Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?

I have traveled to, and fallen in love with, many places. My parents always put a special emphasis on showing me the beauty and wonder that exists in so many different parts of this country. We have gone to Yellowstone and the Black Hills. We have done long driving tours of canyon country and the whole of Texas. We have gone North, South, East, and West. But never have I experienced the feelings that swept over me when I spent a week in New Orleans in 2002. Ok, so it was my honeymoon, which probably would have been pretty magical no matter where we went. But there was just something about that old, beautiful, mystical city that completely took my heart. And part of it is still there.


There wasn't really a lot of discussion when it came to our honeymoon destination. We aren't the kind of people who just wanted to lay on the beach. We are more the kind that want to explore history and architecture and the different landscape that comes with different places. So we chose to go to NOLA. And I couldn't be happier that we did. We had so much fun and did so many things. It was the perfect honeymoon for us. It wasn't necessarily relaxing like so many honeymoons are planned to be, but it was nonstop great.


Some of my favorite moments from the trip came from unexpected experiences. One day I decided that we should try to drive as far south as we could to see what was there. So we got into our rented Hyundai and took off down the highway. Of course we got lost almost immediately in a pretty rough part of New Orleans. We had to stop at this little gas station to get a map and then we were off again. We were minding our business, just driving southward when all of a sudden there was a police car, lights a flashin', behind us. We pulled into a parking lot and heard a loud speaker saying, "driver step out of your car." We were freaked out! Why would we have to get out of the car? Who did this policeman think we were? It turns out we were stopped because Larry wasn't wearing his seat belt. I guess it is pretty common to make the driver get out in a normal traffic stop there. After it was all over we found it hilarious, and still laugh about it today. So finally we were on our way south. We drove down the highway on the banks of the Mississippi. It was beautiful country. There weren't but a few other cars on the road, just us and lots of birds (and I'm sure alligators). Larry had to stop and pee (I'm sure he will love me telling that) and I have the best picture of him looking back at me with the Mighty Mississippi in the background. It is actually one of my favorite pictures from the vacation! Turns out there is not much to see at the end of the highway. There is a lot of marshy land and a small convenience store where we picked up supplies. But it was still wonderful. On the way back we decided to cross over the river in Plaquemines Parish, at the ferry in Pointe a la Hache. It was a tiny ferry that took us over the river into the depths of Louisiana. The things we saw, the people and the houses and the land, were so different than anything I had ever seen. It was so wonderful. So many people go to cities and only experience the "city". We wanted to know the area in a more personal way. And this trip did that for us. Even though it was very spontaneous and wasn't a typical tourist thing to do, it was amazing. I can't stress how much I loved it!


We toured plantations, went on swamp tours (on a boat and then also walking...by ourselves...with real, live alligators swimming inches from us as we walked the wooden boardwalk through the trees...did I mention by ourselves?). We hit Bourbon Street a couple times, drove to Biloxi, and went to the aquarium. And we went on the most amazing, wonderful, romantic, fun steamboat dinner cruise (thanks to my WONDERFUL Uncle Terry and Aunt Barb giving us the most wonderful, thoughtful wedding present ever) where we ate some dinner, drank some adult beverages, listened to some great music, and met Kyle Turley, then of the New Orleans Saints football team. We did so much in that week.


I won't go into how devastated I was three years ago as I watched Hurricane Katrina try to destroy "my" city. I won't go into the tears I shed or the excessive searching I did on the Internet, trying to find out if the people and places we fell in love with where still there. I am sitting here watching the news channels tell me Hurricane Gustav could be even worse than that. I am sitting here wondering if that city that captured my heart will ever have the chance to capture my daughters' hearts as well. I am sitting here being very sad. I realize that the placement of this fine city is horrible when it comes to being hit by huge storms. With the gulf on one side and Lake Pontchartrain on the other this big bowl of a city can fill up like a...well, a bowl. I just hope this storm stays away from NOLA. I pray that the new levees aren't even tested. But more than anything I am hoping that the devastation and the shitty way it was handled three years ago have taught our government AND citizens how to respond when "the big one" is headed our way. So far, it looks like we all have learned our lesson and hopefully the loss of life will be as minimal as possible. And hopefully in a few years when my girls are old enough to appreciate the city, we will travel back to New Orleans and it will still have that same feel to it that made me fall in love.