Four states in one day

This was a good day of driving - we hit four states in one day.  We started in Florida, went through Alabama and Mississippi and ended in New Orleans, Louisiana.  We spent Christmas here in the "Big Easy".  The different types of architecture in this city are very impressive!  The French Quarter has houses with beautiful iron work, and tons of character on the outside, while others are fairly plain.  Take Brad and Angelina's little townhouse (bottom photo, on the right).  It is very plain on the outside in comparison to some of the others.

Throughout the city there are huge differences in the way people live.  We saw areas that are still full of condemned houses, many that were burnt down.  We saw a few trailers parked on front lawns where people have been living since the devastation of hurricane Katrina in 2005.

There is a lot of reconstruction and redevelopment going on all over the city, but obviously there is still a lot of work to be done.

In the areas that weren't affected by the flooding, there are 

amazing houses from the era when families
made their fortunes in the sugar industry.  The Garden District has grand homes with amazing yards.  Seeing them all decorated for Christmas was even better!!! 

Out campground was in an outlying neighbourhood called Kenner, and was two blocks from the Mississippi River.  In this area there are communities with beautiful brick homes, right beside ghetto - like areas that don't seem cared for at all.  Very interesting in dynamics and cultures.  

But that seems to be the basic feeling in New Orleans - tons of different types of people, all working together, supportive of each other, trying to recover from a huge disaster that almost destroyed their city.