JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Greetings from San Antonio, Texas. Yee haw.
The last few days have been a complete whirlwind, and as I sit here in the heat, I’m trying to recall what we’ve done the last couple of days.
After a week in Orlando (capped by the Bruce Springsteen concert on Wednesday night, which completely rocked), we hit the road for the Florida panhandle, which was pretty cool. Drove through such locales as Gainesville, Tallahassee and Pensacola.
That’s when we crossed over into the Central Time Zone. So I’m now an hour behind of y’all. That’s how everyone talks down here by the way – y’all.
On Friday we toured the U.S.S. Alabama battleship and the U.S.S. Drum submarine in Mobile, Alabama. You know you’re deep when you drive around a bend and see a big sign that says … ‘welcome to Alabama.’
Then we continued on into Mississippi, with stops in Biloxi and Gulf Port – those areas were wrecked by Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, and we were amazed how bad those areas still looked. Some things were rebuilt, and some new places opened up (we had lunch at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Biloxi), but for the most part, the houses and businesses along the coast were ruined. It was pretty sad.
Friday afternoon we ended up in New Orleans. We were there before Hurricane Katrina, and we were interested to see what it looked like post-Katrina.
In a word: Bad.
Remember back during football season when the Saints returned to the Superdome and all the announcers went on and on about how well the city is doing and how people were flocking back to New Orleans?
Um, wrong.
New Orleans is a total mess. Driving in on I-10, we couldn’t believe the destruction. Neighborhood after neighborhood was completely destroyed. Houses were gutted. There were piles and piles of ripped up wood and medal. And perhaps the saddest thing was that you could still see the spray paint on the houses that were gutted, and a lot of the roofs were busted open where people crawled out to safety.
Which leads us to Saturday, and here we are in San Antonio – where, little did we know, this is San Antonio Fiesta Siesta Weekend. The city basically closed down for parades and a fair, and you can’t get anywhere. We were hoping to go to River Walk, but the only way there is to walk; no buses and no trolley service.
Hey, at least our hotel has a pool.
And speaking of San Antonio … that nifty photo of me staring at that ridiculous plate of food is at Lulu’s Diner, which is famous for its chicken fried steak. I’ve never had that before, so when in Texas …
Nothing like a crispy steak.
The second photo on this post is of Rebecca and Sarah at the famous Café du Monde in New Orleans, which is known for its coffee and beignets (like donuts, without the hole, and plenty of powdered sugar).
The amazing thing about the destruction in New Orleans is that the French Quarter was barely touched. It’s still a bit smelly there, and it’s not the cleanest area of all time. But you could sit there and watch people all day. Bourbon Street is nutty.
So what’s next? We’re off to Austin on Sunday. That’s the one big city in Texas we’ve yet to visit, so we’re going to check it out. And then we’re headed back east, probably Monday morning. Not sure where we’re headed yet; probably I-40, which goes through Memphis, which is one of our favorites cities.
Just flipped on ESPN for the NFL Draft, and I’m wondering why the Eagles didn’t pick at No. 19. Guess Andy Reid made yet another stupid draft-day trade that will no doubt backfire. And it looks like Chad Henne is still on the board.
I’ll return to the grind on Monday, May 5. Looking forward to jumping back in, and it won’t be long after that until the L-L spring playoffs start.
What’s up with the Sixers? Wow.
Stay tuned for more posts from the road …
