Big Fun in the Big Easy: part 4

Day 5

At last, the final chapter of our New Orleans adventures.

Having finally run out of Audubon Institute attractions, we had to find other ways to amuse ourselves for our last two days in the city. Fortunately, this was not difficult.

One of my priorities for this trip was a visit to the National World War II Museum, formerly the National D-Day Museum, so while Tessie and her mother slept in, I made the short walk from our hotel.  

Why New Orleans, I expect you may be asking. True, no battles were fought there, but the museum, whose founders included the historian Stephen Ambrose, chose the site to honor the contribution of New Orleans boat builder Andrew Jackson Higgins and his shallow-draft, plywood Higgins boats. These were the boats that carried the first assault waves to the Normandy coast on D-Day. "Andrew Higgins," General Eisenhower said, "is the man who won the war for us." So New Orleans is indeed a fitting home for this museum.

The museum still shows that it began with a more focused collection of artifacts and displays specific to D-Day, and the museum itself seems to be sorting itself out of an identity crisis brought on by its name change and scope change. D-Day is extensively covered, but the air war, the North African and Italian campaigns, and the battle of the Atlantic are all given far less space than they deserve. (One can forgive the omission of the Russian front, the Battle of Britain, Manchurian campaign, etc., in a primarily American museum.) The Pacific Theatre, from Pearl Harbor to the atomic bombings of Japan, is given an extensive, highly detailed and modern gallery full of interactive displays, maps and artifacts. The museum is undergoing significant expansion, which is scheduled to be completed by 2014; hopefully the increased gallery space will allow the curators to flesh out the weaker displays. If all are brought up to the standard of the Pacific gallery, this will be an outstanding museum.

After entering the museum via a large atrium in which a variety of military vehicles and aircraft are displayed, one ascends to the second floor to begin a sequential journey through history, beginning with a gallery titled "Prelude to War." This display (above) shows the relative forces of the three countries shown at the end of the 1930s. Each figurine represents 20,000 soldiers, sailor or airmen in each countries' military. Shown this way, it makes the susequent military build-up by the United States that much more impressive, but the museum missed the opportunity to bookend that display with a corresponding one illustrating conditions at the end of the war.

Following the initial stage-setting galleries, and the standard war-museum fare of weapons displays...

...and -- what's this! -- an Enigma machine, which the Germans used to encode secret messages, and the Allies used to read them...

...the museum jumps abruptly to planning for D-Day, followed, obviously, by the execution of those plans. It was during these spectacularly detailed and absorbing exhibits that Tessie (and Mommy) caught up to me.

Tessie does not like war, nor does she like war museums. The somber lighting, the piped-in sound effects, photographs that are alternately cringe-inducing and heart rending; all these things made for one unhappy little girl. As much as I want her to grow up to appreciate the horrible nature of war, this was not the time. So, Tessie and her mother hung out in the bookstore while I rushed through the Pacific gallery. (Sometimes I get away with murder.)

We had lunch at the American Sector, the museum's cafe, which was named not for the partition of post-war Berlin but for the area of New Orleans in which it is located. New Orleans is such an eclectic city of numerous foreign influences that it may be the only American city with such a sector. The cafe's menu offers 1940s-era comfort food crafted by a retired Marine Corps chef. (No, really -- they actually brag about that.) It's tasty fare, but a far cry from the city's more renowned restaurants in both style and substance.

After lunch, the ladies decided the museum and I were a lost cause, so they headed back to the hotel pool while I returned to the museum. Disappointed as I was by its seemingly limited scope, I certainly did find plenty with which to occupy myself. Perhaps in 2014, when their expansion is complete, we'll return for more than just one day of visiting.

Day 6

By the morning of our last day in the Crescent City, jet lag was no longer much of an issue and I was able to wake up in time to take some sunrise pictures from our hotel window.

With an afternoon flight ahead of us, we needed to find some activity that would wear Tessie out enough that she could sleep soundly on the plane. We saved our visit to the Louisiana Children's Museum for our last day for just that purpose.

With so many activities for her to explore, we had a hard time just keeping up. There was the Community Helper exhibit... 

... some animal x-rays...

...and a culinary exhibit with some local flavor.

There was also an art room, where Tessie was provided with paints and a smock, and set to creating her masterpiece.

While it dried, there was time for more play. Tessie just loves anything with balls rolling down ramps...

...and dress-up is always a favorite, too.

The museum had a pretend restaurant, where Tessie served us all "lunch." There was also a pretend supermarket so realistic it was being used for training.

She also got to create a giant soap bubble around herself.

There was also a large gallery devoted to urban planning and engineering. Hopefully she wasn't developing any career ideas here...

 The museum had plenty of attractions to captivate a small child, and we, of course, were captivated by Tessie's enthusiasm, but soon enough it was time to grab a bite at Mulate's Cajun restaurant.We couldn't convince her to try the grilled alligator. (It was delicious, if a bit tough.)

From there we walked back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. Tessie did indeed sleep on the plane.