TBW and I took a few days and vacationed in New Orleans. From the gorgeous Spanish architecture of the French Quarter

to the compelling sculptures in City Park,

we loved what we saw. The WWII museum was a special highlight. It’s expanding in several directions, almost doubling in size. The exhibits were well done and the Tom Hanks narrated 4D movie was amazing. Planes flew out from the screen, smoke billowed, the seats shook and rumbled as tanks drove by, the experience was unlike any other movie I’ve seen.

On the city bus tour, we had the most unique driver/tour guide. He started most sentences with, “I want to make you aware”, then repeated his facts (some of which were clearly made up) two or three times. After tossing out the fact he’d say, “Can you believe dat?” His delivery just cracked me up, so I was hugely amused throughout the tour.

When he got to the Katrina section of the tour, though, he suddenly got real. He’d experienced the devastation first hand. He knew folks (and showed us where they lived) that took their families into the attic, then broke through the roof with a hammer as the water rose, then floated on top of the house as it raised off the foundations, then hopped onto another floating house roof as the first one broke apart and were finally rescued 12 hours later by a boat. He said every drop of rain that hit you in that high wind speed storm felt like a bullet.

Our guide believed that Katrina was a disaster and a blessing. NOLA went from no work and tourism being the only industry to construction being #1 and tourism #2. He said anyone who wants a job in construction can easily get one. This last photo of a bumper sticker made me smile and gave credence to the vitality of the market.