Laraway Family

Jac and I spent the weekend of July 14th-16th in New Orleans!!! We stayed at the Bienville House in the French Quarter, and we had SUCH a great time! Our heals showed the wounds of much walking, and our bank statements MIGHT reflect a bit of a wound from shopping? Not too bad, though. However, after making reservations to the Commander's Palace for brunch, we realized we HAD to buy some nicer clothes! The following pictures are from the Garden District near where we ate brunch on Saturday- after some Cafe Du Monde, of course! There, I naturally befriended the Mat re Di and we ended up with VIP reservations at Vizard's on the Green. VERY NICE! We dare say it was better than Commander's Palace. Well, a thunderstorm later- SO NICE, we took some pictures of my and Russ' new house- the pink one. The other home is Archie Manning's. Jac was impressed by his lawn.


Sunday we had a good chunk of time before leaving that evening, so we shopped some more and took at THREE hour tour of the French Quarter, Garden District and Hurricane Katrina devastated areas via bus. It was so interesting to see at eye level what we saw via TV about the aftermath. As you saw the rising waterline still visible on buildings downtown, you understood why people chose to get up on the overpasses and not SWIM to the Superdome. They had just gotten electricity, the week we were there, in the area where you may remember the barge washing into the community where the levee was breached. SO, two years later they finally have the means to rebuild. This picture is of four houses that just kind of floated and got jammed together. The third house from the left is crooked since it landed on an upside down car... you may barely see the wheels poking up in the picture. Behind me taking this picture is a house whose second floor collapsed in the front onto the lower. It was torn down and reconstructed EXACTLY the same way. Hollywood is making a movie there about the hurricane and it's aftermath. There are cars with small writing on the windows that says, "For Movie- Do Not Tow." Security sits there 24/7 insuring no one messes with their scene and no one is harmed. It was sad and surreal to see so many places still uninhabitable and all of the FEMA trailers or private ones in parking lots or lawns. So, GO TO NEW ORLEANS!!! Enjoy their seafood, their shopping, their incredible hospitality, and help them rebuild their city!