Harry S. Truman Presidential Library

I have a confession to make. When Dan and I set out to see the country, it was not one of my goals to visit all the Presidential Libraries. To be honest, I only had a vague notion of what a presidential library consisted of, how they came about, and if all presidents automatically get one (they don't - turns out there are only thirteen libraries administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives & Records Administration.) Government, politics, and the lives of politicians, even presidents, never had much draw for me, and I couldn't imagine finding these experiences very interesting. So, I when I find myself actually enjoying them, I am always pleasantly surprised. It really helps when I learn details about the presidents and their families that make them more real, that put a personal spin on their lives. Harry S. Truman became our 33rd United States president upon Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in April 1945 and ended his term in January 1953.

But it was the life Truman led before and after his presidency that I found the most interesting. For instance, Harry and his future wife Bess (whom he met when she was just five years old) had a nine year courtship before they finally married (Bess's mother never liked Harry, and never thought he was good enough for Bess before, during, or after his presidency); the fact that Truman coined the term "The Buck Stops Here" as a rebuttal to the expression "pass the buck"; how he and Bess returned to their home in Independence, Missouri (also home to the Truman Presidential Library) after his presidency ended and lived their life out simply and privately, and for many years without the benefit of Secret Service protection, or a Presidential pension.

And it turns out he has an impressive list of presidential accomplishments, as any history buff would know, but which I only learned after our visit to his library. He was responsible for the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National Security Council (NSC); the recognition of the State of Israel, the response to the Cold War and our involvement in the Korean War were also decisions that Truman faced. He was also a champion for Civil Rights, not a particularly popular issue during his presidency, advocated for safeguards for the poor, and felt government should take a strong role in housing, education, health care, and employment.

This was our 7th visit to a Presidential Library that falls under the Office of Presidential Libraries (we've also been to three others that are either run privately, or were established prior to the National Archives involvement).

Swamps and Bayou Tour (New Orleans)

While in New Orleans, we decided to take a 90-minute Swamps and Bayous boat tour, launching from the small town of Jean Lafitte, about 25 miles south of the city. Located on Bayou Barataria, Jean Lafitte is named after the French privateer and pirate who, along with his brother Pierre, ran a successful smuggling operation in this area (in addition to their more above-board business ventures). The tour took us through the heart of Southern Louisiana's swamplands into privately owned bayous, and gave us a glimpse into the past. Our Cajun guide is a bayou native, his family going back several generations, and he navigated the waterways with an easy sense of familiarity. All along the ride we were treated to fascinating plant life, including gorgeous trees draped with majestic Spanish moss and semi-submerged cypress trees with roots that look like stumps growing up out of the water. Many creatures make their home here, but most impressively were the many alligators. Our tour guide seemed able to recognize each one individually, knew where they congregated, and used his unique alligator call to beckon them up and out of the water. Of course, it didn't hurt that he had treats for them, and this, it was clear, they had come to expect. This was an interesting and pleasant way to spend an afternoon and get a peek at another side of New Orleans.

Lafayette Cemetery New Orleans

New Orleans is home to many notable cemeteries, but Lafayette No.1 was the only one we had time to visit. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, Lafayette is the oldest of the seven municipal, city-operated cemeteries in New Orleans and is non-segregated and non-denominational. The above ground tombs in Lafayette are typical of all the cemeteries in New Orleans due to the high water table. If you dig down too deep to bury the deceased underground, the burial plot would soon fill with water and caskets would float away. 

There are immigrants from over 25 different countries and natives of 26 states interred here. But perhaps the most famous residents of Lafayette Cemetery are fictional. The tomb for the Mayfair witches, created by Anne Rice, in The Witching Hour, fits a combination of the Lafayette and Jefferson fireman tombs. Rice also staged a jazz funeral where she rode in a glass enclosed coffin down the aisle of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 to introduce her book Memnoch the Devil. The vampire Lestat’s tomb, made from Styrofoam for the movie, Interview with a Vampire, was possibly modeled from the cast iron tomb. Many other movies have been filmed in the cemetery, including Double Jeopardy in 1999 and Dracula 2000 in 2000.

New Orleans Architecture

Here are some samples of the amazing architecture from different areas of New Orleans including the Garden District, Esplanade Drive, Oak Alley Plantation, and the French Quarter. Many of the homes in the Garden District belong to well known authors, actors, and others among the rich and famous, but for the most part, the plantations have been turned into museums, with docent led tours where tourists can learn much about the history of New Orleans. Some of the older neighborhoods still have homes with architecture from a bygone era, and many have been restored to retain the regional look and feel.