Been to New Orleans lately?

[max]

Will Collier wrote:
Never lived there, but I've been going to NOLA since I was a small child and usually visit again at least once a year. Suffice to say (and Ralph can chime in here), it's pretty much always been like that, a melange of rich and poor, fabulous and ramshackle, sacred and profane, all living cheek to jowl in that unique and perilous gumbo pot.

This,

and next time visit Algiers....

[Numo]

mrbigstuff wrote:
Going to jazzfest soon. with the kids. so, thanks for the report. I've been there in 2003, and I don't recall anything too crazy except for staying within the city confines, and even then there can be some strange encounters, although I like those things. granted, not this time perhaps with the kids in tow.

I would be interested in hearing your impressions about NO if you get the chance.

[Mike Johnson]

My most recent visit was last October, when my 14 year old son and I were doing our annual father/son trip. We were only there for one Saturday night, but I dragged him through the French Quarter so he could experience it first hand. There's no place like it. It was rough, but that's the point.

I think my son has now probably been to 46 of the states. There's huge swaths of our country now that are interchangeable, no real relation to their place. Prescott Arizona or Buffalo Minnesota, it's the same minimall, the same dollar tree, the same Applebees, the same Target, the same DSW. Places like New Orleans and Kalapana Hawaii and the Dakotas, those are the places to go if you actually want to travel.

[rz]

Went there once, pre-Katrina. And I agree that it's a run-down city. Found Bourbon Street to be tacky and tourist-trappy. I live in Orlando and thought I was used to heat and humidity. Wasn't expecting to find anything an order of magnitude worse than Orlando, but that's what it was. I don't care for gumbo or creole food, so I was not at all impressed with the food there. I have no desire to ever go back.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....before Katrina and yes, certain areas where questionable....a lot of homeless people on the streets and abandoned buildings.......