Day 45

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October 27, 2009
Today we had a leisurely breakfast and then Donna, John and I took a four hour tour of the city…it was wonderful. The tour started out in the city or business district, continued into the garden district, then the arts district, the French Quarters and then a tour of Ward 9 where the worst damage from Katrina occurred. The guide was great and gave a lot of history. As we passed through each section of the city he told us how it was impacted by Katrina. The business district, where our hotel was, got just a couple of feet. We past the Super Dome where people were housed in the aftermath because all of the streets were impassable. The garden district got about 3-4 feet of water. The ninth ward got 13 feet. We saw the areas of the levee that gave way…and when you saw them you could see how this could happen…they seemed so inadequate. And in the aftermath, they were only patched, not replaced and strengthened! The ninth ward is still in terrible condition. Most of the houses have not been fixed at all. You can still see the marks on the front door signifying that someone had been there to check for bodies and how many were found…it was eerie and tragic. The tour wasn’t all upsetting. The guide had some fun, interesting stories. We went to a cemetery where he described a “Jazz” funeral and something called “second line”. After the tour we met up with Bill who had had a busy day in the French Quarter. We ate at a Restaurant called Landry’s…it was great, near the river.
One funny part of the day... On the tour we met a couple who asked us where we were from. They then told us they were from New Mexico. Donna and I were saying that we had just been to New Mexico and then started listing places in the state we had been. Each placed we mentioned, the woman said…”No, that’s in Texas”…We’d mention another place and she’d say “No that’s in Arizona” this happened about 4 times!!! The woman must have thought we were morons!!! We were like deer in the headlights! Finally Donna said “Gallop”! Bingo! That was in New Mexico!!! The woman didn’t talk much to us after that…just as well…we have enough friends!
Today’s Road Lesson: We really need a geography lesson.

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