It’s time to go to war; The National World War II museum that is.
After getting your tickets, you first are given your dog tags, board a train and you are off to the war.
During the short video on the train you register and are given a soldier or civilian to follow. I was given Bob Hope.
Quick tip: If you want to pick your service member, skip the train registration and head up stairs. There you have the choice to select civilian or military and the person.
I signed up for the 10AM, 2 hour highlight guided tour so I had a short wait. So here are some pictures you can see in the lobby area.
Oh, I’ve forgotten twice now to add this tidbit of info… These landing craft are made of wood, I know.. they look metallic (mind blown 🤯) and they were assembled in Louisiana.
(Also, I write my blog on the go and edit on the go so it’s sometimes jumbled especially in my head. 🤪Back to “normal” )
The guided highlight tour was a good idea if you want to see the museum in 2 hours.
Quick comment about the German medals for mothers. There were 3 levels women could earn, 4 to 5 kids for bronze, 6 to 7 for silver, and 8+ was gold. If you want to read more check out History.com
I gave myself an hour for lunch after the tour and I enjoyed the pie.
I also purchased an extra feature film. It is in a theater where the audience seating rotates and screens for videos drop from the ceiling or come out of the walls. It’s a good film. Tells how close the world came to the death of Democracy.
I went back around the whole museum again, a bit faster so I could use the dog tag feature. This is an interesting idea, giving those viewing the museum a method to make it more interactive and scratch the itch of those of us that “gotta catch’em all”. But seriously, each of the 6 stations lets you hear and see related topics to that area. Some is just text and others is video.
The exhibits are very engaging and there are individual soldier stories throughout the museum. Some you can read as seen below and others are recorded video or read letters of actual individuals. I feel the designers want everyone visiting to see the individual lives touched by this war.
Did you see the movie, Monument Men,? I haven’t but after this exhibit I want to watch it.
The Monument Men section has the best interactive screens. You can pick different paintings and learn when they were stolen by the Nazis, when/if they were recoved and their current location. A great experience.
I had a good time and learned some new things about that time in history. If you are in New Orleans, make sure to visit.
I wanted and didn’t want to return to my room so I headed to an Irish pub, Molly’s. The Guinness pour was in a regular pint glass, but they also had Smithwick on tap so I was happy; however, their internet was out so I had to use the last bit of my cash. This wasn’t limited to them. I went to the Vampire Apothecary for dinner and their internet was out too. They’re computers could at least scan credit cards and proccess them when the internet came back. If you’ve read my other blogs about New Orleans you will notice I’ve visited this restaurant 3 times now. I wanted to try their boudin stuffed quail, but they ran out. The last time I visited they were out of their baked salmon. That was the menu so I finally was able to sample that menu item.
Seriously, why do people say brussels sprouts taste awful? The ones here were very good and the salmon was moist and flaky. Sidenote: the restaurant was saying good bye / happy birthday to one of their employees. I found that a nice touch. People that weren’t on shift actually came in to the restaurant to say goodbye and wish the person a happy birthday. That says something about the establishment, at least to me.
I was tempted to go for a few more rounds at one of the clubs on Bourbon Street, but I did have 2 beers in the hotel and seriously the hotel bar wasn’t that more expensive than the bars, so… That is if you wanted a nice cocktail. Another side note: something I find interesting about bars in New Orleans, in my mind Jack Daniels and Jim Beam are on the same level; yet, some bars charge $1 more for each and it seems to be random. Just an observation.
Well, that is going to close out my trip to New Orleans. I didn’t make it to Caesars Place like I wanted, but that might be a good thing. I don’t know if the Black Jacket gods were on my side.
Until the next adventure… which will be in July can anyone say Comic Con.. no not the one in San Diego, another one in Texas.
Carl's Blog 
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