Our Adventures

New Orleans, LA

New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River. The boundaries of the city and Orleans Parish (French: paroisse d'Orléans) are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south and Jefferson to the south and west. Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north and Lake Borgne lies to the east. New Orleans population is 301,016.

New Orleans was catastrophically impacted by the failure of the Federal levee system during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. By the time the hurricane approached the city at the end of August 2005, most residents had evacuated. As the hurricane passed through the Gulf Coast region, the city's federal flood protection system failed, resulting in the worst civil engineering disaster in American history. Floodwalls and levees constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers failed below design specifications and 80% of the city flooded. Tens of thousands of residents who had remained in the city were rescued or otherwise made their way to shelters of last resort at the Louisiana Superdome or the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. Over 1,500 people died in Louisiana and some are still unaccounted for. Hurricane Katrina called for the first mandatory evacuation in the city's history, the second of which came 3 years later with Hurricane Gustav.

The city is well known for its distinct French Creole architecture, as well as its cross cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is often referred to as the "most unique" city in America.



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Mardi Gras, Blues and Jazz Festivals! What else can you say about New Orleans. It is a survivor of Hurricane Katrina and a city still on the mend from the devastation caused by it. When we visited New Orleans there were several places that had reopened for business but there were several neighborhood areas that were still waiting. Coming into the city via the Pontchartrain Expressway we were able to see homes filled with water, boats capsized and debris everywhere. The greatest blessing to the city was that they were prepared for Hurricane Gustav in 2008 with levee upgrades and evacuation plans in place. New Orleans is on its way back to the joie de vivre (joy of living) that we celebrate in everyday life.

Great gumbo, Cajun & creole dishes, seafood, jazz music and festivals is what New Orleans is known for. Some of the artists that lived there before the hurricane are beginning to come back for performances. Some are unable to move back for reasons that are only known to them, however, they do appear for various shows from time to time. Walking down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter is a treat within itself with its cobblestone streets. It seems to be a bar or two on every block with restaurants, souvenir shops, hotels, etc. filling in the rest of the area. You definitely need more than a day to visit the entire area.

Our favorite place to stay is Harrah′s. There we met a very nice lady by the name of "Betsy" who is a true Saints fan. It′s in walking distance to Canal Street and the French Quarter and only steps away from the Riverwalk where we boarded the Norwegian Sun for our 7 day Jazz Cruise. The Riverwalk Marketplace is filled with unique shops, pushcarts and catering.

One day we ventured next door to the Lowe′s Hotel, yes the same name as Lowe's hardware stores, for brunch not sure if it′s a part of the chain or not. My most interesting time was when we got up at five thirty in the morning to make sure we wouldn't miss the sunrise and walked over to the Hilton New Orleans Riverside on the Riverwalk. It was truly a beautiful site. It was also cold but that didn't matter We plan to visit New Orleans again in the near future when we go back to Biloxi.

New Orleans, LA