The Big Easy...and Little Easy

Yesterday we travelled from Mobile, Alabama along the gulf scenic route to Slidell, Louisiana (also known as Little Easy because of it's proximity to The Big Easy haha). The 25 miles or so along the gulf between Biloxi, MS and the Saint Louis Bay is listed as the 5th most scenic coastal drive in North America, even ahead of the Cabot Trail. The road is basically right on the beach for that distance. It was quite windy yesterday, making the sand blow across the road just like ground drifting snow. Because it was so windy and quite cold, it was not enticing beach weather, so we had no beach stops. From Mobile we passed through towns like Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Gulf Port and Pass Christian. Once in Biloxi, we could start to see some of the scars left by Hurricane Katrina. Until you can see this first hand, it's really hard to imagine the impact that is still felt even after 4 1/2 years. More about that later on. We found our hotel (a brand new Comfort Inn) here in Slidell. This is first hotel I've ever stayed at that has a second tv in the bathroom. I called my cousin Kenny, who happens to live no more than 10 minutes from the hotel, and took a drive over there to have a visit. We met his girlfriend Raenelle (please excuse and correct if I have that spelled wrong!) who is absolutely delightful, and the dogs and the lizard and a few assorted family members and had a good visit. Raenelle lost her home in Katrina, in fact she said everyone in her family but one person lost their homes. Left for what she thought was a few days, and never made it back. Katrina is still first and foremost in life here. Today we drove into New Orleans and took a city bus tour. It left from right in the French Quarter (which is pronounced by the locals as "Quota") and went through the lower 9th District, which is where the most destruction was. The water level in this neighbourhood was about 12 feet, if I understand correctly. The homes left bear the evidence of the searches afterwards. The homes are marked with a large X with the date they were searched in the top, the search group number in the left and what they found in the right. While there is restoration and new growth going on by groups such as Habitat for Humanity and the foundation started by Brad Pitt to name a couple, the empty lots, empty foundations and rotting homes give testament to that great flood. Our guide told us that in the New Orleans area of 160 square miles, 140 of those square miles were flooded to some extent. Some areas just a foot of water, some 4-8-and more deep. Buildings, signs, and other structures have obvious water lines to show just exactly how that neighbourhood fared. It was impossible not to be affected by the disaster even 4 1/2 years later. He explained how the levees were constructed in the different areas, around the canals etc, and where the water breached them. We also stopped at one of the many cemetaries in the city and saw how New Orleans buries their dead above ground. After the tour we walked through the Quarter to the French Market, stopped at Le Monde Cafe for hot beignets. These are a kind of square, fried dough that is served hot out of the oil with about a half pound of powdered sugar poured on it. That and a cafe au lait for Thor and a hot chocolate for me provided our recommended daily intake of sugar for about a week! Funny, you can tell anyone on the street that's been there by the white powder all over their clothes (ourselves included, haha). We enjoyed the market, the street musicians and just the experience of walking down Decatur Street. We stuck close to the car though, and didn't do any walking down Bourbon Street. Funny many of the trees were still festooned with just tons of beads from Mardi Gras.
Well, tomorrow we start the trek north towards home. Hard to believe 11 weeks have gone by since we left Canada!