I went to college at the University of Southern Miss, about an hour from the Big Easy at a time when the legal drinking age was 18. In college it was a regular road trip. Last time I was there I found one thing. The French quarter really hasn't changed much. The character of the place was still there. Not that much different in Jackson Square, and even some of the businesses were still there. BTW find Cafe Demond for some coffee and Bignets ie French Doughnuts. One or two of my college hang outs were gone, lost in a fire we found out by asking around. Yet there were plenty of places to party, listen to Dixieland Jazz, find a Dixie beer, go get a Pat O'Brian's hurricane. Time had passed, but the people were still the same friendly folks that could make a stranger seem like an old friend. You had to be very careful. There were places you didn't want to be, but common sense is usually all you needed to stay safe.
Then came Katrina. Yes its a while but hurricane damage of that magnitude isn't rebuilt just because its not on CNN or Fox News anymore. New Orleans politics is as legendary as the French quarter. Do not be surprised to see a great deal of Katrina damage still there if you get off the beaten path. The tourist areas will be just fine. Many other areas will be ok too, but you are going to see hurricane evidence I suspect in many unsuspected places. I hope more has been done to rebuild than I suspect.
I haven't been to the Big Easy since Katrina, but I have been to the Mississippi Gulf Coast two or 3 times since. Just over a year after the storm, a great deal of the debris had not even had the process of removal begun. How bad was it in Mississippi??? I walked down main street in Bay St Louis and realized that the night Katrina made land fall, at 6 feet tall I would have had over 20 feet of water over my head right where I stood. Though not as confined as it was in NO, it extended for miles and miles and went inland for several miles. It took 3 years to get the debris cleaned up, and not much construction was on going.
Id be interested to know what you find, and hopefully it will be lots of building or should I say rebuilding.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Photo suggestions?
From: Don Roberts <droberts@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, January 29, 2010 6:58 pm
To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students
<photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Off to New Orleans tomorrow. Hopefully it will be warmer than here in Iowa. If it is not we all may be in trouble. But anybody have photo suggestions there? I have done the cemeteries and will try to go back. Marvelous places. And Jackson Square always has colorful people. Anything out of the ordinary that I might look for?
Don
BTW we have made the final arrangements for a trip to Japan in Nov. Any of our members living in Japan yet? I was there for 2 years in the Navy 50 years ago. Do you think things have changed? Besides getting much more expensive? Anyway, I would like suggestions for non tourist sorts of locales. I loved the small towns and rural areas when I was there and hope to find more.
