New Orleans

I went to New Orleans for the first time since before the storm and totally fell in love with the Big Easy all over again. I was down there around ten times a year before Katrina made a mess of the place (which is still very much on the tip of everyone's tongue down there), so I was very excited to make a return after having been away for so long. I know Austin thinks they are "keeping it weird" but no place in the states has anything on New Orleans. It's the only place I've been where crazy people seriously outnumber the "normal" people. It's perfectly acceptable to walk about town shopping early on a Sunday morning while getting totally buzzed on a frozen daiquiri. I also noticed that the Quarter was cleaner than I had ever seen it. I walked down Bourbon for about 5 minutes and was amazed I wasn't overcome with the stench of stale booze, piss and garbage. I never really left the Quarter or Uptown so I didn't get the full picture but was totally ready to pack up and move back to the South. Of course I didn't have to deal with the Military Police, high crime and one hundred degree, humid-as-hell, weather while visiting.

A few pictures