New Orleans - Last night in the city

A few random photos taken at various locations to show the city.   A beautiful home and an alley leading to a restaurant in the back.

These two photos were taken against the sun, Each photo is composed of three photos at different exposures and then processed in HDR mode  I think they came out really nice even though they were taken without a tripod.

Local musicians playing for tips.  This saddens me because these people have no careers, no work, no future.   I was chatting with a nearby store owner and he tells me these people survive by picking up leftovers from restaurants.  They live in groups and share homes.  What will become of them as they age?  What happens when they get sick?

I felt sad when I saw this beautiful lady working for tips too.  She had an old typewriter and the sign said "Poet for hire".   I chatted with her and when I asked permission to take her photo she said, sure for a tip.  I ended up giving her a nice tip.  I crossed the street and when she wasn't looking captured another photo, she looked sad just sitting there.

This lady on the other hand was very colorful, she had amazing tattoos.  I didn't ask her permission to take the photo, waited for her to start crossing the street and took a photo of her back.

On my last post I had just sat down for a drink and to take a break on my return from the WWII museum.   This was my view of the Mississippi River from the balcony.

As I walked back I stopped by the steamer Natchez which was preparing to leave on a river cruise.  It appears the sun had just set in this photo, but this is an handheld HDR photo too, it was already pretty dark.

In this photo, taken a few minutes after the above photo, I'm standing by the entrance to the Nachez, you can see how dark it was.  This lady was walking near the Natchez with her pony with little bags of popcorn in the bucket.  I bought a bag and fed it to the pony.   The pony knew it was for him as soon as I grabbed a bag.

This photo was taken a few minutes later as the Natchez departed for the river cruise.  The camera is on top of a garbage can with the timer on.  One of the problems of traveling alone, how to take a selfie.

Most "bums" travel with a dog.  I felt sorry for the poor dogs, this one must have been tired and decided to take a nap in the middle of the street while his owner stopped to chat with a tourist.  Not sure what he was dragging behind his bicycle or why the dog was wearing glasses.

After another wonderful dinner in one of the bars, I walked to the end of Bourbon street, turned around and headed back down Bourbon one last time, it was a little after midnight.   With a cacophony of music reverberating through side streets, people dancing on the balconies, tourists marching up and down Bourbon street, the French Quarter was alive but my visit had come to an end.  I had to get up early, visit the St. Louis Cemetery number 1 and then head west to Texas.

As I walked back to the hotel St. Pierre, I took one last photo.  I'm crossing Orleans street, I look to my right and down the street is a statue of Jesus casting a shadow on the back of the St. Louis Cathedral.  It's as if Jesus is saying, "I give up, I can't help the wretched on Bourbon Street".