Running Tour of NOLA

The purpose of our end of the year trip to New Orleans was to take our first vacation together that didn't include visiting family or having the purpose of me running a race.  That said, once there, it was 100% certain that I would find time to run and explore the city.

We arrived on Thursday, December 27, and were greeted by my friend Heidi who picked us up at the airport.  She drove us around the city which gave me a good sense of where I could run.  For dinner, we hit up Bourbon House, which was really good, and I ordered a flight of bourbons that included Knob Creek and Four Roses.

In the morning, I took to the streets with my sneakers and added a new city to my list of ones that I've run.  I started by running from the hotel down St. Charles for a few miles.  At the three mile point, there was the historic Touro Synagogue.  We went there for Shabbes services later that night where we also enjoyed Kaddish.

 I turned left and took another left onto Magazine Street, which Heidi showed us and said that it was kind of cool in its own way.

As I came back downtown, I ran by the WWII Museum (which we visited on Saturday) and the Civil War Museum.

Inside the WWII Museum, we took our picture near this big thing we didn't know what it did - but it looked cool!

My total run for Friday was seven miles at a decent pace.  On Saturday, I ran only thirteen miles for my long run of the week.  Again, I went down St. Charles, planning to run an out and back.  It was neat how the runners ran along the trolley tracks that stretched on straight for miles.

But then I hit a park right where my GPS read 4.5 miles and decided to go for a loop.  The first loop was 1.8 miles, just about 3K, so I did a second loop to ensure I hit at least twelve miles for the run.  Audubon Park had a golf course on the inside and further there was a zoo.  There were many runners, walkers, and bicyclists enjoying the cold but otherwise pleasant morning.

My third and final run in New Orleans was on Sunday morning.  I ran toward the Superdome and along the Mississippi River.

We also had visited the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) where we had a bit of fun:

Some other photos from our trip include seeing the Holocaust Memorial along the Mississippi River:

Finding a shirt perfect for our little girl, Sammy (a spoiled Spring Spaniel):

Jazz brunch:

 A riverboat:

 A walking tour of the French Quarter:

Along the Mississippi River and by the Superdome:

A cigar factory:

Laura plays an imaginary flute:

At the airport watching the Patriots beat the Dolphins to clinch the second seed in the AFC while waiting for our flight home:

Next trip - ??