Barry Manilow ’08 – Just 9 more freakin’ days!!!!

Hello, from The Big Easy!

Mrs. that Dan Guy and I arrived late last night, into New Orleans. Grabbing a cab from The Louis Armstrong Airport, we made it to our hotel, right smack-dab in the historic French Quarter. Exhausted and somewhat aromatic (those stuffy old airplanes just don’t feature enough screen windows…), we nonetheless tossed our bags into our room, and headed off down Canal Street.

We’ve never been to New Orleans before, so we had no gauge for what to expect, pre- or post-Katrina. I’m here to attend a conference this weekend, and will be writing a couple of serious columns for the newspaper in Kelowna where my weekly humour column appears. That was the first thing I had to knock off this morning, which is why my blog is running late today.

So, first impressions:

* - Night-time is dark here, just like it is in many parts of Canada.

* - It is sobering to drive in past the Superdome, and think of all the people that were stranded there, during Hurricane Katrina.

* - Wow!

We didn’t even make it to Bourbon Street (yet), but we’re lovin’ it already. Eclectic shops and restaurants, wacky late-nite convenience stores, and plenty of hustle-and-bustle.

We did make it down Canal Street a ways. Just far enough to discover some glittery joint called “Harrah’s”. Harrah’s is something called a “casino”, and it is filled to overflowing with noisy machines that flash, rattle, and ding. Occasionally dong. Lots of people here in New Orleans must have known about this place, because it was packed to the gills.

We spent a couple of moments examining this phenomenon, before we hoofed it back to our hotel, and called it a day.

More to come, stay tuned!!

Chow for now!!