New Orleans, Louisiana

---

March 8 - 10, 2007

This was my first trip to the South and it was for business. I was contemplating taking a job with the Training department of our company and for this job I would have to travel quite a bit. They decided to take me to New Orleans for a workshop at LSU to see how I liked it.

We landed on Thursday, March 8th, and headed to our hotel, the Marriott New Orleans. It's literally a block from Bourbon Street, so that night we were able to take a stroll down there. I ate some red rice and beans, some jambalaya, and some sausage and of course had a classic Hurricane to drink. We sat up on one of the many balconies and looked down at the people in the streets with their 2 foot tall beers and beads.

Walking back down the street we were going in and out of shops and people were throwing beads at our feet from above.

The next day we went to some of the streets off of Bourbon and I got to take some pictures. Everything there looks exactly the way I pictured it with the southern architecture and culture. We then met for lunch with some of the other managers and I had my first taste of true gumbo (yum!) and a shrimp po' boy sandwich (a little too fried for me lol). A rat ran ramped through the restaurant - classic southern atmosphere lol. Then we drove over to LSU to get setup for the workshop the following day. LSU is right next to the Superdome, so it was my first glimpse of the damage to the roof. We also drove through parts of downtown where you could see part of buildings torn away and windows broken.

Once we were back we went back down to Bourbon Street to do some more shopping. I got a cool Mardi Gras mask that is black and red (and will go great with my bedroom decor).

That night and the next day we worked at the lab and enjoyed another lunch of red beans and rice. On our way back to the airport we took a different route through Jefferson Parish and saw first-hand a lot of the damage from Katrina. People were wandering the streets and all of the houses were damaged. Most of them had spray-painted numbers on them from the search for survivors. Most houses had boards all up against the windows and doors and I wasn't really sure how many people actually still lived in these homes.

Soon after I was on a flight back home! New Orleans was fun and a good experience. I wish I would have gotten to see more than just Bourbon Street, but I will get to next year when we return for a conference. It isn't a city I would go on vacation to, but I can appreciate the amount of history and struggle that this city has endured. And it does have quite a bit of southern charm.

---

Photos

Bourbon Street
View from the balcony where we ate the first night.

Me
On a corner somewhere off of Bourbon Street.

Quintessential New Orleans
Just love the southern architecture here.

Shopping
This isn't the mask I bought, but it was cool nonetheless.