'Nawlins' (New Orleans) : Travel : mike.ewer.ME.uk

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Canal Street New Orleans was my first long distance trip in the US. Until this trip I had never seen more than the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and Chicago.

I was sent to Baton Rouge by my company Peninsular Technologies in 2002 to provide training for a major client. As it involved a 4-hour flight from Chicago it was a Friday-Sunday trip with training on the Saturday morning. Amanda came with me as we had vowed to never spend a night apart.

We enjoyed New Orleans! It was just a day or two after Hurricane Lili blew through the state of Louisiana, but the party scene on Bourbon Street showed no effects of the devastation that had hit parts of the neighbouring countryside. Much of the marshland between New Orleans and Baton Rouge was under water.

This trip was well before the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We really felt something for the city of New Orleans and if we had the funds available at the time we would have gone to help the relief effort down there. It is sad that a whole city can be swept away by a hurricane, hopefully the authorities will learn from this and build proper protection for the city.