New Orleans

On Monday, July 15, the Upward Bound Program at Carl Sandburg College left for its End-of-Summer Trip. Our destination was New Orleans. We rode a charter bus through the night, an experience that I'm still not used to. Arriving in the Big Easy Tuesday morning, our busy, yet exciting schedule began. We stayed in New Orleans until Friday afternoon, visiting everything from a college to the famous French Quarter. Quietly, we arrived back on campus Saturday morning, July 20. Below are pictures of a lot of the places we visited and things we did. Jen G. took most of the photos posted here on this page.

1. Starting off with a picture of a cemetery.
2. One of the tables at the New Orleans Cooking School.
3. They look so excited to be there.
4. Another table at the school. This demonstration took place on Thursday, the 18th.
5. And another table, minus Fay, who was up front cooking.
6. Fay stirring the pralines, which were delicious.
7. On the road again.
8. Waiting for dinner at Jimmy Buffet's.
9. A downstairs view of the restaurant.
10. A couple students checking the place out. (Side note, this is the place where I tried gator. It wasn't too bad. Tasted like chicken.)
11. Letting everybody know that we were in the house.
12. A group of students and a priest at the cemetery we visited.
13. Aimee trying out her new mask.
14. One of the haunted stops on our tour with Bloody Mary.
15. Another haunted stop.
16. Kind of hard to see. One of the oldest original buildings in the city, it used to be a blacksmith shop, but now serves as a local pub.
17. A view down on street in the French Quarter.
18. Hanging out, watching out for ghosts along the tour.
19. Night view of the riverfront from a hotel room.
20. Another statue in the cemetery. Can you guess who this is?
21. The start of our tour at Loyola University.
22. A beautiful building on the campus.
23. Makes you wish you could go to school in an environment like that. Nothing like palm trees on campus.
24. A view of the trolley that we rode from Loyola down to the French Quarter, which was a long ride.
25. A distant view of St. Louis Cathedral.
26. Katie having her fortune told.
27. Hanging out in the shade of Jackson Square. (We were really waiting to get back to the hotel to take our first shower of the trip.)
28. More students hanging out in the shade.
29. You've just won a cathedral!
30. Group photo at the park.
31. Elisha prancing around in her new mask.
32. Tired after prancing, Elisha resting in the shade with a few friends.
33. Katie and Jen in the hotel pool.
34. Aimee showing her talent during the cooking demonstration.
35. Erik dressing up at Mardi Gras World.
36. Aimee, when are you going to put on the costume?
37. One of the floats at Mardi Gras World. Can cost up to $1500 to ride on a float during Mardi Gras.
38. Another float.
39. Part of the biggest float in the parade.