new orleans update

Several folks asked about the state of The Easy, post-Katrina. Here goes: The French Quarter looks practically untouched. Tourism is so important to the local economy, it was the first to get fixed. A couple restaurants are still closed, but for the most part, it's fine. I don't know if the Camellia Grill is open, because the St. Charles streetcar isn't running yet... so many trees were downed in the storm, the overhead electrical wires still havent been fixed... the Garden District looks to be in decent shape, though some houses still are missing roof tiles and some of the big live oaks are either down or damaged... as for other parts of the city, not so good... the 9th Ward, among the hardest hit and poorest areas of the city, looks like the storm hit last week... a colleague took the "tour'' and came back with photos of boarded houses, debris piles 15 feet high and mostly vacant buildings... he said the destruction still spreads for miles. New Orleans even before Katrina was a place of rich and poor and little else. The storm seems to have made that division more obvious. On a personal note: I'm maybe the last person in America who likes Dixie, the local brew. The brewery hasnt reopened since Katrina, and might not. Live big with an Abita Turbo Dog