The French Quarter reminded me greatly of cities in Europe, particularly Amsterdam. Nick and I spent about an hour wandering the streets, sweating like crazy, trying to find this mythically great restaurant he once ate at years ago. After making a giant loop through some particularly seedy blocks we ended up back on Bourbon Street and entered the first place that looked like they served decent food. The entire restaurant was filled with UF students and fans, which was kinda sorta cool, as we got to be around ‘our people’, but at the same time, it was a bit like being in Gainesville all over again, only with better food.
Nick drove me around New Orleans afterward, showing me places which had been hit particularly hard by the hurricanes of ‘05. There is no way to put this that doesn’t make me sound like a gawking tourist, so I apologize if this seems crass: it was utterly surreal. I had seen, heard and read report after report detailing the devastation and damage, and I am not ignorant to the poverty that afflicts my neighbors in Chicago, but to see house after house abandoned, destroyed, or otherwise laid waste was just… anyway, this photo probably says more than I can put into words. The orange rings around the columns mark the water line from the flooding.
