UPDATE: September 1. I have added a full length narrated HD video on my Vimeo channel using the footage I shot on this adventure but was unable to edit or upload it to this blog while I was on the road. You can watch it here: https://vimeo.com/138050538

So the Swamp Tour guy dropped me off right at the front doors of the World War II Museum and the first thing I noticed was the registration Hall was empty. When I drove by yesterday on the (economically priced!) HoHo it was stuffed with people, lined up out the doors. Rule #1, visit attractions like this during the week, not the weekend!



Featured prominently in the registration hall is a flat bottomed boat conceived and designed by Andrew Higgins which made the Normandy landing possible. The boat had numerous variations depending upon what it was hauling; troops, tanks, supplies, etc. Thousands were built by the Higgins Boat Building Company and other builders in the NOLA area and it is this connection that made New Orleans the desired location for this museum.

It has been billed as the #1 attraction in NOLA, and the #5 attraction in the USA. Here is an excerpt from the website:

Fun Facts:
• WWII was the largest and most expensive war ever and so was the aftermath as most cities had lost major industry and been turned to rubble by aggressive bombings.

Fun facts eh?

The tour starts as most attractions like this do, you assume the alias of of a person involved in the actual event and follow them through it. In this case it was an 'electronic dog tag'. We all got loaded into a stationary rail car, sorta like we were all leaving for basic training camp. There were touch screens in front of each of us requesting us to register our dog tag which I did right up to where they asked for my email addy. I really don't need them emailing me every day with some ****.

Years ago I visited the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC on a bike trip (blog coming one day) and somewhere along the line I registered both my mailing and email addresses. Upon my return I started receiving mailings on both addys from The Smithsonian, I was honored at first, but the passage of time soured that and eventually I had to unsubscribe.

After exiting the train car we were left to our own devices, there were no guided tours. I like to be thorough so I plotted out things so I wouldn't miss anything, FOMO! I started in the area that began with the end of World War One and the chaos of Europe in the 30's.

I won't regale you with the whole WWII story but it's beginnings are hotly contested. As an avid reader of history from that area I believe the seeds for the conflict were sown the day WWI ended with the unachievable and unenforceable terms of the Treaty of Versailles. I am about 1/3rd of the way through a 1000+ page tome about Winston Churchill (got mailed home, too heavy). When I finish it please ask to borrow it if you are interested in this historic era.

The format followed the typical museum format with artifacts under glass accompanied by large placards and the occasional interactive display. The displays snaked their way around and each major event connected to the next. The European Theatre conflict ended with the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy, utilizing the Higgins boats.

The next Pavilion was about the Pacific conflict with the Japanese starting with the Manchurian Incident, then Pearl Harbor which dragged the US reluctantly into the war. The US had hardly recovered from the crash of 1929 and it's armies ranked 18th in the world but within 3 years they had transformed themselves into a manufacturing powerhouse. No matter how you view it the US won the war by out manufacturing materials. If our enemy has 1 tank and we build 1000 we know how that conflict will turn out.

The Pacific conflict Pavilion ended, naturally with the 2 atomic bombings. The 2 A-Bombs cost 2 billion dollars in 1945, equivalent to about 35 billion in 2015 dollars. BY comparison the cost of the Gulf War was about 61 billion, 36B of which was re-imbursed by Gulf States.

The use of these bombs is again hotly contested by history, but people have to realize the Japanese people saw their leader as the physical embodiment of a supernatural God. When he said we will fight to the last man, woman or child he meant it and that was embraced by the citizens. It was going to need another invasion and the soldiers coming ashore would not find as 'easy' an enemy to vanquish as the AXIS powers in Europe.

I had finished the European and Pacific exhibitions in a couple of hours and in time to see a '4D' visual mega media extravaganza in the theatre next door. This was a special theatre across the street that featured a 40 minute history of WWII called Beyond All Boundaries complete with a huge 3D screen, seat shakers, water jets and a surround sound system.

The 4D part is that various additional props were raised and lowered in
front of the screen to support what was being shown at the time.

There was a cool effect at one point when the topic was a daylight bombing raid using 100's of B-17's and a nose cone was lowered down in front of the screen matching up with a B-17 center screen. I love that when physical items interact with video elements, I have used that effect successfully myself in shows I have produced.



These props varied between an old Wurlitzer radio to 40mm anti aircraft gun. 3 screens, in various configurations and heights also deployed throughout the show to hold additional video content, or the name keys. All of the multi media in play at this show has given me some inspirations for shows I am producing this fall.

Following the presentation the last piece of the puzzle, that interested me at least, was what I would call the Hardware Pavilion that had various items famous to the conflict. There were various vehicles including several tanks, trucks and half tracks on the floor. The Dodge Ambulance, which saw service in NATO countries into the 80's. The ubiquitous Willy-Overland jeep which was used in 160 countries.



Overhead were multiple aircraft including a P-51 Mustang, Corsair, TBF, B-24 Liberator and B-17 Fly Fortress. The B-17 was called My Gal Sal and has a very interesting history spending years on an icecap. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Gal_Sa l_%28aircraft%29

Not to be a spoiler but the hacksaw hero is on display as well.

What is interesting about this exhibit is that there are 4 levels of viewing platforms; ground and then 3 levels of pedways so you can interact with the aircraft from all angles.




I was very thorough and examined all of the exhibits from all levels. Most planes also had an interactive electronic display where you could explore the plane, its crew and its various missions.



The final activity was to be part of the last mission of the USS Tang, a WWII diesel submarine that was one of the most successful u-boat in terms of gross tonnage sank, both merchant and combat vessels. Again whilst standing in line we were assigned a crew station and a persona. When we were allowed into the space it was a mock-up of the conning tower and we were rigged for red (combat stations).

My position was the conn, the wheel that controls left & right, sadly I was sharing it with 2 eight year old boys who were both trying to turn it in opposite directions. I tried the disapproving 'Lou Look' but it was too dark to be effective. A multimedia presentation played on the ceiling and each position had a job to do. The floor shook when we were depth charged and smoke and flashing lights completed the chaos.

We worked through what was the Tang's last wartime mission, it had 8 torpedo's left and it found itself in the middle of a convoy. The U-boat fired at several ships and scored many hits until the last torpedo breached the surface making a circular run and ironically coming back to sink the Tang hitting her aft of the conning tower.

A number of men escaped using the Momsen Lung, a CO scrubbing rebreather. I don't recall all the numbers but a bunch left the boat, a few didn't make it to the surface, a few of those weren't picked up by a Japanese destroyer, and one of those died while being tortured in a camp. In the end 5 men survived the war, and the conn position was one of those. The whole thing lasted maybe 10 minutes and we were spit back out into the lobby.

I had had enough for one day. I went to the gift shop and bought a $4 bottle of water and set out. As I walked towards the sign directing me to the trolley station I noticed the bricks that made up the sidewalk each were inscribed with the name, rank and date of passing for persons of military service. There were alot of them!

A sign pointed me towards the Canal Street Trolley Car, seemed like a good bet. I was gonna take a cab, but I thought it would be a good adventure. The signs were a little confusing and after walking for about 20 minutes I found I had made my own 'circular run' as I had ended up at the Museum again. I decided to give it one more shot and although I never found the trolley I did find St. Charles street which I knew my first hotel was on at the 12th block. I was at the 2nd block so it couldn't be too far, and it wasn't, I was back at Canal Street in about 30 minutes.

I was so proud of my pedestrian navigation skills I rewarded myself with a green apple Daquiri at the Daq Shaq! I retired to my room for a nap in the AC. Even if you don't want a nap, which I did, I find those Daq's to be nap inducing!

I awoke at 1930 refreshed and freezing. The AC made it so cold in my room even my unfinished Daq didn't melt. A quick shower was needed to warm up and wash the swamp funk from me. I was out the door by 2000 and I was going to The Hyatt's Oyster bar for dinner.

I sat at the bar, which is my custom and ended up right in front of the Emeril, the Oyster shucker. His job is to stand there for 8.5 hours 6 days a week and do nothing but shuck oysters. He had massive forearms and incredible technique! He was a pretty good conversationalist as well.

The oysters they had were big and juicy and tasty, served with S&P, lemon slices, cocktail sauce and horseradish. Raw oysters are a condiment intense food item and while I embrace all of those accouterments sometimes I like them just straight outta shell. Especially when served with a tasty Sapporo on tap!



In the end I had 5 dozen, about 60 oysters, plus Emeril threw in a couple freebies along the way, especially when he found a particularly big one, sadly none had pearls.

Before you tsk tsk me for my gluttony, let's talk about the winner of the Oyster eating competition this year during Mardi Gras. Sonya Thomas, also known by her nickname The Black Widow, and "The Leader of the Four Horsemen of the Esophagus", consumed 41 dozen oysters in 8 minutes! That is 328 oysters in 480 seconds (1.46 secs each).

Makes my 60 pale in comparison, and to be honest, the last 6 were a struggle, luckily they were slippery!

I stayed until closing time, 10 PM! Then decided to spend my last night on Bourbon Street so I got myself a Mango Daq at the Daq Shaq and started walking. I haven't mentioned this before but Bourbon Street, and that whole area smells like ****! No, not the metaphorical smells like **** like "The garbage smells like ****" the real smells like ****, like someone did a big job on your chest while you were sleeping. This was intensified by it perhaps being garbage collection day tomorrow morning so there were pyramids of garbage out front of each business to add to the fecal aroma.

Those of you who know me well, know I have a very weak stomach and an active dry heave reflex. I was not doing well, especially not with a belly FULL of slimy oysters. I made the decision to turn on my heel and walk straight back to The Hyatt determined to keep my supper, and I made it with only a couple small heaves. I understand the Daq Shaq now, as that is the only way you could possibly enjoy yourself in that area, by the catatonic impairment brought about by their consumption.

I did a little blogging, I am struggling to keep up and the only way I can is to use images from the web and no videos, sorry! I promise to do one final update when I get home, I still need to update KeyWest, finish Alaska 2004 and I have a few others on other blog sites I would like to consolidate them here. It'll be a winter project.



















Bricks have names of the fallen.