LOUISIANA: FIVE HURRICANES AND THE DESTRUCTION OF CAMERON

 November 23, 2021 

In our travels from one birding spot to another, we drove south from Lake Charles, Louisiana to Cameron, Louisiana, about 50 miles. The area we drove through didn't really have any population centers, just small towns, but we began to see a trend: houses on stilts with not a lot around them.

In Southern California we have almost no houses with basements. In this part of Louisiana, they have almost no houses with ground floors. That area under the house does make a great place to park your car.

We figured that the area must be prone to flooding from the nearby Gulf of Mexico.

Many of the houses looked recently painted and/or remodeled, with new, unpainted wooden stairs leading to the front door.

LOUISIANA: NEW ORLEANS CUISINE

 November 6-10, 2019 

You know, it just seems WRONG to write a post on food that my husband was not there to eat with me.  Usually I rely on his food photos, at least in part, for my blog because he is so much more obsessive about taking pictures of food than I am. I didn't have that option this time, and I can tell. My food pictures are a little sparse. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I ate all of my meals away from the hotel--well, except for the very last one. It was my goal to 1) eat local dishes and 2) not gain ten pounds. The goal first was easy, the second was hard. The criteria for my choices of dining establishments were that they had to be within walking distance of my conference and they had to get at least four stars on Yelp. Olde Nola Cookery looked like a good place to begin.

I ordered redfish etouffée, which the menu defined as "Fresh Gulf redfish blackened then topped with crawfish etouffée. Served with vegetables and red beans."  My vegetable was collard greens. Delicious.

LOUISIANA: NEW ORLEANS, Part 2 - National World War II Museum and New Orleans Museum of Art

November 6-10, 2019 

I visited two really good museums while I was in New Orleans: The National World War II Museum and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

1. The National World War II Museum

At the end of a long day of conferencing, I grabbed a taxi (Uber was SUPER slow in New Orleans, but a cab was always waiting at the hotel) and headed to what Congress designated in 2003 as America's official National World War II Museum. The museum's website states, "The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world--why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today--so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn."

Originally called the D-Day Museum, the museum opened (appropriately) on June 6, 2000. It is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and is worth much more time than I was able to give to it. Since its opening it has had many expansions and added many new exhibits. It is a must-see museum, whether your are a war buff or history aficionado or neither. Just go.

I started in the European theater section, and was reminded that the United States lost far fewer of its service members than its enemies did.

The war was also NOT a popular cause in the early years.

LOUISIANA: NEW ORLEANS, Part I - Bourbon Street, Two Churches, and Four Books

 November 6-10, 2019

As part of my job as the coordinator of a community college honors program, I have the option of attending a national conference every year. In 2019, that conference was in New Orleans.

Heck yes, I'll go!

The conference was great, and I LOVED the location. It was my second visit to New Orleans, but my first visit had been brief and about fifteen or sixteen years earlier.

The conference was held in the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street, just blocks from the French Quarter, and so that is also where I stayed.

Even the hotel décor screams "NEW ORLEANS!"

Here is the view of Canal Street--the Champs d'Elysee of New Orleans--from my room. One interesting fact about this street is that with three lanes going each direction, it is supposed to be the widest thoroughfare in the United States called a "street" instead of an "avenue" or "boulevard."

Same view at night:

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Of course, being close to the French Quarter can be, um, shall we say "enlightening"?