~Sunday~ See the team’s blog for today’s entry: A Katrina-focused Sunday amidst a Mardi Gras backdrop.
Some observations and memories that I captured, but did not put in the team blog:
I stuck my head in the second bedroom, where 10 people were sleeping, turned on that light and said, “It’s 8:30 and we’re trying to leave by 9:30. Please adjust accordingly,” and then added, “Oh, and good morning.”
Some sleepy voice replied, “What? No song?”
To which in reply I started singing that old Christian camp standard: “So, rise, and shine, and give God your glory, glory. Rise, and shine…”
Groans all around…
We didn’t know it at the time, but this morning was the easiest we were ever going to have finding a place to park in the French Quarter. Joyce and I parked both vans in the lot right next to the departure point for our 11:00 Katrina tour.
That tour was supposed to be on one of those old paddle wheel driven boats, but when we checked in, we found out it had been changed to a bus tour, since the boat was going out today for some unprovided reason.
The longer the bus tour went on, the more it dawned on me that not only was this the exact same tour I went on last year, but we had the exact same tour guide we had last year. I started recognizing his jokes, the main one being, “Yes, some of these roads are in horrific disrepair in the city, but I hope you know it’s not the bus’s fault. It’s not Gray Line Tours’ fault, and it’s not even the city’s fault. It’s the asphalt.” Badump-bump. We’re here all week folks. Try the potholes.
One thing that I found odd during this year’s tour was when the guide put in a DVD to that was made in the aftermath of Katrina. I mean, really? We could watch a DVD any time. Why would we divert our eyes from being there to watch something we could watch at any time?
While we were in the French Quarter, I stopped into Voodoo Blues and bought a few post cards, and Joyce bought some beads that had an NC State emblem on the end of them.
I thought about getting some beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde, but the line was too long for the amount of time I had.
While we were having lunch at outside tables, an on-duty cop drove by on a motorcycle with a big ol’ cigar sticking out of his mouth. Interesting.