You can find street music on almost every street in the French Quarter in New Orleans - solos, bands, kids banging on buckets - it's a cacophony of sound and sensation.

We visited 7 years today at the start of a Panama Canal Cruise.

Tags:   2018 Cruise French Quarter Louisiana NCL New Orleans North America United States repositioning sidewalk 2018-04-07-9L8A0722 music street musicians cello guitar free saxophone NOLA Explore Explored

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We stopped for an hour or so in the small town of Clarksdale on our way to the river to board our Viking Mississippi Cruise. It's a sleepy little town, but the locals we met were happy to have us there. I took many pictures of the interesting murals on the buildings downtown.

We also visited Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club.

Clarksdale is in the Mississippi Delta region and is an agricultural and trading center. Many African-American musicians developed the blues here, and took this original American music with them to Chicago and other northern cities during the Great Migration.

Tags:   2023-11-04-9L8A9502 mural border collie Clarksdale Mississippi town wall dog art public Explore explored

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We have a bigger tree than usual this year - 7-8 feet which cost $250 including stand and delivery !!! I'm seriously thinking of getting a reuseable tree next year...

My 365-2023: #345 of 365

In Explore December 13, 2023

Tags:   christmas tree home decorated ornaments lights staircase 365: the 2023 edition 365:2023 Day 345/365 11-Dec-23 Explore explored

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While driving through Custer State Park in South Dakota, we came across a huge herd of bison, and had to wait about 15 minutes for the "bison-jam" on the road to clear. Meanwhile, we photographed them safely from within the bus as they streamed by. It was an unusually rainy year in the area, so the tasty grasses that they graze on were plentiful.

Tags:   Best of the Dakotas Road Scholar tour 2023-09-02-9L8A7771 Custer State Park Bison calf red dog cow Bos bison Amerikanischer Bison American bison American Buffalo Amerikanischer Büffel Büffel Indianerbüffel Explore explored

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We had a few days during our Great Lakes Cruise when smoke from the distant Canadian wildfires made the air hazy. But this day was, by far, the worst. You can barely see the Viking Polaris Cruise ship in the distance.

In Explore, August 7, 2023

Tags:   Great Lakes Lake Michigan Viking Cruises 2023-06-29-9L8A5950-Enhanced-NR-Edit smoke smoky wildfire Canadian red light redl Algoma WI Explore Explored

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