Sitting in a Starbuck’s in New Orleans

Well, I wouldn't normally be sitting in a Starbuck's in New Orleans. I like to support the great local coffee shops like  Community Coffee on Esplanade, Rose Nicaud in the Marginy, En Vie in the Quarter, or even the old tried and true tourist icon Cafe du Monde. But I checked into Harrah's Hotel  last night, and exited on the Poydras side instead of the Canal Street side, and found myself wandering around uptown- a new area for me. (BTW, New Orleans is probably the only city in the world where uptown in south, and downtown is north). I  walked along the River walk, and passed the thanks to Katrina, now infamous Convention Center, which is bustling with conventioneers. The Starbucks is situated on the outer rim of another luxurious hotel, the Marriott. Last night I exited the I-10  at the also now infamous Superdome exit. I heard someone on the radio say a few days ago that the decline of public support for the war in Iraq began with Katrina. Once again, New Orleans gave from its blood to this country.  It's my contention that the city has always given more to this country than it's given back. Would that they'd start now.

I am staying at Harrah's courtesy of good family friend Leora Gonzalez, who is sharing her luxurious
"stay-cation" suite with me. I had a much needed and fabulous night's sleep, after a grueling week of work, and day of travel across country- first flight was a half hour late and the second was an hour late. And regardless of recession, the airports were packed. Leora is comped the suite because she spends hours sitting in their casino, to which she treated me to a tour of at 11:30 last night. "Play the slots" she urged, " you'll probably have beginner's luck". We'll see…