miles and I was no closer to Lake Superior than I was yesterday.

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 41 miles (66 km)

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