New Orleans Day Four: English Turn

The final day of our New Orleans adventure came to an end today; we'll be on a plane back to snowy New Hampshire tomorrow morning. We did manage to save the best course for last, as English Turn Country Club was easily the prettiest course we played all week. Another fantastic day of sunny skies and cool winds kept us at a comfortable temperature for all eighteen holes. I played alright and turned in a score of 92 (45-47). Dad played his best round of the week and shot a 95 (49-46). My putting improved from yesterday's debacle...but only technically because I still had 41 putts, an equally atrocious number. I tried different grips and different routines but I simply couldn't make the five to eight footers; they just wouldn't fall. Other than my continually frustrating short game, the round was fantastic and was a great way to end our golf outing.

The picture on the right is of Dad chipping for eagle on the par five 15th hole. That hole was definitely our favorite out of all of the courses. It included a long water hazard down the entire right side of the hole, leading up to a true island green surrounded entirely by water. I dunked my second shot into that water, losing my eighth and final ball of the week, and ended up with a bogey. Dad pulled off the risky second shot and managed to hit the island green in two. The resulting chip and two putt gave him a nice par on a fantastic hole. It was so much fun playing golf in New Orleans and I highly recommend coming down to vacation in the region. It has been such a great way to spend my spring break.

Before the round, we explored the National World War Two Museum only a few blocks from our hotel. We spent almost two hours walking around the exhibits and looking at the many different artifacts and great pictures. If not for our tee-time at English Turn though, we might have spent all day there. Everything was put together so well and it was fascinating to explore and learn about all the aspects of the war. The coolest thing I learned: the United States fought with only 635,000 soldiers while Germany and Japan had almost 9 million combined...and we still owned their asses. Anyway...the place was awesome and I'm glad we went to look around rather than taking an easy morning and sleeping in; it was well-worth the 8am wake-up call.

For our last night in the Big Easy, we ate at the House of Blues. They served some great food but the atmosphere was even better. Large carvings of famous musicians who have played there served as ceiling tiles and included such artists as: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, and the Blues Brothers. Overall, it was a pretty cool place to spend our last night even though we decided not to stay for the music. I didn't feel compelled to see a few bands I hadn't heard of so we decided to wander down Bourbon Street again as an alternative. It was even more crowded than Wednesday night, though I did manage to get a few good pictures of interesting places around the area. The picture above was of my favorite name for a bar, Boondock Saint. It seemed like the typical Irish bar but the title was picture-worthy nonetheless.

Well, the vacation has come to a close and I'll be back in class in few days, but it was so much fun to experience the southern culture of New Orleans with my Dad. I love playing golf and the three courses we played were interesting and challenging in their own ways. I hope you enjoyed the posts and pictures throughout the week! You'll be able to view all the photos I took during the vacation on my Facebook page or you can contact me at ckittle@gmail.com if you'd like me to send you any of them. Until my next post, so long from the Big Easy and thanks for reading!