An interesting day west of New Orleans

My wife and I changed some of our initial plans for today (Saturday).  We took a drive along Old River Road, east of New Orleans, to drive by and possibly see a few plantations in the area.  In the 1800’s there were many plantations along the Mississippi River where plantation owners grew cotton, sugar and other crops.  We did stop in and take a tour of the Oak Alley Plantation.  Throughout many years, there were many hardships that were suffered at some of plantations.  What help make the Oak Alley Plantation famous is the Oak trees that line the walkway up to the main house.  These Oak trees are believed to be over 300 years old, and make the Oak Alley Plantation the most photographed plantation.  Before Hurricane Katrina passed thru, these plantations typically received 1000 visitors a day.  Today, they may see around 80 to 100 visitors a day.  While we were at the Oak Alley Plantation, there were families from Spain, Norway and Turkey taking a tour of the plantation.

When we returned to New Orleans, we drove into town along Magazine Street.  There are many unique and interesting shops along this narrow road.

I met up with some old friends, and met some new friends at dinner.  We did very little talking about SolidWorks, which was refreshing.  My wife and I left early bevause we wanted to see Krewe du Vieux, a preview of Mardi Gras parades, in the French Quarter.  It was a fun parade, but we had to wait 2 hours for it to start.  I actually met up with 2 or 3 other people from Wisconsin while waiting for this parade.  I also saw a few people from SolidWorks waiting for this parade.

I hope Sunday is just as fun.  We are not sure what we are going to do in the morning, but I know we will be going to the SolidWorks World Welcome Reception, and the Big Game Party afterward.

We have arrived in New Orleans

Our plane trip took us thru Memphis, TN where we had to switch planes.  We had to wait an additional 45 minutes, before boarding, for the plane to be “cleaned”.  Upon arrival in New Orleans, LA, we picked up a rental car and proceeded along I-10 to go to Gulfport and Biloxi, MS as planned.  As we approached Lake Pontchartrain, we drove thru Eastern New Orleans, and noticed many houses, shopping centers, businesses and warehouses that were damaged by the flood waters, from the collapsed levies, caused by the storm surge, as Hurricane Katrina passed to the east of New Orleans, LA.  We also noticed some reconstruction going on in this area as well.

My wife had visited Gulfport and Biloxi, MS in November 2004, nearly 1 year before Hurricane Katrina had passed thru.  She explained that there were a number of floating casinos between these two cities, and most of them were gone.  You could still see the areas where these casinos were “anchored”.  We did stop in the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, in Biloxi, which appeared to be in excellent shape, and doing business as usual.

While driving along the Gulf Coast between these two cities, my wife and I both got the impression that the rebuilding efforts will continue as long as there are people committed to the effort.  You can see much of this now in seeing many of the homes and business along the coast line that have been repaired, or are near completion.

Saturday, we are planning on exploring New Orleans, LA.

While surfing the internet, before coming to New Orleans, I found this animation of a timeline surrounding the events of Hurricane Katrina’s arrival on the shores near New Orleans, LA.

The Stennis Space Center is located just east of the Lousianna/Mississippi state line.  This is where NASA tests all of the rocket engines before they are installed and used on space rockets and the space shuttle.  You can also find the SteniSphere Space Camp here at this facility.  You can catch a tour at the Welcome Center right off of I-10.  We are considering stopping by here on Thursday before we leave the area.