New Orleans!!!! Dee and I went to New Orleans this week to attend the National Child Traumatic Stress Network All Network Conference. The last time I had been to New Orleans was pre-Katrina, so I was very interested to see how much the city had changed. As part of the conference, we took a tour of the city to view the damage as well as the rebuilding. While damage is still very visible, especially in the 9th ward, it seemed that empty lots were homes used to stand were much more prevalent. Even to an outsider it is clear that some neighborhoods are far from being rebuilt.
Given the recent weather in DC, I had high hopes for the city. They were crushed. The weather was disappointingly cold, windy, and even rainy. Not impressed, Louisiana! We ate amazing food, including jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and bread pudding. And that was just my first meal. Throughout the week I also had a lot of good seafood. However I avoided the oysters, and any place that said oysters, at all cost. Not for this kid.
We stayed at the Roosevelt, of the Waldorf Astoria. It was on Canal street, and a huge point of pride for the city, so I was told. It had been closed ever since Katrina, and had only opened a couple of months ago.
Of course we did the typical and expected things in our free time. We took in some excellent live music...
Ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde...
And tried our luck at Harrah's Casino.
Of course I had to play Village People Party, which is one of my favorite slot machines. And by favorite I mean the one I find the most ridiculous. I also like to play Lucky Larry's Lobstermania because I like to think Larry wants me to win. Somehow that's never actually worked out. Fortunately it only takes 5 or 10 dollars to realize this.
2 comments:
What I remember being struck by most post-Katrina were all of the empty neighborhoods. Not downtown, but out in the city. Is it still eerily empty or not so much?
How can this be? Stan and I were in New Orleans at nearly the same time! We returned last night from a week of MDS reconstruction work, much in the 9th Ward. Much remains to be done--there are so many damaged buildings that need to be removed just to give regrowth a chance. We played tourist on Friday evening by going to the French Quarter, eating red beans and rice and going to the Cafe du Monde for dessert.
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