Hello all,

Heartfelt condolences goes out to the residents, and businesses of the City of New Orleans. My fiance and I were there two weeks ago, August 23 through August 26. We wanted to take a short vacation before the summer was over, so I suggested New Orleans. He's been there twice already, and raved about the city and the food, especially the gumbo. Originally, we were going to come there the week of August 29, but decided not to because it would run into the labor day holiday. I checked the weather forecast that Sunday ( Aug. 21), and it was forecast to rain and thunderstorm the entire week. However, the only thing it did was drizzle for a second it seemed like, and quickly dried up because of the heat. While there, we watched the weather forecast so we would how to plan our day. There was never any mention of a pending hurricane, but the reports did mention of a hurricane that had effected Floria and Miami.

We stayed in the french quarters at the Bourbon Wyndham hotel. It was beautiful! The room was nice, and the staff was very helpful. From what I hear on CNN news, the french quarter and bourbon street received little or no damage. One of the many restaurants we ate it, Deanie's Seafood Restaurant on Annunciation Street, rates number one with us! The food was awesome! Talk about large portions - wow!!
Anyway, there is so much to tell, like the cooking class we took, shopping like mad at the Riverwalk mall, etc. More than anything, I keep praying that all the nice people we met are okay. I have the phone number of a cab driver that took us around. He's and elderly gentleman and was sort of like our tour guide. I've called several times to his home and his cell number, but to no avail. For sure I would love to visit Nawlins again, it may not be the same ever again, but the spirit of Nawlins will always be there.