New Orleans 9th ward to the French Quarter

Saturday, July 21,2007

After reviewing my diary entry for this day, I realized that I spent quite a bit of time detailing my menu for each meal. I will attempt to spare you the more mundane foods, but I will point out ethnic and regional fare that I probably would not eat at home.

Rebecca, Jane's sister, was our host and our tour guide on our jaunt to New Orleans. This was one of Kristee's top three destinations, and she requested a tour of some of the devastation from Katrina. Rebecca used to live in one of the neighborhoods by the levee, and she drove us through some of the hardest hit areas. We saw a huge pile of rubble that used to be a mall and a vacant Methodist hospital that had been condemned. We saw the symbols search and rescue workers had made on houses: huge X's, "gas turned off," numbers (body counts?) and others. Many, many people were still living in FEMA trailers in the front yard of their homes. Some had finished restoration and had moved in; other houses were obviously abandoned and looked as if no one had been back at all. Kristee and Betty Jo got out to speak to one family that had a sign in their yard, "We will rebuild! We are New Orleans."

Then we drove towards the French Quarter, passing the Superdome on the way, the scene of the fiasco following Katrina that showed government mismanagement at its worst. Rebecca took us to the Courtyard of the Two Sisters for a jazz buffet brunch from 11-3 (we didn't stay quite that long). I did, however, at least taste many of the traditional Cajun and Creola dishes I had heard about, including turtle soup, shrimp etoufee, jumbalaya, shrimp pasta, king cake and ice cream with praline sauce. A jazz trio played trumpet, snare drums, bass and guitar, and we dined outside under large umbrellas.

Then we walked around the French Quarter and admired many of the beautiful wrought iron balconies with hanging baskets, street performers, Royal Street with its antique shops, and Bourbon Street with its loud, raucous music and shops full of Mardi Gras beads and masks. We entered a historic church near the New Orleans visitor center; we seemed to happen upon beautiful churches across the country. I said a prayer for Amanda and for each of us. Then we took a carriage ride around the French Quarter with a thoroughly entertaining driver. We ate beignets and drank cafe au lait (the others did) at the famous outdoors cafe.

We walked down to the Mississippi River and saw the steamboat and ferryboat. Jane, Rebecca and I went to Harrahs for half an hour and Kristee and Betty Jo listened to the calliope on the steamboat while they sat in the shade on the river. A beautiful rainbow graced the river as we left New Orleans and returned to Slidell. We took it as a sign of promise for New Orleans and for the WOW girls. Rebecca was a gracious hostess, and we had a flower arrangement sent to her as a thank you.