Pre-Katrina Visit to New Orleans Makes Me Wish I Could Go Back Again

Last summer, my husband and I took a trip to New Orleans at what we imagined was the worse possible time. By September, we were very glad we did. We had been looking forward to this vacation for years. More than a decade ago, when we were first dating, we had gone to New Orleans for a weekend, on a $400 shoestring budget, and we wanted to go back. There were so many things we couldn't afford to do and hadn't planned for on first trip that we wanted our second trip to be perfect.

We saved forever for that trip and then started looking at dates. We really wanted to go in early spring or late fall. When we went the first time it was St. Patrick's Day weekend and it was awesome. There were leftover Mardi Gras souvenirs for sale cheap everywhere and there were the St. Patrick's Day parade. Not on the same scale as Mardi Gras, definitely, but still a lot of fun in the French Quarter.

But when we examined our vacation schedule it appeared we really only had one option. My husband was taking summer classes at the university and the only break he would have to take a week off would be in mid-May. For those who don't know, the part of Illinois we live in, deep in the southern tip, gets very hot in he summer. It's not unusual for it to be 90 degrees with 80 percent humidity in mid-summer. We knew New Orleans in May would likely be about that bad and since much of what we wanted to do involved walking tours and outdoor activities, we had been hoping for warm fall days and cool fall nights. The original goal date was October, 2005. We went five months early.

New Orleans in May is hot and humid and my body had not adjusted to the heat gradually like it would have here. I complained a lot about the weather and thought we had made a mistake not waiting until the fall. We planned ahead and did a ton of research. We found the New Orleans Power Pass. I can't recommend this enough to people who are planning to spend a lot of time in the French Quarter doing very touristy things, like we did.

The power pass is a one-price tour-until-you-drop program. We opted for the two-day pass, but there are several other options. For us, it means savings of about $35 per person over the two days on the things we wanted to do. We took a couple different tours with Greyline Tours, walked through the Presbytery museum and Mardi Gras display, had dinner and a cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez, took in the Aquarium of the Americas and toured Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World.

Each of the attractions would have been between $15 and $45 per person without the power pass. As it was, we spent $95 each for the pass. We could have had entry to even more of the city's top attractions if we had been willing to push ourselves and our itinerary harder. Instead, we opted to have some time to explore the Quarter leisurely as well.

Some of our best memories are of the time we just spent exploring the square mile or so around our hotel, but the tours were well worth the price. We took the night time walking ghost tour and the prerequisite of any New Orleans visit, a tour of St. Louis Cemetery #1 where the crypt of Marie Laveau is the top attraction. The three-hour dinner cruise aboard the Natchez was probably the highlight of the trip.

The steamboat cruises up the Mississippi River at sunset while dinner and drinks are served and a band plays live music appropriate to the region, either Dixieland or Jazz. The food was good. That said, it was not necessarily of the same quality as some of the French Quarter's finer restaurants, but it was tasty for a buffet.

Sitting on the deck, while the captain gives a brief historical and sociological history of the river and the surrounding areas and the sun sets, is relaxing and romantic. And, cruising back into New Orleans once the skyline is lit up for the night is a breathtaking sight. We also saved money and had an awesome experience by choosing to stay at one of the many bed and breakfasts in the French Quarter. We stayed at the Creole House on St. Ann, about 4 blocks from the heart of the French Quarter.

This type of accommodation isn't for everyone, so if you don't like the personal atmosphere of a bed and breakfast, you might want to stay elsewhere. For us, however, it was perfect. The room featured antique furniture, including a four-poster bed, and a private bathroom. The air-conditioning was controlled by the office and we could have stood for the room to be a bit cooler, but we did have a fan in the room to help things out.

The staff was incredibly helpful and friendly, arranging tours for people who had not planned ahead and directing us to the nearest wireless internet provider so that we could use the laptop we brought along. Some travelers might dismay over the lack of an internet connection available to guests, but the hotel staff was more than willing to print out maps or even boarding passes for guests. We never used our computer except to download the pictures from the digital camera.

The continental breakfast included some of the best pastries to be found in the city and plenty of juice, coffee and tea. The atmosphere made it easy to get to know fellow travelers over breakfast in the morning or as people were returning from tours. And, the price was better than most places in the Quarter.

Another of the decisions we agonized about in planning our trip was how to get there. From here, we have three major options. It's about 10 hours by car, certainly a reasonable drive back when gas prices were reasonable. Also, there is the Amtrak train, the City of New Orleans, that stops here. It's an overnight train ride, with sleeping berths available. Or, we could fly.

The big debate was actually between driving and taking the train. The train would be convenient, with no need to figure out parking once we got to New Orleans and no wear and tear on our car. The car meant more freedom to stop along the way and to venture outside of the French Quarter once we got to New Orleans. So, we drove.

One very important piece of advice for people who are driving to the French Quarter: Make sure before you go that your hotel has parking. For example, ours didn't have its own lot, but had arrangements with a sister hotel to let guests park there. Parking is such a premium in the narrow streets of the French Quarter that this is a major issue.

In the end, we only took the car out once during our week-long stay, but it was worth it to drive for that one day. That day we booked a swamp tour in Houma. The tour site, Munson Swamp Tours, is about an hour, maybe 90 minutes from downtown New Orleans and the drive itself is gorgeous, taking you past some of the historic River Road Plantations and along the swamps near the Gulf Coast.

The swamp where the Munson family operates its tours is leased specifically to them and they are the only ones giving tours there. There is no chance the wildlife will be scared off by another boat. The family feeds several young alligators in the channel close to the dock and gift shop, giving people a chance to see the small gators up close.

Down the channel and into the swamp, we saw more alligators than I can remember, feeding them from the pontoon boat we were riding in or watching them sun themselves on nearby sandbars. We also got a lesson in the ecology of the swamp and its famous occupants from the tour operator. And while it was the gators that originally drew us to the swamps, the other wildlife was in many ways more spectacular.

The cranes were both amusing and exciting to watch, as they tiptoed through the water often right behind a gator's tail to try to snatch away the chicken the tour operators use to feed and attract the wildlife. Stoic owls observed the proceedings from their high tree posts and raccoons frolicked on the channel bank once they are certain the gators are not around.

Snakes and turtles could be seen sunning themselves on the floating logs and the flora of the swamp was overwhelming in the beauty and cool shade it provided. In addition tot he enjoyable drive out to the Munson tour and the very private feel of the tour (our tour had three people on it), the cost was extraordinary. We could have spent double or triple the $20 per person fee on a tour that would have picked us up in the French Quarter, but this was more economical and perfect for us. My husband, a photographer, had the run of the boat and the guide was more than willing to stop, idle or even back up so that we could get the photos we wanted.

This portion of our trip was second only to the Steamboat Natchez on my list of things worth doing again. And, the food that followed our swamp tour was the best we had on the trip. We asked the Munsons to recommend someplace and they did, Boudreaux and Thibodeaux's. It was the best food we had on the trip. A combination of traditional Southern food with Cajun and Creole influences, they made awesome alligator bites for appetizers and a terrific open-faced roast beef sandwich.

On top of that, this was absolutely not a tourist trap. We were there on a week-day at lunch time and it was clear that many of the local's were too. Lunch complete with drinks and appetizers was less than $20. The restaurant had a simple charm, wooden booths and great food and prices.

While in New Orleans, we strolled down Bourbon Street at night (the only time to be on Bourbon Street) and talked with street performers and local residents. We visited the French Market, another of my favorite places in the Quarter, had beignets once or twice (okay, I think it was five times in a week) at the Cafe du Monde, visited some of the voodoo museums, of course, and shopped, including a return trip to Riverwalk, the mall that sits on the riverfront. The first time we visited New Orleans, we were in mall just moments before an incoming ship ran aground into the mall.

As we left the magical city, we were certain that we had managed this time to do everything we wanted to do. And, that we would still come back again, maybe not waiting a decade before we did it again.

Then, it was the summer of hurricanes, and one after another threatened this city that I had come to adore. I knew from the tours and trips how vulnerable the city could be during the wrong storm. Katrina was that wrong storm. I don't think any of my coworkers understood my obsession when Katrina hit. To them it was an impersonal tragedy. In some cases, it was a place they had never been. To me, it was a personal horror.

The roof of The Superdome had been my guidepost to help me remember when to get over for the exit to my hotel. Pieces of Interstate 10, which I cursed as I drove into New Orleans were now floating in Lake Ponchatrain. It was the pictures of water six feet deep on Canal Street, knowing that our hotel was just 2 blocks off Canal.

It was a horrible human tragedy that made me wonder about the people we had spoke with while we were there. Did the kind taxi driver, who picked us up that evening I was too tired to continue walking and who was technically done with his work day when he stopped, get out before the hurricane hit?

Did the street performer who helped manage an apartment complex with his girlfriend stay in the Quarter for the whole storm? Were they suffering without air conditioning and water? And, because somehow, it seemed like the thing I couldn't get off my mind, did the penguins at the Aquarium of the Americas survive? I spent a week searching websites to find out the fate of those penguins. I might not have been able to check up on the people I had encountered in this beloved city, but I could check on the animals. I cried when I read that the penguins survived.

A year later, the Aquarium is reopened now. Some of the tropical species died in the hurricane, but the penguins made it through. The Aquarium is a wonderful stop and a relaxing atmosphere in this vibrant city. Another place not to be missed. If you do happen by, tell the penguins "hi" for me. I won't wait another decade to come back to see, but I will make sure to plan my trip before the start of hurricane season.