Wandering Wednesdays.

So... it's technically Thursday.  This I know, but I also completely forgot about "Wandering Wednesdays" and I'm trying to make up for it here.

While I absolutely adore traveling abroad, I also thoroughly enjoy experiencing all that the good ol' U.S of A has to offer.  In February of 2009, I traveled to to New Orleans with a few of my best friends to experience our first authentic Mardi Gras.  It was a trip.

Mardi Gras was just as I expected it to be, minus the lack of all the cash and prizes.  To be honest, the only people who were showing off their goods were middle aged women clearly hoping for any ounce of attention they could gain.  My friends and I walked away from the Mardi Gras parade with too many beads to handle.  Apparently all one must do to get beads is enthusiastically yell, "Throw me something, mister!" at the floats.  Some of them even threw us bags of beads.  Bags.

My favorite part of the trip?  The food.  Hands down.  Between the po boys, grits, beignets, fried chicken and mac and cheese, I was sure I was going to return home 50 el bees heavier.  Still, it was soooo worth it.

I also enjoyed walking around the city in general.   There were little cafes and beautifully preserved colonial houses.  I loved taking the trolley around while taking in the sights (beignet in hand, naturally).  As we spent an entire day wandering the street of New Orleans I began to notice the water damage left on the neighborhood cafes.  The colonial houses that I loved were under heavy repair and bore the scars left by Hurricane Katrina.  It had been 4 years since Katrina hit, and New Orleans was still in a state of repair.  The more we explored, the more apparent it became that underneath all of the booze and beads was a city going through a rebirth.  

I'd be interested in going back and seeing if anything has changed.  It seemed like it was a city that was slowly inching its way back to normalcy.