After a night cruising Bourbon Street in the dark we went to see some of the rest of the French Quarter in the light. The hotel was busy with lots of little girls and their chaperones checking out after some kind of dance contest, and fans of the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in town for a match at the Superdome . So even on a Sunday morning the place was hopping.

We made our way to Café du Monde for coffee and beignets before taking in some more of the sights.

The Mississippi River waterfront
				Bourbon Street and the surrounding area was remarkably tidy given the mayhem of the night before. Quite the charming town, one we wished we'd had more time to investigate. Even more charming with the temperatures in the low 70s. In the middle of December!				But now we had to hit the road to Memphis, passing by the Superdome then crossing over the seemingly-endless		Lake Pontchartrain Causeway .

We ventured northward, top down (in December!) until the skies darkened and rain started to fall. It's possible to drive in the rain, especially at highway speeds, because the rain just shoots over your head. We made it about a half-hour before the rain thickened into a downpour and started getting in my eyes. Now the rain that flies over your head at 80mph falls right on your head at at lesser speeds, especially at 0mph so it takes a bit of planning to avoid getting wet. Fortunately I-55 is crossed by many overpasses so the trick was to slow down quickly from high speed on a wet road and stop right under one and put the top up. While traffic is whizzing by. Which I did. Appropriately buttoned-up, we headed into Memphis.