the ride back to NOLA

I found it to be sad leaving the Mississippi Gulf Coast, partly because I liked the area way more than I expected to and partly because we drove along the coast, in daylight this time, the eighty-some miles from Biloxi back here to New Orleans and we could see the lasting damage that Hurricane Katrina did seven years ago.  Waterfront development has been slow to shake off storm fears -- empty blocks where something used to be, building-less foundations and twisted trees all too common now.

We've checked into our hotel in New Orleans, just a couple blocks off Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, where we'll say for two nights.  An exploration of a different kind begins.