New Orleans - Day 2 & 3

Wednesday started off with a bus ride to go to our Swamp Tour.  We rode on a six person air boat.  We were hoping to avoid the rain but it sprinkled most of the time we were out on the water.  Not too bad as long as you were sitting still but when the 454 Chevy Big Block that powered our boat got up to full speed (about 35mph) it felt like someone was throwing pins at your face.  Our tour guide was a great guy.  He was very knowledgable and brought some alligators right along side our boat.  He explained that if you measure the distance between an alligators nose to his eyeballs you can turn that into feet and that is about how long it is.  So the guy pictured above (which he called an alpha male) is about 20 feet long.  The second picture is a lot smaller, maybe only 8 feet.  He explained how alligators how alligators recognize the voices of the different guides and that's how they got them to come to the boats, well, that and marshmallows.  He called marshmallows alligator crack. 
Towards the end of the tour he pulled out a baby alligator and let us all hold it. 

By the end of the tour it was really coming down or I would have gotten some better pictures of the controls and of the engine.  I would love to go on an air boat again but maybe with a little more sun.

Later that day we went to the World War II Museum.  It was very interesting but the best part was a movie they had made about WWII.  It was billed as a movie in 4D so we weren't really to sure what to expect.  They had screens and props that came up through the stage and down from the ceiling and the chairs shook to feel like an airplane or tank ride.  It was pretty cool.  We strolled through the French Quarter a little more to look around.

On Day 3 we actually had to go to some meetings.  We had an orientation in the morning for first time delegates and went to the convention center to get registered.  Then the Kansas delegation met for about 3 hours in the afternoon.  We got some reservations made for Friday and walked down the Crescent City Brewery for supper. 

On the slate for Friday is a bus tour of New Orleans, where we will get to go down the 9th Ward where the flooding from Katrina was the worst.  We also have tickets to see Ellis Marsalis tomorrow night at Snug Harbor.  We are still trying to figure out a spot to catch the fireworks Saturday night.  The display is shot off from two barges on the river so that should be pretty cool.