Our brief visit to New Orleans

Where do I start....first of all, I wish we would have had more time to really see more of New Orleans. We arrived in the afternoon and, after a very LONG ride to the hotel (long story, van delivery from airport gone bad) we finally got to our room around 7pm. We did go through some of the areas that had been devasted by the hurricane. That was very sad and you could still see the water lines left on the homes. Looked like unbelievable amounts of water - so sad.

We were tired from traveling all day but we still wanted to see what little we could of the city. It was dark by that time and the city was all lit up - it looked beautiful downtown, not far from the Riverwalk, which is near the port. We saw Harrah's Casino, the Mississippi River, the Riverwalk and the infamous Bourbon Street. That was an experience! Initially, Bourbon Street wasn't too bad, but the farther we walked, the worse things got! The street smelled very unpleasant, lots of drinking going on, people everywhere and nudity (live and/or photos) abounding. Greg could tell by my pace that I was growing more uncomfortable so we started back. We did come upon a really neat outdoor cafe/bistro that had a live jazz band playing. That was just awesome and was exactly what I had hoped to see. I even called my Dad on my cell phone so he could hear the band. The trumpet player was amazing and it was almost as if I could picture the city as it was years ago, when the sounds of jazz melodically filled the air. Most of the musicians still don't have homes to live in, so unfortunately, the musicians have suffered as well :( More of a rock/blues band was playing in another bar so we stopped to listen just briefly before we headed back to the hotel.

The next day we walked along the Riverwalk, while we waited to board the ship. They postponed boarding times due to a flu outbreak on the ship the week before so they could do some extra cleaning....not a warm fuzzy, but still glad they were taking extra precautions! The Mississippi was a big, muddy river and tons of silt is dredged from the river daily....enough passes through there to fill a 1376 acre farm, 8 inches deep, every 24 hours. That's a LOT of dirt! We watched steamboats, tugboats and barges as they moved along the river. One of my favorite shops in the Riverwalk Mall was that of the Mardi Gras store. Anything related to Mardi Gras could be purchased there....gorgeous masks and beads of all kind (and sizes) were everywhere. Greg purchase a voodoo doll at another store to play a joke on a co-worker when we got back. We ended up bringing back a few things for family members that were native to New Orleans as well.

If we would have had more time, I would have really enjoyed visiting some of the old plantations and historical sites. The swamps might be interesting to see also. As we were flying in, you could see the swamps from the air.

I'm glad I visited but I don't feel the need to go back. I've seen enough of the Big Easy for now.