Monday July 13th, 2009
My phone alarm screamed at me at 3 a.m. Man, four and a half hours of sleep could never cut it. I had to make due for the 15 hour or 1000 mile trip I had ahead of me. Marilou, Jake, and I departed Chicago at 4 am. The road was straightforward: straight south through Illinois, a couple hours in Missouri, a few hours in Tennessee, through Mississippi, and finally into Louisiana. I drove the first leg and wanted to drive the entire way. Doing so breaks my previous 10 hour drive record. My goal of driving all 15 hours ended after 8 hours when Jake grabbed the keys from my hands and took the wheel. After seeing trees and farms 13 hours, the landscape transformed as we approached New Orleans. The farms disappeared and scenic swamps and lakes dominated. Interstate Route 10 stood ten to twenty feet over the serene water below and stretched for over 25 miles. It made me wonder how anyone could conceive putting a bridge at such an inconvenient location. Before long, we arrived at the Big Easy where Creole and Cajun cooking met jazz bands and warm weather.
As I cracked the door open, the 80% humidity rushed to greet me. It was around 6 pm, cloudy, and in the 80°s. We parked in the French Quarter and walked past Bourbon Street to a small restaurant called Felix’s. There we ate Blackened Alligator Tail, Shrimp Etouffee, and Jambalaya. The food was incredible and was a great way of introducing ourselves to New Orleans. We continued through Bourbon Street and treated ourselves to Hurricanes the size of your head. You could freely walk around drinking and wander the bars. This reminded me of Amsterdam, but an American Version. You’d be surprised how many people made it out to party out here on a Monday night in the hottest month of the year. The energy in the area was great, but we had to continue to our lodgings.
Sixteen miles away in Saint Bernard’s Parish was the Livingstone Church. It was dark outside and the thick sound of crickets filled the air. Here we met Pastor Rustin and entered the cool air conditioned room. While he showed us around, he expressed his concern of men and women sleeping together. He suggested Marilou sleeping by herself in a small empty 8 by 8 foot room. She cringed at the thought. Seeing her distress at the idea, he said she could sleep in our living quarters, but recommended she set up the Wall of Jericho around her. I’ve never seen the Wall of Jericho, but it must have been huge. Why? Because everything was huge in the bible. Before he left, Pastor Rustin warned us not to go to Bourbon Street because, “there’s nothing to see but Flesh”. I was a bit puzzled. While I did go to Bourbon Street I didn’t see anything I couldn’t on television. At the same time, he’s a man of God and obviously wants to guide in the right path. In any case, I decided I’d heed his warning on my next visit to the city. Exhausted from our journey, we slept at 11 pm in a well air conditioned room. We have a big day tomorrow: constructing housing for the Hurricane Katrina aftermath through Habitat for Humanity.
Tags: New Orleans, Road Trip, Travel, Volunteering