New Orleans, Louisiana
July 2009


We took a walking tour of the French Quarter (mostly along the riverfront) put on by the National Park Service. Ranger Dan gave us a brief history of New Orleans as we walked. His focus was primarily on how nature and the different nationalities of people impacted the development of the city.

Visitor Center Ranger Dan Streets of New Orleans Streets of New Orleans Bridge over the Mississippi Walking on the tour Looking out over the Mississippi Looking out over the Mississippi The Natchez paddleboat Jackson Square Streets of New Orleans Streets of New Orleans

We spent several hours at the World War II museum in New Orleans. Several of the guys could have stayed there for several days.

WWII Museum War posters Weapon, uniform display Uniforms Artillery Japan strikes Cars, tanks, etc Rifles, equipment Planes in museum Planes in museum

John drove us around the Garden District of New Orleans.

'American' homes 'American' homes 'American' homes 'American' homes

Then John took us to two different cemeteries. The first one was relatively new.

Cemetery Cemetery Cemetery Cemetery Cemetery Cemetery

The second one was rather old.

Lindsay and Samantha Old cemetery Old cemetery Old cemetery Chris Old cemetery

We met the caretaker at the cemetery. He explained that after a person's body has been in a vault for a year it is basically just dust. If another family member dies, the vault is opened, the remains of the other person's body are put in a bag and left in the vault, and the newly deceased is put into the vault. In this way, each vault is used for multiple persons within a family.

Old vault The caretaker Caretaker by open vault Open vault

We went on a tour of the Destrehan Plantation a few miles west of New Orleans. The house was built in the 1780's. The plantation originally produced indigo. In the 1800's, sugar cane was grown, and in the 1900's the house was the center for an oil refinery.

Plaque on Destrehan Manor House House kitchen Dining room Marble bathtub Sitting room off of bedroom Cooking building Cooking building Slave quarters Slave quarters Back of the house Front of the house Oak tree in yard


This is the end of the pages on the Weidemeyer gatherings. I do hope you enjoyed traveling around with us.


The song on this page is Way Down Yonder In New Orleans written by Layton and Creamer.