Jumping back onto the road early, we headed farther south towards Biloxi, the gulf, New Orleans and up to Natchez, MI for some Antebellum sight-seeing tomorrow. 

Our drive to the Gulf was beautiful, and neither A, nor I, had been this far south before. It was slightly overcast but breezy and humid as we hit Biloxi, MI. We were excited to see New Orleans, try some good southern cookin’, and meet more people.

Three years after Katrina hit, and New Orleans looks worse than we expected. A and I were shocked by the devastation we saw as we drove through the outskirts and downtown areas of New Orleans. 

From buildings that looked bombed out, to boats strewn across lawns and parking lots, it is clear that the city has still not completely recovered. This is not what Americans expect-where and what the hell has our government been doing? 
Clearly not enough. 

Our hearts go out to everyone who is still working on rebuilding their lives and their city. 

While pausing to have a “po-boy” at a small, family owned eatery, the owner, Troy (a native to New Orleans), explained how so many businesses were still unable to start up again because of endless red tape and governmental bureaucracy. A man who had a family business for 40 years had returned to the city and was told that he was out of luck and would be forced to provide for his family another way.

As we got onto the highway to head further south, dozens of tents and homeless people sat in lawn chairs or slept on the grass beneath the overpass. Although frequenters of New York City, the sight was surprising even to us.

On another note: 
For those did not appreciate our criticisms of Alabama, neither A nor I are big Starbucks fans. We actually use them as a surefire source for wireless internet, so I suppose it was bad luck that we didn’t see any Starbucks, or coffee houses. Obviously, our critiques of places are on-the-fly, while we drive, and although we didn’t see any coffee places, we’ll take your word for it that they exist. 

On a good note, we’ve found that Southern hospitality is very much alive, and we’ve been enjoying good cooking and good conversations.