It’s very much as it was, but it has been changed. Possibly the biggest difference between New Orleans in October of 2007 and New Orleans in January of 2001 is the difference in the number of tourists. On New Years Eve 2000 you could barely shove your way through Bourbon Street. In 2007 you can get a beer-to-go from every bar in less than a half hour. For us, this was somewhat refreshing. Our biggest complaint from our 2000/2001 trip was the terrible service we received at every restaurant and bar. But now folks are so happy that you’re there that they’re begging you to stay. “We need the dues!”

Our little adventure began last Saturday when we were racing down to St. Louis to catch our flight. While we made it to the airport in time to board, we were the last folks to check in. And with an intentionally overbooked flight American Airlines decided to bump us. Doesn’t pay to be last… well it kinda does, we got $500 in travel voucher credit. So it took us most of the day to get down to The Big Easy, that just meant we didn’t have a hangover on Sunday.

And now for something completely different. Shopping. We began trolling the French Quarter after breakfast at the hotel. Decatur Street was our point of entry and on it we found a couple of things that piqued our interest; The Cigar Factory and Java House Imports. Cigars were easy, I got a box sent back to Springfield and had a very tasty sample. Dad, you know what you’re getting for Christmas this year?

Java House led to much bigger things. Leslie picked out some jewelry she liked and I got a tasty beverage from the bar next door. The owners of Java House are Brian and Lily Monk, very nice people indeed. Brian picked up the tab for my beer, the first of a few. After an hour or two in their store we decided to move on, but returned an hour later to hook up with them for dinner and some football. This, of course, led to an invitation to their Jewelry show at the Marriott on Wednesday.

On Monday Leslie had her conference to go to and I ventured out to find the Internet. It’s somewhat elusive in some of the hotel rooms. I went over to the conference center coffee area where the WiFi was as free as pigeon shit. At noon my ass got too sore and I headed back to our digs. The hotel had us in this room with two double beds. I managed to get us upgraded to a room on the opposite side with a King and WiFi!

Dinner Monday night was with The Big D at Antoines. I got my Doctor Talk on as we discussed ways to encourage residents to work in underserved areas once they finish their programs and head out into the world. My ideas were old hat though and short of slavery there didn’t seem to be a good solution.

Tuesday went much the same, Dinner that night was with some friends from SPF at some diner I can’t quite remember the name of. Good cheeseburger though! After dinner Leslie and I headed out to a bar uptown called the Maple Leaf. Mike Kim was leading the charge, there was a band playing that night that he was a big fan of. Uptempo New Olreans style Jazz was on the menu and the place filled up quickly.

Wednesday was the last day of the conference for Leslie and we had that Jewelry show to go to. We hopped a cab to the Marriott to look at semi precious stones in silver settings. There’s a lot of sparkle there. In addition to the Java House’s display there was an art gallery show. They must have seen us comin’.

After the show we went up to the Presidential suite with their crew for room service and, you guessed it, more beer! You can see Brian and Lily on the left in this photo. He’s got himself surrounded with some fine folks. These are the type of people that will bring New Orleans back from the brink.

New Orleans is on the upswing now. Businesses are really glad to see you, the level of service is much higher and there’s a nice glimmer of improving opportunity in the air. People have their scars, some won’t go swimming, but their fear of the bottom seems to be over. It’s a fine town home to some new friends. Cheers!