Big Fun in the Big Easy: Part 2

Day 2 

The conference continued with its demands on Tessie's Mom's time, so again we had to find ways to amuse ourselves. We planned to visit the Audubon Zoo, which was too far away for a walk.

We left the hotel and headed up Canal Street toward a streetcar stop when we ran into another conference-attendee-spouse and his son looking for something to do. We joined forces and boarded the St. Charles line streetcar heading west to Audubon Park. With traffic, and stops just about every block, it seemed the streetcar might not be the most expedient form of travel in the city, but we had already come to realize that alacrity in service is not the Big Easy's strong suit. So we just relaxed and took in the scenery. St. Charles Street is lined with stately nineteenth-century mansions, as well as a few more recent architectural attractions, so despite the slow pace we reached our stop without first reaching boredom.

That stop, however, was at the gate to Audubon Park, not Audubon Zoo, and we were left with a one mile walk to the zoo. It was not too warm and the scenery was delightfully bucolic, so we enjoyed the stroll and arrived at the gate with the rest of the throng.

After entering the zoo, we headed to Tessie's priority, the tigers, but were soon distracted by some of her other interests, such as the flamingos and elephants, as Tessie showed her new friend how to get the most out of a visit to the zoo.

Sure, there are animals to look at, but there are also animals to ride! As soon as she saw that the zoo's carousel had a tiger, we knew what we had to do. (Of course, that's not a huge surprise; all zoo carousels have tigers, don't they?)

After getting ourselves all turned around on the carousel, a quick map check was needed before we found the tigers.

The Audubon Zoo's tigers are white tigers. [I'll give Kanye West a moment here -- he's not coming? Good; I'll move on.] These tigers get their pigmentation from a recessive gene, and are not albinos, no matter what Sigfried and Roy may have told you. (Come to think of it, we can add white tigers to the list of things New Orleans has in common with Las Vegas. Other items on that list include casinos and rampant debauchery.)

After lunch in a staggeringly overcrowded cafeteria, we headed back out to take in more of the zoo while Tessie's new friend decided it was time for a nap. We saw the rest of the zoo on our own, including an animatronic dinosaur exhibition that Tessie found enthralling. Especially the one that spit. (Water, thankfully.) 

The zoo was scheduled to close right around that time, so we exited and began the long walk through the park back up to the streetcar line. The shadows were getting long, but Tessie still had loads of energy to burn up. Fortunately, there was a playground with swings and slides along our route, and a few other children to play with as well. 

 We did eventually reach the streetcar stop, and didn't have to wait long before one ambled down the track toward us. We boarded and took our seats, with Tessie staking out a window, and watched as the mansions of St. Charles Street slid by.

Then the streetcar ahead of ours broke down, blocking the tracks at Lee Circle and adding about 45 minutes to our journey. Tessie didn't mind one bit, though. She had fallen asleep in my lap a few blocks earlier.