New Orleans: River--Moon Walk

I had time on my own in New Orleans, so I decided to walk along the river during the day.  I had heard it referred to as the Moon walk and always thought it was because it was a popular walk to do when the 'moon' was out. Later I found out it was named that for a different reason.   Here's the images I went away with.

The Mississippi River, New Orleans

It was when I came across this sign that I understood the name.

The Riverboat Natchez - as the  people were getting on it.

Right before it sets off on its cruise the captain blows the whistle two times.

Its a paddle, riverboat and it was fun to see the big wheels keep on turning.  You can see how big they are wit the workers that where by them.

So I got a couple of images of it.

 One of the most popular spot is Jackson Brewery. It used to be a brewery that delivered beer but it shut down and later was turned into a shopping arcade. 

I'm always fascinated by the Mississippi River and today it was no different.  What surprised me the most was to see how low it was.  I've seen it before from this area but I've never seen sand bars by the edge like I did on that day - that led me to believe it was way down plus seeing how high up the piers were.

A river barge on the Mississippi River.

Their are tours going on all the time in the French Quarter area.  I saw this group go by on those motor ??? (I can't recall their names) scooters. I thought that was such an innovative way to give a tour.   Next time I might have to check it out.

Another view of the Jackson Brewery

Here's St Louis Cathedral and Jackson square as seen form the Moon Walk. I took some pictures the night before - here  .

Its not every day you see a cannon just sitting there in a park and a lot of people stopping to look at it.  It was engraved with Washington Artillery.

Here's the two together.

 I wanted to get a good picture of Jackson square but had to settle on cropping this one for you.

Jackson Square New Orleans

Here's what it looked like orginally.

I liked this image because you can see how the Moon walk was built on top of the Mississippi levee (wiki/Levee).  You can see the bridge in the background so you get the sense that the river is there. Plus you can see that it slops upward quite a few feet as seen by the stairs to the left.  The French quarter never flooded during Hurricane Katrina and that was because it was built on the higher ground of the Mississippi floodplain.   New Orleans is also called the crescent city because it was built on the point bar of one of the bends in the river. wiki/point bar.

Another view of the mighty Mississippi River. When I was looking at it - it was hard to tell which way was up river and down. 

And because it is so mighty they have to have these flood walls to protect the city.  wiki/Floodwall

floodwall in New Orleans near the river walk

 As I was walking I kept on noticing these old hitching posts and thought it was so nice to see that they left them even though I'm sure its been awhile since they were used for what they were intended to be used for.  Then again with the horse drawn tours I might be wrong there.

This didn't turn out and is not near as noticeable as it is at night - but this was one of the casino's that is there - Harrah's.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about New Orleans - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans,_Louisiana.