Day Trips
Post-Katrina New Orleans is returning to form as a tourist destination for people from across the globe
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., June 5, 2009
New Orleans, La., still wears a bathtub ring left by Hurricane Katrina, but the city has largely returned to being the vibrant place that it was before Aug. 30, 2005. Everybody in New Orleans has a story about how they survived the storm.
The neighborhoods on the east side of the city were hardest hit by the flooding. Much of that may never come back. One lady said her home in Chalmette was inundated with 14 feet of water and mud. Her family bulldozed their two-story house and moved north of Lake Pontchartrain.
The storm forced many residents to learn how to send text messages when phone service was overwhelmed, a resident said. For weeks after the storm, areas that escaped the destruction were without basic utilities. It was the lack of air conditioning in the summer heat that drove many New Orleanians from their homes.
Nearly four years later, it's good to see New Orleans back up and running. There is nothing quite like the Crescent City. It's an international city renowned for its music, culture, and food.
Some friends invited me to help them celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge in the Hotel Monteleone. In a town full of great bars, the Carousel is among the greatest. It has a floor that rotates around the bar, history, and great ambience. The jazz singer on stage was singing sweet and low.
Out on Royal Street, a singer wearing a red dress and accompanied by a guitarist was drawing a crowd with her soulful rendition of Louis Armstrong classics. Over at Jackson Square, a brass quartet of teenagers was playing with feeling and style. Jackson Square after a brief shower, as the sun sets, has the feeling of being in an ancient European city.
"New Orleans is so much more than Bourbon Street," my guide said as he drove our group around the city.
Since 1835, the St. Charles trolley has been one of the best rides in the country. The Audubon Zoo and the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas are now open, and last summer Audubon added an insectarium. The city is the home of the National World War II Museum because Andrew Jackson Higgins of New Orleans built the boats that won the war, which is an interesting story in itself.
If you can't make it to Mardi Gras, at least take a tour of Mardi Gras World. The Kern family has been building parade floats and movie props, some of them bigger than railroad cars, since 1947. Their giant warehouse is a working studio as well as storage area for last year's floats.
Every time I visit the Big Easy, I discover something new. This trip it was the fine dining at Arnaud's and the Brennan family of restaurants. Both are French Quarter traditions that show why Louisiana cooking and New Orleans people are special.
935nd in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips" 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.
