Day 50: Meridian, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana. Days 51-54: New Orleans

Serendipity, that's the watchword for our stop in Meridian, Mississippi. We chose the town simply because it was the right distance for our day's drive on the way to New Orleans after our unforgettable experience at the civil rights sites in Birmingham and Selma. But, after we'd checked in to our microtel, Greg was popping around the internet and discovered that Meridian was the birthplace of a long ago singer -- Jimmie Rodgers, known as the "singing brakeman" because of his day job as a brakeman on the railroad. The somewhat obscure singer's name sounded familiar. Greg realized he'd read about Rodgers recently in a biography of Johnny Cash, Rodgers was an early influence on Cash's music. 

      .                   

Turned out Rodgers's memorial was located in a nearby county park. When we stopped by the next morning we discovered that "ghost town" syndrome was present here in Missisippi, just as it had been in Birmingham. Even though it was a lovely day, the park was deserted. It was just us and the geese. 

.                                       

We discovered another attraction, though. A beautiful carousel, closed by covid, of course. But we were able to peer though the window and Greg got a decent shot of it. Wikipedia details below.

                         . 

The Highland Park Dentzel Carousel and Shelter Building is a carousel and building in Highland Park in Meridian, Mississippi. Manufactured about 1896 for the 1904 St. Louis Exposition by the Dentzel Carousel Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the carousel was sold and shipped to Meridian. Highland Park Dentzel Carousel has been in operation since 1909 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.^] It is the only remaining two-row stationary Dentzel menagerie in the world.

But, that wasn't all that Meridian had to offer. There's a webiste "Roadside America," which Greg often checks when we have a bit of time in the midst of our driving. It was there that he learned about the graves of the "King and Queen of the gypsies." 

                                           

.                      

(From RoadsideAmerica.com)

The graves of the King and Queen, but especially the Queen, are easy to spot in the cemetery; they're festooned with Mardi Gras bead necklaces, trinkets, flowers, costume jewelry, and offerings of whiskey and loose change. These are not tokens of affection, but are bribes left in the belief that they will entice Kelly or Emil to enter your dreams and solve your problems.

After a long day of driving, there's nothing like a hearty meal. 

Our next stop was New Orleans. It's kind of an odd experience to be in a place like New Orleans in the Covid era. Like many places we've been, the people working in hotels and restaurants followed CDC guidelines. The tourists . . . not so much.

                                

Here are some shots of the French Quarter where our hotel was located.  

          View from our hotel room.                                        Picking up our take-out dinner

.           

                                                                                                    

Greg's workplace . . .The Super Dome

                                                          . . .and mine.

As we headed out of town, trying to bank 4 hours or so to make a dent in the 24 hours of driving we'd do over the next two days to get home, we came across this rather interesting vehicle. It seemed emblematic of the style and flair of the city of New Orleans.

On the field: NFL Week 7, Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints.  Drew Brees was almost perfect and Alvin Kamara had 148 total yards. A 65 yard field goal attempt by Joey Slye would have been a record falls just short in the final seconds. 

On the map: Distance from Indianapolis to New Orleans: 821 miles. 

Here's the map. The lines on some routes have grown fat with many journeys. I-87 to I-90 through New York and on into the midwest is a good example.