ealisation hit home as we arrived in New Orleans, that it’s not just Americans that live in a bubble. Yes, I just swallowed my pride. Many are quick to criticise Americans for not knowing what goes on in the rest of the world (and boy have we seen a lot of that on this trip) but New Orleans showed us how little we knew of what went on after hurricane Katrina.
Now don’t get me wrong, I loved New Orleans. It is one of the quirkiest, most eclectic, bohemian cities I have seen. It is truly unique, a real mix of 19th century French and English rivaling architecture. But as we walked through the city, chatted to the locals and drove out to the most affected areas, we were blown away by the devastation the city sustained. We couldn’t believe how much of the ‘Katrina story’ we were unaware of. The fact that 90% of the city and surrounds were under water, and the average height of that water was 6 feet, was a crushing visual. The heartbreak though, was in learning that the less affluent areas had up to 22 feet of water for miles in every direction! The locals spoke of how the government failed them and the city was left to right itself. Support was minimal and the aftermath sounds like they were describing poverty ridden countries at war, every man for himself, with no possessions left to lose or moral code for human behaviour. It was a true eye opener to hear any part of the States described in this way, let alone the jazz capital of the US. That’s just not supposed to happen in America.
Many driveways, no homes. The flood took them all.
A lonely, worse-for-wear home, that withstood the flood.
One of Brad Pitt’s ‘Make it Right’ foundation houses.
Thankfully, with time and hard work the city has righted itself, much to the delight of music and bohemian lovers everywhere. Downtown, the French Quarter and the Garden District are beautiful, even though the outer areas still show much of the carnage of 2005. Despite being ‘off season’, the streets were bustling and the music was exceptional. We obviously couldn’t go into the bars with the kids, even though Lincoln stood outside one of them crying because he wanted a beer (he calls everything that’s not water or fruit juice, beer)! The doorman gave us a very disapproving look and shook his head. Needless to say we did our best to hurry the children on and we found an incredible outdoor venue where we all sat back and reveled in the New Orleans culture and timeless music. I’m pleased to say the kids seemed to enjoy the jazz as much as we did!
We rode in ‘street cars’, ate ‘gumbo’, got draped in beads by both our concierge and festive people on the street, had a tour of one of the most famous cemeteries in America, and had both the worst coffee and most incredibly delicious beignets at the legendary Cafe du Monde. To complete our New Orleans experience, we headed into alligator country for another hairy adventure… a tour on the swamps, also somewhat ‘third-worldish’ and not smelling of ‘typical America’. It was incredible! Less hairy than we had hoped, the cold had snuck in the week before and all the big alligators had gone into hibernation for the winter. But, we did see a couple of small alligators and lots of the cutest turtles, and get to experience what the swamps are really like out in the middle of nowhere. They are incredibly beautiful and deathly still. An experience I would recommend everyone has if the opportunity presents itself.
As we left New Orleans and headed for Austin, we stopped over for a night in a house boat… on the swamps. It was interesting. Wobbly, but kinda cool. Not sure I’d do it again. New Orleans on the other hand, I’d do that again and again.
