Wow…after 4 days of continuous rain and area flooding, the sun presented herself in all her glory just in time for our Sunday Brunch Jazz Cruise aboard the Natchez!  Gratitude was exploding out of us!
   Before we boarded, there was calliope music resounding through the marina from an organ on the boat.  This particular boat is the 9th in the line of steamboats that have traversed the Mississippi River bearing the name of Natchez.

Once we boarded, we could choose whichever table we liked…window seat of course. Shortly thereafter the hostess arrived to guide us to the brunch buffet!  Carved ham, eggs, biscuits, seafood gumbo with rice, cheesy grits, fresh fruit cups, seafood pasta salad, warm bread pudding, red velvet cake, French beignets with powdered sugar and…I ordered a mimosa just because…LOL  It was wonderful.  The jazz band, The Steamboat Stompers played during the 2 hours we were cruising up and down the river.

Domino Sugar Plant

We watched the claws scoop raw sugar

The cutest tugboat ever!!!

Front from top deck

The speaker system was great…we could hear them even while we were out on the deck taking pictures and just enjoying the sunshine!
     Guests were invited to tour the boiler room on the lower deck.  Carl had the opportunity to speak with the onboard mechanic who was taking a well-deserved break…lol

On the middle deck at the rear of the boat was the huge red paddle wheel!  I loved watching it turn and turn…guess that was the kid in me…lol

Monrovia

Hong Kong

Something I didn’t expect to see were ships from various places around the world like Japan and Monrovia.  I hadn’t thought about what an important waterway the Mississippi River has truly been in our history.  Another sight that was welcomed by residents of New Orleans was that of 2 cruise lines being able to offer the town as a port of call again.  It took 7 years after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina for cruise ships to be able to dock here at the French Quarter.  They’ve been back now for 3 years and the area merchants are quite grateful for their return.
After the cruise we walked a bit around town.

     It was such a lovely day.

Typical indoor/outdoor cafe in the French Quarter

Jackson Square (named after the bronze statue of Andrew Jackson which I accidentally cropped out of this picture) in front of St. Louis Cathedral