New Orleans 2008 - "New Year's Eve Part 1 - Gator for Lunch, Snails for Dinner"

The plan for day two was to start out with beignets for breakfast down at Cafe Du Monde, and then see what tours and activities we could do to entertain ourselves until things got rolling later that night. Unfortunately, everyone else in town wanted beignets too, and the line stretched much longer down the block than we were comfortable with.

Our alternative was a restaurant off of Jackson Square called "The Alpine." Our Katrina group ate their the last night we were in town, and it was just enough off of the beaten path such that we were able to walk in and get a table without a wait. This is what a gator po boy sandwich looks like:

A little on the spicy side, but very very good. Nothing beats New Orleans French bread.

Now well fed, we were up for a trek out to Chalmette to see what had happened to the houses I worked on after Hurricane Katrina. We grabbed our maps and the rental car and hit the road.

I had originally estimated that the entire trek out there would take about 2 hours. Forty five minutes out there, and 45 back, with a few minutes for pictures at each place. The group I had worked with was eager to see photos and learn all that had happened since we were there. Kristin and I quickly realized that this was going to be a more daunting task, as none of the street signs blown over or around in the storm had been replaced. There were a few more people on the roads, and a few more businesses open, but overall very little had changed since we were there almost 2 years ago.

I figured that one of two things would have happened in the time since we were there. Either the houses would have been demolished entirely, or they would be rehabbed and have happy people living in them. What surprised me most was that little to no progress had been made at all.

Our first stop was at Rowley Elementary School, where Hilltop rescue had established their base camp. At the time, the school's first level had been washed out, and there was nothing but raw studs and limited light. Chain link fence surrounded the school to protect it from looters. A FEMA camp next door housed approximately 100 trailers, with armed guards posted at the entrances to prevent the infiltration of gangs and drug dealers.

Today, the school is back to normal. The barbed wire is gone, and lower windows are no longer boarded up. However there are not enough children in the area to support it as an elementary school. It's currently being used as an alternative school, with the hopes that at some point it will be needed for it's original intent in the future. You will note that more than 2 years later, the FEMA park still stands.

This house, which faced the school really moved me. While many people spray painted their cell#'s on their houses as a means for contact, these folks clearly were not going to be coming back. There is a sign written on the wall in the car port that says, "Don't worry- Mom is OK."

Today, it is the only one on the street that was demolished. A handful of residents have moved back.

From there it was on to Mr. Duffy's house, which was difficult to recognize since there were only about 5 houses in the entire neighborhood still standing. Almost everything in the area is now a concrete slab, but the Duffy house and the house across the street are still standing.

This was how it was when we first got there in 2006 and worked:

Today, the grass has been cut, and the tools outside of the garage give the impression that someone is working on it, but it clearly is not inhabitable:

I was pleased to see that my personal favorite house across the street had been rehabilitated and had residents living in it. This was the house where we took our breaks at ate lunch on the steps:

This was it in 2006:

And this is it in 2008. I definitely like the former color. :)

We saw the same thing at the LaMarque House a few blocks away. Unlike the Duffy neighborhood, where most of the houses had been demolished, the shells of houses still stood with a few more residents.

This was the LaMarque House in 2006:

Here's what it looks like today. The windows have been replaced, and the interior has been covered in plastic, but the search insignia is still painted on the wall next to the garage.

That was all we had time for that day. I made one more trek out to Chalmette before we left, and was able to find the street where the shrimp boat landed in the middle of the neighborhood. This tract of houses backed to the levy, and had the most damage. The boat below landed here, 15 miles from its mooring, or any other body of water that could support it.

How would you like to see this coming at your front yard? The boat burned down about a year sgo, so I didn't take photos of that area. Very little on the street has changed. Time prevented me from getting out to the last house, but overall I felt the trek was successful.

While I was happy to see that none of our work was demolished the moment we left town, I was somewhat disappointed to see so little progress in that time. All the more reason to go back soon.

But there was little time to dwell on it, it was time to get ready for new year's eve. Talk to you soon,

K

New Orleans 2008 - Day One: "Hurricanes and Horse Drool"

So almost 2 years after the Katrina trip, I was able to join Kristin and PJ for some New Year's fun in New Orleans.

The traveling process itself was uneventful. My parents generously donated some expiring miles to allow me to ride in first class, which I'm coming to believe is simply the section for rich alcoholics. Yes, I know the booze is free, but that doesn't mean you have to double-fist it the moment yout roller bag is stowed in the overhead compartment. In my limited first class experience, I have yet to have a flight where at least one person sitting around me doesn't get completely plastered before we reach our cruising altitude.

This trip was no exception. I was originally seated next to a 12 year old, who switched seats so that he could sit near his mom. My new seatmate, an executive in her 50's, explained she was happy the kid moved to another row because "She didn't feel comfortable drinking in front of children." I nodded sagely and went back to my book. She summoned the flight attendant and asked for the first of what would be about 4 vodka and Sprites for the day. She would then spend the next 2 hours telling me about a family tragedy she had suffered over the holidays in graphic detail, ignoring my politely dismissive nods, and my nose firmly planted in a book. Did I mention it was 7:30 in the morning?

We had a plane full of football fans, as I believe everyone from the state of Hawaii left the islands to see their home team play in the Superdome. We took off from John Wayne early Sunday morning, and arrived in New Orleans at about 4 in the afternoon. We got the rental car, and were on our way to a weekend of what we hoped would be a symphony of food, drink, football and general merriment.

Our hotel, the Homewood Suites, was a very nice hotel a block or two from the Superbowl. Since it was the holiday and two big football games were coming, security measures were stepped up in the hotel. All guests needed to wear a green wristband and have a room key to even get into the lobby of the hotel. If you didn't have both, you were out of luck. We were also given red wristbands to any guests we would want to bring in. We were given three each, and in an homage to Seinfeld, had to determine whether or not individuals were " Wrist-band worthy."

The desk clerk at the hotel was friendly, as almost everyone in New Orleans is, and gave us the rundown on what we should and shouldn't do in the city. We were told that it was perfectly safe in the city because (and I quote) "we have the National Guard here and everything." Yeah, I had seen enough news stories and episodes of "Cops - Mardi Gras" to know that keeping an eye out for trouble at all times was a good idea.

We caught up with PJ a short time later, and made dinner plans. K and I were both starving, but the big group couldn't meet until a bit later. We decided to grab a quick bite at McDonalds to tide us over until we could eat the big meal with everyone.

Going to McDonalds on Canal Street was something of an experience. It was packed with people, and employed by six of the least motivated individuals I have ever seen. Having lived a couple of years in the south, I realized that things moved a lot slower here than they did back home, but this took it to the extreme.

Strawberri (the actual name on her badge), the only one working the cash register, greeted customers with the same level of interest I have for cleaning the cat box. She spoke in a mumble, and having to repeat herself seemed like a terribly arduous chore. We waited about 15 minutes for her to take the orders of three customers. In that time we listened to two older gentlemen harrassing the rest of the workers in a somewhat friendly manner, and were approached by a man looking for a dollar. None of us could get out of there fast enough.

On the walk back to the hotel, we found this little hole-in-the wall bar, "Marie Laveau's Voodoo Bar" manned by a 20-something bartender named Sabrina. She was extremely friendly and sat and chatted with us about the city for quite some time. She also made a deadly lemon drop, with which we toasted the start of a fantastic trip.

PJ had three people working for him, two of which came to dinner with us. When everyone was together, we took a cab down to the Garden District for Hurricanes and hamburgers at a bar that was the first to open after Katrina. One bite of the burger and it was easy to see why the place was packed. Just fantastic food, and wonderful drinks. The hurricanes came in 32 ounce glasses and while they were almost entirely alcohol, they tasted dangerously like Hawaiian Punch. Then it was a slow walk back to the hotel through the French Quarter, taking in the sights and working our way through the crowds.

The thing I love most about the French Quarter is its cacophony of sound. Stop in any part of the Quarter, and you can hear at least 4 different live bands playing at the same time....and all of them are outstanding. Jazz, zydeco, blues, rock, it all blends together and draws you in. I could walk along and listen there for hours.

The majority of Burbon Street was packed with people, getting drunker with every passing hour. Boosters from Hawaii, Georgia and LSU rented balconies, and packed them with bead tossing fans. Naturally people were gathering below to cheer, talk smack and try and catch beads. This blocks off the street, and makes it very difficult to get past. Threading your way through the crowds can be a challenge, but not terrible.

We did have one incident where we unwittingly walked into the middle of a fist-fight that had started in a bar and made its way onto the street. Two guys wrestled each other to the ground right in front of us...and PJ, who never misses an opportunity to stir the pot, makes a comment suggesting that they belonged in the gay bar at the opposite end of Bourbon streets. .....and then continues walking.

What he didn't see (but Kristin and I did) was the fact that one of the drunken rednecks took exception to the fact that PJ questioned his heterosexuality, and started to go after him. A couple of his buddies stopped him before a punch was thrown, but it was a tense moment.

It was at that point when we decided to call it a night. We started working our way through the crowds back to the hotel, and a felt something brush against the top of my head. Kristin pulled me out of the way of one of the NOPD mounted police horses, who was kind enough to get horse drool on the back of my head. Though horse drool is probably better than some other bodily fluid, it wasn't the souvenior I was hoping to take home with me that night.

Came home a little after midnight, looking forward to a fun New Year's Eve. Will share more with photos tomorrow. ;)

K

Bayou-bound!

Photo copied from joshclaybourn.com

Headed to New Orleans to meet up with buddies for a cajun new year's party. It will be my first trip back since I was there for Katrina, and I'm eager to find out what happened to the people and houses we helped. Inbetween liquid hurricanes, beignets and football, I will be touring the area and taking as many pictures as I am allowed.

Have a safe and prosperous new year, and I will talk with you soon,

xo

K

One Last Shot of Christmas Music

As a lover and singer of music, Christmas offers the opportunity to perform a variety of amazing songs and carols. Some are favorites that I look forward to singing, (Hallelujia Chorus, O Holy Night) others rate somewhere below root canals (Bring a Torch, We Need a Little Christmas).

Near the top of the "root canal" list is the 12 Days of Christmas. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like the music. The melody is ok, and the lyrics are passable, but the fact that it goes on for an eternity is pure torture for singers and listeners alike. So for the record, when you are at a christmas concert and the conductor fires up this tune, don't blame the singers. They are having no more fun with it than you are.

Much like "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" the 12 days are best enjoyed at a party where there is enough egg-nog to make the song seem homey and amusing.

(For the record, I don't know if it's possible to enjoy that much nog)

But I digress. The group below (thank you for finding this, Mikey) is "Straight, No Chaser" from Indiana University. What at first appears to be a very traditional version of the 12 days...but break out into something really impressive. Even though Christmas is over and it's time to start singing "Auld Lang Syne," give this one a shot. You won't be disappointed.

Peace on Earth.....

Please have a safe and Merry Christmas. I will talk to you soon.

New Photos are Coming


Mom has found a boxload of Nana's photos that range from the very early 1900's to 1995, so those will be added to the photo collection soon.

For those who visit my Flickr site, you will notice that the organizational structure has changed a bit. The old format worked when I had just my own photos up there, but the volume now is such that I needed to organize by decade. Special events have their own sets (like Christmas 1984) but random photos are organized by decade and by year.

You can also search by a specific name, to get only those photos with that name in it. I'll post all the directions once I have a handle on the photos, or e-mail me if you want them now.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of those of you who have sent me family photos. It has really meant so much to all of us.

K