After several months of no days off other than weekends and July 4th, we headed to New Orleans today for a long weekend. I thought the blog might be a good place to answer the questions that people have been asking that know I was coming. It seems everyone wants a firsthand observation of what the city is like, post Katrina, without the media bias. I’ll do my best to convey what I saw during my visit.

A little background, I’ve been coming to New Orleans at least once a year since about 1995. I love my trips here–the city has so much character which makes it very endearing. Some of the finest food I have ever eaten was done right here in New Orleans, both in the quarter as well as other places like downtown or the Garden District. Many of the best known chefs in the country either got their start in the Big Easy or have built their own little empire there. So it should really come as no surprise that when I head here every Labor Day, my taste buds are tingling from the time I make my flight arrangements until I arrive. My annual Labor Day trek was interrupted in 2004 due to a hurricane hitting Orlando that weekend and I didn’t want to leave the house unprotected in case there was damage. In 2005, of course, was Katrina so I stayed home that year as well. I’m very glad that this year the weather has cooperated and we arrived as planned.

So, flying into MSY, things looked pretty much like they always have, however you can see lots of heavy equipment around the levies and pumping stations. The blue tarps were scattered about the city as you can see on this photo out the window of the plane. Once on the ground, it was obvious that the airport wasn’t as busy as holiday weekends we have travelled into the city in the past. Which does remind me, when we booked the hotel room about a month before our trip, prices were great and every hotel seemed to have rooms available. A couple of years ago, booking less than three months out would mean getting stuck with something outside of the Quarter, and for the prime locations right in the heart of things, one needed to book several months early. Not this year, however. Read the rest of this entry »