The ‘Big Easy’ for Xmas

Well yet another Xmas was upon me and being only two weeks out I realized that few people were going to be round Redlands. Ideally I would have been home in NZ but after the last big trip I had no time or $$$ for that. On the other hand I did not want to be alone. I perused the map and figured that given it was winter New Orleans (NOL) was the place for me to see.

Looking at options flying out on Xmas day was cheap and the only cheap way I could get home was a Train. Yep, a 2000 mile 45hr epic. Crickey… One thing for sure is that in my almost 2yrs in the States I have made an effort to see this massive country and have still only scrapped the surface. Anyway after being up at 4.30am and transiting through Houston I got to the Hostel I was staying in about 4 miles down Canal St from the French Quarter of NOL at 4pm on Xmas. The usual hostel types were there; hippies and younger people out to party. It was good as I met people too hang with at night but few of them really seemed that into seeing the sights. Many just got roaring drunk and slept till 2pm the next day. I dunno aye, I am well over that. 5 Aussies from Adelaide were the main culprits (They had a great time though). So for my 3 odd days there I spent the days alone wondering the streets of New Orleans and doing some tours and spent the nights with people met at the hostel though I never got super toasted as I would have been useless during the daylight hours.

The Nights were spent in both Bourbon St which is touristy and expensive though heaps of fun and lots to see and do. Many many bars and places to dance or listen to Jazz and other live bands and simply people watch. Heaps of places to eat too. Good times. We also hit up the Frenchman St bar area. Here is home to the local stuff, small music bars with cheap drinks, less crowds and a much more chilled atmosphere. Like Vegas you can walk the streets with open drinks and even on Xmas night it was pretty busy downtown. Sat and Sun nights were pretty packed.

On the first day I walked about the Decatur St District. Checked out the Frenchman’s Market. Had some Pralines (Famous candy from down that way) and also looked at Royal St. Wow. This has such a great array of awesome little art shops. The Architecture of NOL is also as I imagined. Very quaint with small streets and well kept front facades for the most part in a mixed French/Spanish style starting from the 1730s. NOL has some of the longest history in the States and a very colorful past.

That arvo I did a ‘City and Katrina Tour’. We visited the Garden District. Very nice, lovely and expensive houses. A cemetery which is all above ground in NOL due to the swamps. Lots of Mausoleums were present as a result. This was pretty cool to see indeed. Also the NOL City Park. A massive park where 2000+ oak trees were lost in Katrina. We also checked out numerous neighborhoods that were covered by water in Katrina. Keep in mind that 80% of NOL was flooded. We could see flood lines on houses and buildings. In many areas the devastation was still everywhere and barely cleaned up. All the buildings that had not been bowled over had either a cross or half cross on them. This signified if the house had been checked. If it had a half cross the floor was unstable and should not be walked on. If a full cross was present it meant that the house was ready to collapse at any moment.

The 9^th ward which was covered by 13ft of water was the hardest hit. This is a massive area of complete devastation with many houses left as they were after the storm. You can also see many holes smashed in the roofs where people climbing though to they could get rescued. We could still see the levees that broke and areas where their walls had been strengthened and heightened. Poor people. In this area Brad Pitt’s initiative to help people rebuild was evident. We saw 17 of ‘his’ houses. They were awesome though placed in a pretty stark and devastated area. They were very green homes with solarpanels and many modern eco features. Most on big stilts and 1 actually floated. Very cool. It was this area was where a massive 200+ ft barge was picked up and dropped on numerous houses. It was also sobering to hear that Katrina only hit NOL with a Cat.3 rating. Not the Cat.5 rating many think. Even with all the improvements which will be completed in the following decades the City will only be able to withstand a direct hit of a Cat.4 hurricane. Fingers crossed for them and really it makes you wonder what they are doing when the highest land is 18ft above sea level and much of it below it and the fact that its only a matter of time for the ‘big one’.

http://www.makeitrightnola.org/

I saw a film about the storm and a family’s ordeal at the IMAX downtown and much of the destruction is of course human caused. The massive Wetlands between NOL and the Gulf where the hurricanes came ashore have been minimized greatly over the last couple of hundreds of years. GEOG 101. Cut a sediment supply to the coast and all you will do is watch it disappear. This is what happens due to all the damming and channeling of the Mississippi river and its tributaries. The interesting stat here is that for every 3 miles of wetland lost the storm surge will be a foot higher. Keep in mind that many, many miles of wetlands have been lost from the Mississippi Delta south of NOL. As with so many of the issues we do not put effort into fixing the issue we just look for ways to engineer round it such as making the levees higher. This is the same the world over from avalanche risks to earthquakes to volcanoes. It must be noted though that planting efforts are now in place to attempt to rejuvenate the wetlands and increases the buffer it provides to NOL.

I also did a famous “Ghost Tour”. It was of course of course a joke (unless you REALLY BELIEVE) but hearing the stories of NOL’s colorful past meant it was quite worthwhile. The National World War 2 museum was also a great place to visit. I spent a good while here and its one of the best war museums I have seen. Not too bias and it was not about big guns. It was about the human and strategic side of the war. It gave me much more appreciation of just how big a threat the Japanese were and the destruction caused in the massive battles in the Pacific often overlooked by the ones taking place in Europe.

After a great few days in NOL I boarded the train at noon and spent the following day, night, next day and next night on it reaching Palm Springs and home. Epic. 45hrs all up. We passed though some places normally unseen. The train was called the ‘Sunset Limited’ and its full run to LA is 2000 miles. Through Louisiana, Southern Texas along the Rio Grande for a good part, though El Paso then on to Tuscon, AZ and home. It was a good experience and one better shared with a companion however it meant I got through a great book. Well almost… It’s “The Worst Journey in the World” and looks at Scott’s Expedition to the South Pole between 1911-1913. All I can say is it is humbling and the adventurers of that day we will never be see again (the hardships they went through is well ridiculous). Just read it. It’s voted the best adventure book of all time by Nat Geo for a reason.

Over and out,

Kurt