The New Orleans Diva

My sister Laura was able to pull a few strings for us this weekend in New Orleans! Not only was she able to get us in the St. Charles suite at the Omni Hotel (the same suit we stayed in when we got engaged), she also got us in for drinks at The Foundation Room where we saw Dan Akroyd! Thanks Sis!

Other highlights of our trip included dinner with David, LeeAnne and Robert at UpperLine, cooking class at the Cajun Cooking School, and Sunday brunch at Brennan's.

For the most part, our trip was just like everyother trip. We drank hurricanes at Pat O's, and ate Lucky Dogs on the street corner. But there was a different feel to the city this time. The people on the street who used to greet you with a relaxed, welcoming smile, now seemed distant-- sometimes even bitter. Everywhere we went there was a story-- a cook, a shop owner, a teacher-- who had lost everything to the storm. I didn't expect the city to be the same. I knew Katrina had changed things, but I did expect to see more progess. As we came into town on I10, the devistration was obvious. Blue tarps on house roofs made neighborhoods look more like small lakes. Piles of rubble and abandon buildings made industrial parks look like ghost towns. Closer to downtown, billboards advertised demolitions crews, lawyers and churches.

The Quarter showed more signs of life, but there where holes along the fences where street artist used to hang their masterpieces. Many of the little art galleries, shops and eateries we frequented hadn't re-opened, and resturautants that used to required reservations months in advance, now sat people as they walked in off the street.

The one thing I realized as I soaked in my surroundings this weekend, was that as different as New Orleans now is, they have two things that remain vertually untouched my the storm-- their food and their music. These are the reason I fell in love with the city, and as long as there is Jazz music in the streets and and Creole cook'n in the kitchen, I'll be going to New Orleans!