So in lieu of words, here is my photo-journal of our trip down south to Mobile, Alabama to visit with Jeff's parents, and Emma's grandparents, Charlene & George. The weather couldn't have been better - 85 to 90 degrees & sunny every single day. And our hosts were the best... made us feel right at home, even buying us bagels & hummos. Two things that are not readily available in the Deep South!!
We all had an absolutely terrific time, and as always, were very sad to leave. The South is so pretty... the East, well, it's so not the South.
What I still can't get over, what still makes me laugh out loud, is that as beautiful a city as Mobile is, a city with drive up bank machines & Starbucks, they are also home to the "Mobile Association for Retarded Citizens".
Like, OH. MY. GAWD.
Anyhoo, to sum it up very quickly, Jeff got in a long overdue golf game, we had a dinner overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, we went to the zoo in Gulf Shores, Emma went swimming in the ocean, and I went outlet shopping.
We also took a drive over to New Orleans. Haven't been there in two years. We normally take a visit every year, but last year Emma was only 5 months old so we said "next year". Who would have ever thought that "next year" wouldn't be?
The destruction left by Hurricane Katrina was like nothing I could have EVER imagined. The images are ones that I cannot get out of my mind, and yet I am having a very hard time writing about it. I keep wondering where all those thousands of families have gone? Families with nothing but the clothes on their backs... Home after home demolished. Cars piled on top of cars. Everything destroyed as far as the eye could see. It was like a war zone... It was just devestating.
While all the housing communities we toured were completely in ruins, the French Quarter looked surprisingly intact. Jeff summed it up nicely by saying that it was like a university campus on summer vacation. Looks the same, but empty. Restaurants, food, what New Orleans is famous for... gone. Once decadent meals replaced by sandwiches and french fries. Chefs, servers, bartenders... all moved away to find work, homes, lives elsewhere. The soul is gone. Void of music, street performers, tourists. No life left. Once the sun set, there was an air of desperation. Of helplessness. And hopelessness. It is a very different New Orleans.
I am so thankful I had the opportunity to fall in love with it as it used to be. I only hope it will be back. One day.
Post-Script: Immediately after writing this, I went to cnn.com (as I often do) before logging off for the evening. This was the first article I saw.
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