Tour of New Orleans, Day 1

Today we got a tour of New Orleans from Diana's father's cousin and his wife. They are 91 and 88, respectively, and she was born and raised in New Orleans. I tried to make a map of where all we went, but I am not savvy enough. Not tonight, at least. So, you'll have to settle for some photos. [And a bunch of links to Wikipedia...sorry. I'm feeling lazy.]

We started in the French Quarter, then drove west and south near the Convention Center/Riverwalk and onto the Garden District on St. Charles Avenue (where there is once again a streetcar running). We turned right on Carrollton, left on Canal Blvd, and then...

For the history geeks: we went to Metairie Cemetery, where I enjoyed the memorial to/mausoleum of members of the Army of Northern Virginia.


There was a panel that had Jefferson Davis's signature on it, but I have since determined (through painstaking research on Wikipedia) that although he died in New Orleans, he is buried in Richmond, VA.


From there we drove through some neighborhoods near the levees that were breached after Hurricane Katrina. [Here is a useful article. Yes, it's on Wikipedia, but it has nice maps.] Others in our group who have been here in the past two years said that there seemed to be fewer FEMA trailers and more work being done on many houses, but there is still a lot of visible destruction, and many, many homes still abandoned.




Some people are clearly doubtful that the levees will hold if another storm surge hits.


And there are some very sobering reminders of the flooding, and of the suffering.



But, of course, it's still a beautiful city. And it was 75 degrees today. Lots of people were out fishing.

More tomorrow, after our first day of work. Or maybe Tuesday, if I don't get to it tomorrow.