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Published: February 10th 2009
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Me in New Orleans “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting in the first one.” Mark Twain
I will start with saying that I am sorry for being so late with this travel blog entry. I guess the good side of that is that I am busy having a good time rather than writing travel blogs. I keep a paper journal daily so no worries, you will still hear about it all. You will probably notice that the blogs now will not have as much detail. I have decided once I get caught up, I am going to write in the blog every few days instead of trying to separate it by states. What this means to you is that you will have shorter blogs but more often.
It is now Jan 8th and Jorg and I are leaving Memphis for New Orleans. During our 6 hour drive we enjoyed listening to the Eagles, Elvis and Springsteen. After stopping for lunch, I let Jorg take over the wheel. I will admit that it was a little scary when he had put one foot on
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Canal Street Streetcar the brake and at the same time the other foot on the gas. He had only ever driven a Standard. After explaining the basics of the Automatic, we were on our way and I felt a little more comfortable with my life in his hands.
I stayed in New Orleans for a total of 5 days. I explored all the usual stuff like Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, listening to some jazz, and the above ground cemeteries. During my visit, there was a special art exhibition happening which had locations all over the city. It included a free shuttle around the city. I spent a couple days exploring the city and looking at the art.
The most moving and touching part of the visit to New Orleans had to be visiting the lower 9th Ward area. This was the area that was hit the hardest during Katrina. Part of the art tour shuttle was driving through this desolate area. The driver was kind enough to point out other things in the area besides the art and explain what happened and what life was like before Katrina. In the area where the levee broke, I got out of the
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Jorg on the streetcar shuttle for 45 minutes to walk around the area. It was sad how barren it was. I found myself wandering into a deserted house to explore it and to try to relate to what these people were feeling and went through. Of course, I could never comprehend fully what they experienced.
The area is starting to be developed a little with the Brad Pitt project but there were only about 6 homes currently built. I understand it is Brad’s goal to have 100’s of homes in that area within a year. While there, I ran into a man who was there during Katrina riding around in his boat rescuing people. He had a theory that the break in the levee was on purpose to “clean up” the area. He actually gave me a CD to listen to which tells me his view. I still have not listened to it.
While in New Orleans, I was surprised with an email from George to say he is going to come down and join me and is booked on a flight that is arriving the next day. It was a nice surprise as I was recently feeling a little homesick as
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Typical street in French Quarter I had reached my “3 month anniversary” of my trip. George had decided though to rent his own car, and travel on his own and we would meet up whenever we were in the same area.
On Tuesday Jan 13th, Jorg and I were on the road again towards Texas for places unknown. Neither of us knew where we were going, but would see where we would end up. How exciting eh?
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