We arrived back in New Orleans early this morning and by 10:00 a.m. we were off the ship and on our way to our condo for the week. After checking in and discovering our condo was on the second floor (I had requested a handicapped, first floor unit) it was a question as to if Al was going to be able to handle the stairs; however, he did fine. We dumped our luggage and went in search of lunch and a WalMart for supplies for the week. We will probably eat breakfast in the condo and lunch and dinner out. Way too many good restaurants in this town and way too little time!!!
After finding Walmart we decided to eat first so went back to the VooDoo BBQ for lunch. All I can say it this place is advertised as the best bbq in New Orleans and we agree.
This afternoon Jack, Suzi, Ron, Mel, Jenn all took a long walk. Al and I just rested and I got caught up with emails. For dinner all of us went to Landry’s Seafood. It was good, however, the dirty rice was way too spicy for this wimp! Sadly after dinner we said goodbye to Mike and Bev as they fly home tomorrow morning. Ric, Janet and Jerry took off to their condo; the rest of us back to ours. Nite all!
Jan 18, Monday, Happy Birthday Shirley; New Orleans
Up this morning to a beautiful day! After breakfast all of us but Al, who didn’t feel like tackling the stairs this morning, took off walking to Jackson Square to jump on a carriage ride around the French Quarter. I was really amazed about some of the facts we learned about New Orleans. Katrina did some damage to the French Quarter, but didn’t do the damage that it did other places.
Wraspirs and Waddicks on the Carriage Ride
After lunch at the condo we took a private van tour of the city, Katrina devastation. I had no idea of the true devastation that Katrina did. The media didn’t exactly cover it properly or report it properly in my mind. They only covered the big items, leaving out valuable information. Did you realize that some area’s were under 15 feet or more of water? Or did you know that New Orleans has about half of the population that they did before the storm? Some of the people just walked away from their houses, never to return. New Orleans is suffering from a lack of workers, especially entry level workers. Families moved and have never came back, thus the lack of workers is really slowing down the recovery efforts. I was totallly amazed at the amount of devastation; still very obvious in places. Our tour driver lost his house, but fortunately he had flood insurance and was able to rebuild. He lived in the upper 9th ward. We toured not only that area, but the lower 9th ward as well and saw the work that Brad Pitt is spearheading in that area. We saw where the levee’s broke and the canals that carried the water into the city; where they have rebuilt the levee’s which have not been tested as of yet. Just totally amazing to me. How much or little we actually know about the damage of Katrina. What didn’t get damaged by water got damaged from the wind or fire. I have a new appreciation of the rebuilding that is going on.
Just steps left after Katrina got done
Houses that Harry Connick Jr is buildingWe also toured the Garden District, which pretty much escaped major damage, however, a lot of the wealthy area’s were also heavily damaged, not just the poor area’s. We toured the cemetarys as well and we plan on going back to them tomorrow. They are so interesting since most of them are above ground crypts.
Dinner tonight was at Irene’s Italian Restaurant, only 2 blocks from the condo. Al decided he could walk the two blocks, however, the blocks were very long and he was in pain by the time he got to the restaurant; after dinner Jack went and got the car to bring Al back to the condo.
Tomorrow is another day of exploring….can’t wait. I am really loving New Orleans….who knew I would?
Ron And Melanie, aboard NCL Spirit
No comments:
Post a Comment