The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

New Orleans was our goal yesterday. The morning drive was the best of the tour to date for me. We drove through Mississippi in beautiful weather. I had the roof down and was singing along to the music I selected all those long days ago in London when I made the “Great River Road” playlist. I don’t think I have been so happy for years. 

We stopped at Vicksburg to visit the Military Park; an elaborate and immaculate drive-through memorial to the Union and Confederate dead of the siege there – a turning point in the American Civil War. it was beautifully done and the CD commentary we bought in the visitor center to accompany the 16 mile drive through the battleground was a masterpiece of political correctness. A descendant of a defeated Confederate soldier could come away feeling that he had been honored too.

The Americans do these things well. I drove Q around the route, setting the world to rights in between listening to the commentary, and dropped him off back at the car park to continue to New Orleans in his ‘vette.

I stopped along the way, as is my custom, at the “Welcome Center” for my new state of the day, Louisiana. It was odd to think that I was back in the world of the Civil Law again. I had an interesting chat with a park keeper there, who was very depressed about America’s prospects. I did my best to cheer him up by saying that, while his politicians might well be the rascals he thought, they were very saints compared to those in other places I had lived, such as Russia and China. He was a devout Christian and his God must be disappointed that he has so little faith that He will provide. 

I arrived in New Orleans between 1800 and 1900, having enjoyed the amazing drive through the approaches to the city. I had to sacrifice my planned drive to Key West in order to make my mileage budget, but these long roads on stilts over the Delta were the same sort of experience.

On the subject of the mileage budget, the news is not good. I was suppposed (according to my MapQuest plan) to get to here in 4,020 miles. The actual mileage at this point turns out to be 5,103. At that rate, the total trip mileage will be 4,000 miles more than planned, which will take the car well past her next service and possibly use up the current tyres. I need to give that some thought, especially as I am planning to divert to Denver.

The JW Marriott in New Orleans distinguised itself badly by informing me it has a policy of not valet parking super-cars for liability reasons. My car was “too much” to go in their secure garage and they offered to direct me to a public lot nearby. I have now been in America long enough not react meekly like an Englishman to such a setback. I explained that the very expensive hotel had been selected precisely for my car’s security. I wasn’t moving, I explained, until she was safe – whether that involved parking her out front under their continuous observation – which was how top class hotels usually handled such cars – or at some better hotel (defined as one with a less stupid parking policy) they found for me.

A compromise was reached whereby I parked her myself, with the valet parker in the passenger seat. So I still have the keys and I know where she is – their very secure garage on several floors of the hotel tower. I also know just how the valet parking is done (at speed and with all the horns sounding  as there’s only a single carriageway). It was quite fun actually. I guess it would have been even more fun with someone else’s car.

We walked by the river and I had the chance to compare the headwaters in Itasca State Park with the great stream here. We had an excellent meal at a restaurant recommended by Q’s friends, followed by a walk around the French Quarter to take in the sights and sounds. Q had been here 33 years ago and despite the intervening devastation of Katrina it was exactly as he remembered.