Pro Football Hall of Fame

We had a couple of other stops on our way south to get here to Louisiana so, while we are sitting still for a month or two, we'll go back and pick them up for you starting with....

The Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF) in Canton, Ohio

I lived in Cleveland back in 1978-1981 and NEVER went the 45 miles to go see the HOF. Now, years later, we go and see it. Go figure. So many people have never been to Yosemite yet they live hours away. Funny how we travel half way across the country to see sights yet miss them in our backyard. Well...on with the photos....

Jim Thorpe greets you at the entrance.

Right before you enter the actual HOF member entrance they have some exhibits like: The Oldest Football in the HOF Collection.

Imagine playing with this for padding?

Old football used to be like rugby today....just bruising guys!

This is the Hall of Fame member entrance.

This is the start and the members start from left to right around the room with the first inductees and then year by year after that.

When I was growing up, my team was the San Francisco 49ers so naturally, I got photos of those guys...plus a few others of my favorite players. See how many YOU remember.

Y.A. Tittle - Quarterback

Hugh McElhenny - Halfback, Punt Returns

Joe Perry - Fullback

Bob St. Clair - Offensive Tackle

Dave Wilcox - Linebacker

...and some more modern ones....

Ronnie Lott - Safety

Joe Montana - Quarterback

Jerry Rice - Wide Receiver

Bill Walsh - Coach, Three Super Bowl wins

Steve Young - Quarterback

..and some others...

Vince Lombardi - Green Bay Packers

Ray Berry - Baltimore Colts

Jim Brown - Cleveland Browns

Jim Taylor - Green Bay Packers

Ray Nitschke - Green Bay Packers

Johnny Unitas - Baltimore Colts

There were many rooms full of memorabilia.....great stuff!

Player bench from last game Vince Lombardi coached at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

1958 Game between Baltimore Colts and NY Giants. Many call this the start of the pro football era. I watched this game when I was 8 years old!

Super Bowl trophy for 2013...still to be played.

Of course....Niners !

They had replicas of all the Super Bowl rings including the mineral composition and how many "stones" were in each. Good thing they were replicas as this collection would be worth a lot if they were real!

There was a spot that you could design your own Super Bowl ring so I made one up for the this year's 49ers.

They had many more rooms and exhibits full of cool football stories and memories. Kim even liked the place!

Next stop: the BASEBALL Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY

N'Awlins

We've been in N'Awlins (New Orleans for those of you outside of Louisiana) for a week seeing the French Quarter and other places. The Quarter is so very unique with it's architecture, I thought you might like to see some of it so....here's a lot of photos to view. Only a few will have captions.

Most of the streets in the Quarter are one-way only. You can see why. PLUS, the city is repaving most of the streets down here to get it all prettied up for the Super Bowl which is going to be held in New Orleans this year. So, besides being crowded and one way, half the streets are blocked off!

Facing west towards the downtown.

Some of the local flavor.

Bubba Gump's restaurant is, naturally, the best kept structure on the block.

We went to Conchno's Butcher for a muffelatta. Look at the size of this sandwich!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffuletta

A traditional style muffuletta sandwich consists of a muffuletta loaf split horizontally and covered with layers of marinated olive salad, capicola, mortadella, salami, pepperoni, ham, Swiss cheese and provolone. The sandwich is sometimes heated to soften the provolone.[3] Quarter, half, and full-sized muffulettas are sold.

The signature olive salad consists of olives diced with the celery, cauliflower and carrot found in a jar of giardiniera, seasoned with oregano and garlic, covered in olive oil, and allowed to combine for at least 24 hours.

...showing off her new earrings.

The Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis King of France is the oldest Catholic cathedral in continual use in the United States.

We stayed away from the party street, Bourbon Street....too noisy, too many bums and we've been there before. If you can get a few blocks away from the tourists traps, the Quarter's charm is wonderful to look at and photograph.