New Orleans alive with civic pride
By: Amos Goodall, Jr.
Though much is left to be done, residents eager to show off city.
When I learned that New Orleans would be the site of the spring meeting of the Special Needs Alliance - a lawyer association dedicated to protecting children and adults with special needs - I was not sure what to expect in the after-math of Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans is a major city (although still at about 70 percent of its pre-Katrina population), and one of the busiest ports in the world. But it felt like a small, friendly town when we began to get restaurant and hotel suggestions from locals even as our plane was taxiing to a stop.
"Welcome to my New Orleans" said our cab driver, a man of Middle Eastern extraction whose accent suggested that he had been in New Orleans scarely longer than us. Although charging a fixed-price fare, he made several detours to show us parts of the town of which he was obviously proud. His sentiment was shared by most locals we met. By their words and actions, they said, "New Orleans is my home." They displayed palpable prine in the work done to restore New Orleans to its pre-disaster splendor, even while acknowledging the work yet to be completed. I heard "Thank you for coming to my New Orleans" over and over.
New Orleans owed the beginnings of its existence to te hospitality industry. According to a Park Service guide, New Orleans begain as a trans-shipment point for agricultural products sent down the Mississippi. Kentucky boatmen were powerfully ready for hospitality after thri long and arduous voyages. New Orleans was and still is, happy to oblige visitors.
If you have not seen it, it is hard to image the devastation after natrual disasters, in which the damage done by nature is allegedly exacerbated by enviornmentally questionable alterations to the landscape. Reports of Coventry of 1940 and Dresden in 1945 come to mind.
In many areas of the town, the few structures that are still standing continue to bear the marks showing rescue efforts. A book titled "One Dead in the Attic" describes signs on houses reminding us that the first task of the National Guard and Louisiana State Police was to rescue living people; the deceased would have to wait.
None of this seems to faze city residents, however. "Thank you for coming to my New Orleans" was a constant refrain.
People have retaken ownership of their town, and nothing - devastating damage, competing special interest groups, lack of funding - prevents them from being proud of their town and being pleased that tourists are visiting their city.
This is the year to visit. All the restaurants in the French Quarter are fully operational.
We managed to eat in Paul Prodhomme's K-Paul, Emeril Lagasse's NOLA, Tujagues, Acme Oyster, Central Grocery, Cafe du Monde, and many of other standbys with reservations - if made at all - made no more than 24 hours in advance.
The only line we encountered was at Preservation Hall, to be treated to some of the best jazz I've heard. Until folks discover what they're missing, crowds are well below pre-Katrina levels, even though services seem back at 100 percent. When we toured the Garden District, some of the owners whose homes were on tour came out and greeted us.
If you go to New Orleans, take a somber Katrina tour, spend an evening on Bourbon Street, sit on the levy and watch the sun come up, partake of the food and drink, but most of all, feel the warmth and welcome in my New Orleans!