WORKING IN NEW ORLEANS FOR TWO WEEKS

I just got back from working two weeks in New Orleans. I got a lot of work done, and I did a lot while I was there. Let me say how happy I am that the French Quarter is exactly the same as I remembered! It feels the same, and I still love it with all my heart!

There were 3 of us from my office doing safety and health inspections of all the construction going on in the surrounding areas. I went out several times with the safety compliance officer, and while he addressed fall hazards, I addressed chemical exposures and protective equipment. We were mostly in the Metairie area, and the last day we were in Lakeview.

We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel on Poydras, which is a very nice hotel. Pricey, but very nice. It was a great location, just 2 blocks one way to the office, and about 3 blocks the other way to the French Quarter. I could walk everywhere without a problem. Don't let anyone scare you about visiting the touristy areas of New Orleans. The downtown, business district, and French Quarter areas are very safe and back to normal. They are ready for business.

Cafe du Monde is there, still serving those world famous beignets and cafe au late. Yumm! I went to the famous Jackson Square location twice and introduced my co-worker to the one in Metairie. The only things I saw that were different in the Quarter were that La Madeleine is gone (from Jackson Square and the Garden District), and there are many more For Sale and For Rent signs than usual. Now, head into Lakeview, and you see some changes for the worse. I was shocked when I drove through there Saturday, looking for a Walgreens. Holy Cow! Those poor people were devastated. Still, almost two years later, about half the homes are gutted out & empty, and the other half are in various stages of repair, most with the owners still living in trailers in their front yards. I was in shock. The insurance companies are robbing the middle class blind. The mansions on the water are repaired and perfect. It's the middle class neighborhoods that are still suffering. We were told to not even bother going to the 9th ward area, because it's been bull-dozed, and there was no work going on there. I guess the state will purchase the land and make it a park or something.

After work during the week I was able to see a lot of the sites. One evening I took the Ghosts and Legends tour by Haunted History tours. It was very interesting to hear the stories of hauntings and strange happenings over the past 300 years. With the age of the buildings and New Orleans' history of pirates, thieves, murders, disease, etc. it's no surprise the place is haunted! I took so many photos. I can't wait to get them developed and see if anything spooky showed up in them! Another evening I took their Vampire tour, and it too was fun and informative. I saw some of the same buildings, but with different stories being focused on, and several different buildings. It was a good tour, in that it didn't focus so much on fictional vampires as it did on folklore and actual killers who've lived in New Orleans and were suspected of being vampires. That kind of thing.

Over the weekend, I drove down the Mississippi River to Hwy. 18 (River Rd.) and toured a couple of the plantations: Laura (a creole plantation) and Oak Alley (the classic antebellum plantation). Both were amazing, and I loved the tours. Laura intrigued me, because of the differences between the creole (French/Spanish) ways and the English/American ways of doing things. Laura was owned and operated by women 84 of the 95 years it was a working sugar plantation. Oak Alley is the one everyone has seen in photos, movies, and on TV. There are two rows of 300 year old oak trees that lead from the river road up to the plantation home. Gorgeous! Breathtaking! I had lunch at the restaurant there, and it was delicious.

Sunday I attended mass at St. Louis cathedral in Jackson Square. It is the oldest operating catholic cathedral in the U.S. They were celebrating bastille day, so mass was said in French, which is always beautiful. Then I did "a bit" of shopping in the French Quarter and took the mule drawn carriage tour of the French Quarter. I didn't know horses aren't allowed in the Quarter. Apparently they're not as calm and can't handle the heat as well as mules.

I never made it to a casino in New Orleans. Things were very crowded due to the Essence Festival, so I blew it off.

I was dreading the trip home, because unfortunately my a/c went out in the van while I was there. The drive home was absolute misery. I was soaked to the bone with sweat. It was horrible. I stopped in Lake Charles for a break, and almost couldn't make myself leave L'auberge du Lac hotel/casino. Not only because it's beautiful & I got to do some gambling, but because I didn't want to leave the a/c. I had to drive the rest of the way in the hottest part of the day and almost didn't make it. Before I could make it to Baytown, mom called and I was very upset and shaking and not feeling well. I was realizing how much farther I still had to go, and I was getting very emotional about it. Thank God she & Dad decided to jump in their car & meet me, so I could ride home in the a/c the last 30 minutes of the trip.

New Orleans has always been one of my "happy places". I love it and always will. I would gladly go back to work for a while, but I would much rather go as a tourist. I can't wait to return!