We are back in the United States for a month and have settled into a beautiful apartment in the Penn Quarter of Washington, DC.
Saying Adios to Puerto Rico
Our two months in Puerto Rico were glorious and it was difficult to leave, so we of course spent some final moments enjoying the beach in front of our apartment in San Juan.
We’re going to miss this view
Then we headed sadly to the airport, donning long pants and shoes for the first time in two months. Even Putzie came out to say goodbye!
Bye, Putzie!
This was the sight out the window as our southwest jet flew out of San Juan International Airport bound for Manchester, NH, where our truck was parked.
How New England Greeted Us
After leaving a balmy 84 degrees, we stepped out of the airport to a frigid 29 degrees at the airport. We also discovered there was a Winter Storm Warning for much of the next day, our primary travel day through New England. With the sandals barely off, we were strategizing an early wake-up (after getting to bed after 2 AM) so we could cover as much ground the next day as possible before the predicted 8-10 inches swept in.
Still, this was what we encountered on the ground the next day, after we drove across Vermont to Burlington, picked up our son Gavin and his cat Ellie, and headed south to Saratoga Springs, NY.
It was a knuckle-clenching trip, especially one spot on a back road in upstate New York where our truck slip all over the road. Bb managed to right it with no harm done, but it was a tense journey from then on out, and reminded Bob why he likes to live in warm climates in the winter!
We spent the night in the best La Quinta ever, in Clifton Park, NY, where Ellie and Kaylee negotiated a reunion between growls and hisses.
It was great to be with Gavin again!
On to DC
On Sunday, we rose earlyish and continued the trek south to DC, finally moving into the Lansburgh at 425 8th Street NW at around 4 PM.
Our condo is beautiful, and the location is superb — just a couple of blocks from the National Mall, and a block from the downtown Christmas market. It even comes with a bar and a liquor cabinet for us to fill!
We are excited to begin exploring the Nation’s Capital and spending time with family and friends!
On our single full day in New Orleans, we opted for history instead of entertainment and headed to the National World War II Museum. It was, without a doubt, one of the most spectacular, illuminating museums I have ever experienced in my life. This museum, which started out as the D-Day Museum in 2001, and is located in New Orleans because most of the landing craft used on that turning-point day in history was manufactured here. The D-Day Museum was so well received that it was expanded a few years later to become the National WWII Museum.
Lisa’s dog tag
You start by getting a dog tag to represent a soldier you
will be tracking all day at check-in stations, and board the same kind of train
many soldiers took when they embarked on their journeys. It was a truly
immersive experience as, with seats rocking, the train whistle blowing and the
grainy black-and-white landscape flying by, the conductor welcomed you aboard.
Beyond Boundaries Film
After getting off the train, we started our explorations by watching the 48-minute film Beyond Boundaries, a 4D experience narrated by Tom Hanks that used film and other sensory effects, including a 1930s wooden-cabinet radio, falling snowflakes, a plane cockpit that lowered from the ceiling to punch out an air battle scene, and more to introduce us to the sheer magnitude of World War II. The mini-documentary stunningly put into perspective the global threat presented by German Furer Adolph Hitler, Italian Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito of Japan, the Axis leaders who wanted nothing less than global domination. It ended at the climax, the bombing of Pearl Harbor that dragged the United States in the war and engaged every person in the country in the fight for the very survival of democracy.
We learned how the ill-equipped United States, previously hesitant to join in the war as Nazi forces took over country after country, stepped up when it came under attack. Men young and old rushed to join the war effort and defend their country against the invaders. Women, who were home raising children, took factory jobs and churned out an incredible volume of planes, jeeps, weapons, artillery and more.
The European Theater
The WWII Museum is comprised of five buildings, and we only
had one day, so we chose to enter the Road
to Berlin: European Theater gallery. I don’t even know how to describe the
experience after this. We spent five awe-struck hours being assaulted from all
sides by grainy black-and-white film, sound and lighting effects, real-life
voices telling their stories, radio broadcasts, flashes and explosions, and
much more.
This breathtaking exhibit took us through the major steps in the European campaign, starting with North Africa and moving across Italy, southern France, Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, D-Day, England, and Germany, that culminated in the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. We experienced the shock that troops felt when they discovered the atrocity of the concentration camps and the slaughter of 6 million Jews, as well as millions of others deemed inferior to Hitler’s Aryan race. We met military leaders and foot soldiers, journalists (including Ernie Pyle’s life and death) and pilots. We saw airplanes and jeeps, nurses’ uniforms and bomber jackets. We shivered in the snowy woods in Germany and leaned away from incoming anti-aircraft fire from a small plane. I thought of my three Troisi uncles who flew many missions in Europe and for the first time had a concept of what their experience was like.
A plane goes down during an air battle
My dog tag soldier, John, was a 17-year-old who went to
Canada to pursue becoming a pilot when the United States rejected him because
of a previous broken neck. He ended up doing bomb runs for Canada, and then
England, before the United States decided to let him join. He won a medal of
honor and was a prisoner of war in Germany for more than a year.
Planes, Jeeps and
Submarines
We also visited the US
Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, where we saw a number of WWII planes
and jeeps, as well as the Medal of Honor Exhibit.
Wartime aircraft
Medal of Honor recipients
We still need to go back to see the other Campaign of Courage: The Pacific Theater, especially since that’s where Bob’s dad was stationed on a Destroyer Escort in 1943-45. There’s a whole hall, the Arsenal of Democracy, that we didn’t have time for, and a doomed submarine experience I’m interested in. The outdoor area is under construction to create a Freedom Garden.
New Orleans is about a lot more than Jazz and Jambalaya. If you visit this city, definitely devote a day or two to the National WWII Museum. To get the full experience of the museum, watch Bob’s video on the Messy Suitcase YouTube channel.
We just spent a couple of nights in New Orleans to break up the road trip from Pennsylvania to Mexico City. We rented a lovely, pet-friendly cottage through AirBnB that had a kitchen, living room and two bedrooms, just a short Uber ride from the action. It was pristine, affordable and super comfortable.
After working out and showering, we spent our first NOLA night
on Bourbon Street, a place we barely got to explore last year when we came
through because it was just too loud for Gavin. But this time, with Gavin off
at college, we headed down there again. Mardi Gras is still a month away, so it
wasn’t high season yet, and we headed out early to avoid crushing crowds and
deafening noise.
Bourbon Street is the heart of the touristy French Quarter,
and we were planning to go to historic Preservation Hall to see classic New
Orleans jazz. For $20 seats on the floor, we would need to stand in line
outside to get day-of-show tickets. After a day spent driving, we weren’t in
the mood.
Bourbon Street
So we instead opted to get a more local experience
recommended by our Uber driver, Joe. First we shared a mouthwatering dinner of
blackened redfish and jambalaya at an oyster bar on Bourbon called Le Bayou. Jambalaya
is a kind of dirty rice with spicy tomato sauce and andouille sausage. We also
enjoyed hurricanes, a classic New Orleans drink with rum and fruity juices. Our
waiter kept calling us “y’all,” so we couldn’t forget we were truly in the
south. After filling our stomachs, we strolled along Bourbon, taking in the
crowd scene, and even saw a school band marching up the road, followed by a
small parade of what I assume was a krewe, a social organization that helps put
on a parade or ball during the carnival season, which runs January and
February.
Bourbon Street is amazingly loud, even in the off-season, and the road is closed to traffic so people can just wander at their leisure. Musicians with saxophones, guitars or even just spoons and plastic buckets, entertain for tips on street corners. The shops are filled with colorful art, with candy skulls, masks, voodoo paraphernalia, and jazz accouterments.
We walked about a mile to Frenchmen’s Street, a locals’
favorite area. Frenchmen’s is lined on both sides with lively bars and
restaurants. As you wander along the sidewalk, you can listen to the music
blasting out the open doors and choose your poison. Most have no cover and a
local clientele. We chose Marigny
Brasserie, and enjoyed an hour of music by a sweet jazz duo. A drunken
regular celebrating her 71st birthday alone plopped down next to me
at the bar and I was friendly to her. That turned out to be a mistake as she
subsequently kept hitting me to get my attention, then ranting in a slurred
voice about the injustices of her life and why it was horrible that the bar was
showing The Waterboy and Captain Phillips on the big screen when
people should be getting to know each other instead. Since she sitting on a
stool between me and the band, it was impossible for me to watch the band. I
guess if you want to be where the locals are, sometimes you have to put up with
a local!
But we ducked out and wandered, encountering an Art Market where local artisans sold jewelry, paintings, even hand-made three-string guitars.
Scenes from the Art Market
The band at Bamboulia’s
On the second evening, we ate at Bamboulina’s, a cozy bar with exposed brick walls, and enjoyed incredible pulled pork and a wonderful blues band. If I lived in NOLA, I think I would go to Frenchmen’s every weekend and try a different bar each time! Our last Uber driver encouraged us to try Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans next time, so watch for that blog in the spring when we pass through again on our way back north!
