Tallahassee or Bust! Day 6: Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's from the Big Easy!

Wow! A second night in one location??? It almost feels like I have a home again! lol  It's going to be awhile until that happens, but at least two nights in one city is interesting.

In honor of Christmas, I thought it would be special to head down to the first structure built after Hurricane Katrina in the Lower 9th Ward... a memorial that my parent who is not my mother designed and that I am very proud of.

If you want to see more of the design elements involved with the project and the way it originally looked, <CLICK HERE> for more information, it's pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Now I purposely decided not to show the destruction that is still plaguing the city out of respect for the people who live here. But folks, there are places that feel like it's more than a third world country. The city still needs help and millions of dollars. I'm not sure if it will EVER be the same, but slowly but surely SOME things are turning around.

Just a block away from the Katrina Memorial, there is a new eco/green friendly neighborhood cropping up.

Some of these homes are really cool in their design. My daughter, who's studying this kind of stuff at the "University of Redlands" would probably dig a lot of what they're doing down here.

Back at the hotel, I parked the car and walked around the city.

No work out needed today because I walked about 4 miles. :) It was about 60-70 percent closed, but still a lot of people in the area and it's just a beautiful city.

I did manage to find a funky little "joint" to eat at for a late breakfast, "Daisy Dukes."

And for said breakfast, I opted for the Cajun Omelet, which wasn't that bad, although the hash browns needed to be cooked through better, they were a little raw for me.

Tonight is more proof that the world isn't as big as we think.  I decided to head to this oyster bar for dinner called, "Desire."

 

There was about a 40 minute wait to get inside, but it was my last night in New Orleans and this place always looked interesting.  Once I got to the front of the line I had the choice to take a table or go sit at the oyster bar or the bar.  I opted to go to the bar and sit between two couples; Lisa and Rollie to my left and Norm and his wife to the right.

Just as I sat down, both Lisa and Norm started chatting and teasing me right away, being the new guy.  Lisa had some oysters she couldn't finish and before I even got my menu, I was finishing off hers.  Norm was telling me about the oysters he got, baked with Parmesan cheese on them and we started talking again. I was the perfect storm... I told both of the about my travels across country for a new job and it turns out Norm is a pretty big wig in the Florida State University system among other things.

When I told Lisa, it turns out she and her husband and lived in Santa Cruz for a long time and not only recognized me from when I was on air in San Jose but when I worked on air on Friday night's in Salinas.

I didn't know what to expect tonight for dinner, but not only did I get an amazing meal, I met two great people who I will be in contact with for years to come.  What started out as a little bit of a lonely Christmas, turned into a joyful one, thanks to two people I may never had met if I wanted anything else besides oysters tonight!

Coda: (Lotion Picture Day 7)
Crowne Plaza Hotel New Orleans

Not really a photo today, because they didn't provide ANY lotion again???

Now looking at the picture again from yesterday and I don't have a lot of hair so I can't even tell if the shampoo and conditioner are SO good it makes up for not having any lotion???