New Orleans's tall icons draw "close"

I was struck by the seeming juxtaposition of St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans and a Carnival Cruise Line ship heading out of port and down the Mississippi River.  Of course, the two are far apart, but the long lens needed to capture this shot compresses the space and makes them appear as next door neighbors.

Notice all the waving people (if you can make them out) on the upper decks of the cruise ship.  The photo looks east across the French Quarter.  The ship is making its turn off of the short section of the Mississippi River from the Greater New Orleans Bridge to Canal Street where the river actually flows due north.

Mississippi River is imagination highway

The Carnival Cruise Line ship gets the right of way as it heads out of dock and heads from New Orleans downstream on the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and days of fun and leisure.  The Canal Street Ferry waits its turn to pass behind the huge ship.

Surf's up -- way up!

A digression from New Orleans for today --

Ever had a place you couldn't get out of your mind? We took a cruise from New Orleans down to the Yucatan Peninsula about a year ago. It is weighing heavy on me this morning because this little village in Costa Maya took a direct hit from Hurricane Dean yesterday. Sure, it has weathered storms before, but, a Category 5 storm coming at you at 20 miles an hour is sure going to change the landscape.You can see the structures are not very substantial. (I like to call the photo above "Beachfront condo" but I think this is a motel)-- easy to rebuild. Nonetheless, this kind of storm gives you little to rebuild from.

I tell everyone that there is a chair down there a few feet out in the water with my name on it. Not so sure about that any more.

I guess that's why you have photos... the dream lives on

--steve buser

The glow lives...

Carnival Cruise Lines announced this week that they had extended their contract for cruise ships to call at the Port of New Orleans. So I decided to pull out this photo that seems to show how the cruise ships fit into the New Orleans culture. There is no doubt that sailing from a port such as New Orleans can extend the fun a day or two before you embark or after you disembark. (or both) ... Keep the glow alive.

We did a cruise from here in November down to the Yucatan Peninsula. It was a week of pure pleasure. I know they have a chair down there sitting in the shallow beach water with my name on it.

The photo below is just to remind myself of how beautiful it all was.
--steve buser

The fun just keeps on coming

New Orleans is a great port to take a cruise from. Kill two stones with one bird. Spend a night or two in the "City that Care Forgot" -- puts you in the mood for fun to come.

We took a cruise from here in early November to the Yucatan peninsula. Eye candy everywhere. Just a whole lot of fun.

Here the Norwegian Sun slides out of her berth just up river from the Crescent City Connection Bridge and heads down the Mississippi River. She'll be entering the Gulf of Mexico about midnight.

--steve buser