On the second leg of our road trip to Seattle from Charleston we traveled 202 miles (325 km) from Pensacola, FL to New Orleans, LA bringing our total trip distance to 800 miles (1286 km) across sixstates (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana).

In New Orleans we stayed in a 43rd-floor room with fabulous views to the Mississippi River, had lunch on famed Bourbon Street, spent the afternoon exploring the French District, and enjoyed dinner street-side on Canal Street.

Below are highlights from June 10th, 2021. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

Alabama Position: 30°34.20’N, -87°24.00’W Entering Alabama, the fourth state on our road trip. Only a small section of the state borders the Gulf of Mexico, so we’ll be in Mississippi soon.

D’Olive Creek Position: 30°39.34’N, -87°54.80’W Crossing over D’Olive Creek that empties into Mobile Bay. A major restoration project is underway to restore the creek and its 11,000-acre watershed.

Escatawpa River Position: 30°28.42’N, -88°24.15’W Swampland as we cross over the Escatawpa River, a tributary of the Pascagoula River.

Mississippi Position: 30°27.94’N, -88°25.30’W Entering Mississippi, the fifth state on our road trip. Like Alabama, only a small portion of the state borders the Gulf of Mexico and we’ll soon be in Louisiana.

Pascagoula River Position: 30°26.30’N, -88°33.92’W Driving the four-mile causeway across the swampy Pascagoula River delta where it flows into Mississippi Sound in the Gulf of Mexico.

Louisiana Position: 30°18.31’N, -89°38.01’W Entering Louisiana, the third and final state of the day, and the sixth on our road trip.

Lake Pontchartrain Position: 30°12.96’N, -89°47.39’W Driving a 6-mile causeway across the southern end of Lake Pontchartrain into New Orleans. 630 square mile (1,600 km2) Lake Pontchartrain has an average depth of only 12 to 14 feet (3.7 to 4.3 m) and dredging keeps deeper channels open for shipping. Not visible to our north is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway across the center of the lake, listed in the Guinness Book of World records as the longest bridge over water in the world at 23.83 miles (38.35 km) long.

Mississippi River Position: 29°57.03’N, -90°3.95’W View to the Mississippi River from our room on the 43rd floor of the Sheraton New Orleans. Today we traveled 202 miles (325 km) from Pensacola, FL and were in four states: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Crane Position: 29°57.21’N, -90°4.03’W Skilled crane operator sliding drywall in through a window that he can’t even see, high above.

Flood Control Position: 29°57.22’N, -90°4.06’W New Orleans residents are used to defending against floods. It looks likes there’s been a recent flood risk, as many businesses have sandbags across the entrance and here you can see ventilation grates with temporary dams around them.

Pier 424 Position: 29°57.41’N, -90°4.04’W A yummy seafood lunch overlooking New Orlean’s famed Bourbon Street at Pier 424 seafood market.

Street Music Position: 29°57.51’N, -90°3.96’W Street musicians playing traditional New Orlean’s jazz on Bourbon Street.

St. Louis Cathedral Position: 29°57.46’N, -90°3.79’W St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest in continual used in North America. The first church on this site was built in 1718 under the French rule, and dedicated to King Louis IX of France. A third church was built in 1789 under the Spanish rule, but it burned to the ground and the current cathedral replaced it in the 1850s.

Andrew Jackson Position: 29°57.45’N, -90°3.78’W Statue in Jackson Park of Andrew Jackson, who led America to victory against the British in the War of 1812 at the Battle of New Orleans and later became the 7th US president.

Old Ursuline Convent Position: 29°57.65’N, -90°3.63’W The Old Ursuline Convent, completed in the 1750s, is the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley. Viewed on a Lonely Planet-inspired walking tour of the New Orlean’s French Quarter.

Beauregard-Keyes House Position: 29°57.66’N, -90°3.65’W The Beauregard-Keyes House, now a museum, was built in 1826 and is a National Historic Landmark as an outstanding example of the raised cottage design.

Royal Pharmacy Position: 29°57.68’N, -90°3.71’W Royal Pharmacy is an operating pharmacy that is mostly preserved from the 1930s, complete with soda fountain.

Royal Street Position: 29°57.63’N, -90°3.75’W Cast-iron galleries on Royal Street, one of the best places to see classic New Orleans architecture.

Cafe Amelie Position: 29°57.60’N, -90°3.77’W Enticing courtyard at Cafe Amelie on Royal Street.

Cornstalk Hotel Position: 29°57.61’N, -90°3.79’W The fence in front of the Cornstalk Hotel is one of the most photographed items in the French Quarter. There’s even a picture of it in our hotel room.

St. Anthony’s Garden Position: 29°57.51’N, -90°3.86’W Stately magnolia trees in St. Anthony’s Garden behind St. Louis Cathedral. A garden has been here in various forms since the founding of New Orleans in the early 1718, and artists have been displaying their wares on the cast iron fence for over a century.

Courthouse Position: 29°57.36’N, -90°3.98’W The Louisiana Supreme Court Building, completed in 1910 in the Beaux Arts style, an academic architectural style taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris between 1830 and the late 1900s.

Long Hair Position: 29°57.30’N, -90°3.95’W We’ve seen several women in New Orleans with amazingly long braided hair. The one on the left’s hair is so long that, despite being braided, she still needs to tie it up to avoid dragging it on the ground.

Flood Gate Position: 29°57.21’N, -90°3.82’W Large flood gates, reminiscent of those we saw in the Netherlands, at the foot of Conti Street near the Mississippi River.

Ocean Song Position: 29°57.19’N, -90°3.79’W The stainless steel sculpture Ocean Song, by American artist John T. Scott at Woldenberg Riverfront Park in New Orleans, symbolizes the motion of water.

Crescent City Connection Position: 29°57.10’N, -90°3.76’W The twin Crescent City Connection bridge, formerly the Greater New Orleans Bridge, is the farthest downstream bridge on the Mississippi and was completed in 1958.

Natchez Position: 29°57.10’N, -90°3.76’W The sternwheel steamboat Natchez makes day trips and dinner cruises along the Mississippi River. The boat was built in 1975, but its steam engines were built in 1925 and came from the steamboat Clairton.

View South from Hotel Position: 29°57.13’N, -90°4.08’W The view south to the Mississippi River and the twin Crescent City Connection bridge from our hotel room.

Palace Cafe Position: 29°57.15’N, -90°4.10’W An excellent meal at the Palace Cafe on the patio overlooking Canal St in New Orleans.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.