04-19-25, Florida Key West Trip 3/27 – 6/30 2025, 96 Days, 7986 Miles, 44 Stops

Sunday, May 11, 2025

04-19-25, Florida Key West Trip 3/27 – 6/30 2025, 96 Days, 7986 Miles, 44 Stops

19 April 2025, New Orleans Resort and Marina, Louisiana

Barry's Birthday

Today is Barry's Birthday, and we spent the morning at the WWII National Museum. What an incredible place. The museum has five buildings of exhibits, some of which hold complete planes, boats and machinery. We spent most of the day in the Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters, building since my grandfather, R D Griffin, served in the army.

This part of the museum started when we landed in Normandy. Some of the displays are heartbreaking, especially the areas covering the internment camps. There is one area where you stand in a forest and hear bombs going off. In another area, you are in a building with a massive hole in the roof and you can see plans flying over. Looks very real.

One display has a wall with hundreds of dog tags mounted on it to represent the 16.4 million Americans who served. It's awe-inspiring when you stand there and look at all of them. I wish I had my grandfather's dog tags. My Uncle Richard told me he remembers playing with them when my grandfather returned home from the war, along with the patches Grandpa received. I would love to have those today.

We could have spent the whole day here, but we did not have the time. From there, we took an Uber to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve Visitor Center to stamp my National Parks Passport Books. Due to traffic, he had to drop us off nearby and it took us a few minutes to figure out where it was. The sign for it is not very big, but we found it. It's not a very big center; out back is a sitting area where the rangers present programs and there is an area for small concerts. This is a great little place for some rest in the shade.

Down the street was a hat shop; if you know me, I had to stop. I found a beautiful, wide-brimmed, white Scala hat with a tan hat band and purchased it. Scala is my favorite hat brand. Across the street from here is a row of major retail stores. The buildings blend in with the architecture of the city.

We decided to return to our RV since we needed to shower and dress for Barry's Birthday dinner. The four of us took an Uber back to Bourbon Street and walked over to Arnaud's.

Dinner at Arnaud's was exceptional—a very high-class, white tablecloth restaurant. The minute your wine was close to the bottom of your glass, the waitpeople were there to fill it. Ken brought a nice bottle of wine for the celebration, and the sommelier treated it like a bottle of theirs. They catered to him once they found out it was Barry's birthday. All the waitpeople are very knowledgeable about the food and history of the restaurant. Our waiter has been at Arnaud's for 40 years. It was an experience the four of us thoroughly enjoyed. They checked on us periodically to make sure we were happy with everything. I highly recommend this restaurant.

On the way out, Barry got goofy and posed by the tile-inlaid sign on the sidewalk outside the entrance. That's what happens when you turn 71!