I'm back from New Orleans. Actually, I got back Monday afternoon. Thing is, just before we got on the bus to head for home, I started feeling pretty bad... by the time we got home I was pretty sick. I was starting to feel better yesterday, but had a lot of catchup to do. In any case... here I sit, on Friday afternoon, finally ready to write about this trip.
First off, our trip overall was excellent! I'm not a big fan of traveling by bus (especially 16-18 hours each direction!), but this was a good group to do it with. Sleepless night and neck cramps aside, we arrived in New Orleans around noon on Friday and went straight to a swamp boat tour. Admittedly, I wasn't really looking forward to that... sounded hot and sticky to me. Not so! There was a great breeze, and the scenery there was beautiful! Not only that, but we saw a lot of wildlife, including quite a few of these guys:
Yup, that's a gator. Sorry about the poor quality of the pictures, I'm certainly no photographer, and took these with the VGA camera on my phone to boot. We saw a lot of gators, some very young, and some very large (such as the one pictured). Great introduction to the area. From there we stopped at our hotel (not long enough to get a shower, though) and then headed to Michaul's for dinner. This is by far my favorite picture from the trip:
I decided very quickly that this was a city I could eat in. The food is simple, lots of rice and beans, not too much sauce. My kind of stuff (though I also give it at least part of the credit for making me sick). There was a band playing there that was well... pretty awful. Didn't exactly live up to "live cajun music" - more like "bad cover band". The staff was great though, and a lot of the kids did take advantage of the dance lessons, which was pretty awesome. Then it was back to the hotel for a very well deserved night's sleep.
The next morning (Saturday), we got up early and headed to Loyola University for a clinic with Dr. Joseph Hebert:
He was great, and the kids really seemed to enjoy the clinic. There was a choir clinic, as well, but I didn't get to see more than the last 2-3 minutes of it.
Once we finished at the University, it was off to the Jazz Festival! So much good music (not to mention more of that great food!) - it was a really great event. We spent quite a few hours there and saw a LOT of great artists, but the headliner that night was Bon Jovi, and of course we couldn't miss that!
Of course, he doesn't sing any of the really high notes anymore, but it was still pretty impressive. Estimates put at least 150,000 people at the festival that day, and at least half of those folks had to be at that Bon Jovi show. We were very lucky to get the spot that we did!
Sunday started with a 3 hour bus tour of the city. Honestly, this was probably my favorite part of the trip. Our guide was fantastic, and we got a lot of insights on a lot of different things, including Katrina... more on that later. Two interesting things I picked up from the tour:
1.) Cablecars - I had no idea that New Orleans had a cablecar system. In fact, it's the primary form of public transportation there. Pretty cool.
2.) The Cemeteries - In New Orleans, they bury the dead above ground. Always have, as far as anybody knows. Each family has a small tomb like the ones pictured above. Very interesting... just not what we're used to around here!
The rest of the day was spent in the French Quarter, but for some reason, I neglected to take any pictures. Suffice it to say, it was a good day!
Alright, big philosophical conclusion: In the past, when Katrina and other hurricanes have hit the area, I've wondered why anybody would want to live there, knowing that these natural disasters were a possibility. Having spent just three days there, it all makes an awful lot more sense to me. It's a beautiful area and a gorgeous city, even after the storms. The people are wonderful, the weather is great, and the food is delicious. I was enchanted with New Orleans. I was also deeply saddened by the damage that is still there. In some areas, such as the French Quarter, things are almost back to normal, and I will say this - the areas of the city that have come back, have come back with a renewed strength and spirit that is really, truly encouraging and a true testament to the human spirit. But there are other areas, like the lower 9th ward, that are still absolutely decimated from the storm... which was 4 years ago! I couldn't help but feel like a lot more of us should have known about this. The politician types seem interested in "moving on" as quickly as possible from Katrina, but how can we when there are still huge skyscrapers downtown sitting empty? How can we move on when there are entire city blocks of empty, condemned houses? This is a beautiful city that holds a lot of American history in it and is unlike any other "big city" I've ever been in, and it still needs our help! Just my thoughts after a few days. I can safely say this, though - I LOVED New Orleans and I will DEFINITELY be back!
