Katrina Tour

[RSF Cruiser]

We took the Gray Line Katrina tour last week and would highly recommend it to anyone who has three hours to spend. The tour leaves from the French Quarter and goes up to Lake Pontchartrain, past the broken flood walls on the levee, and through neighborhoods that are well on their way to recovery, and those that are still in the beginning stages like the 9th ward. It was fascinating to see how the flood walls work and the amount of devastatician and now rebuilding going on. My heart goes out to the people of New Orleans - a year and a half post Katrina, and they still have a lot of work to do.

 

I sure hope the cruise ships stay - for New Orleans certainly needs the tourist dollars. Everyone we came in contact with thanked us for coming - they are very appreciative of how the tourist industry is helping them recover - from creating jobs to the direct revenue they get.

 

I've read on this board how some people are afraid to walk around - we walked all over the French Quarter at night, and never felt unsafe. The tourist areas are well patrolled and from what I could see, safe.

 

Many helped New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina with donations - now we can help by visiting there and enjoying the many wonderful things the city has to offer...

[map70065]

The Katrina tours are good. I LIVE here and really didn't understand the scope of devastation until I took one. I took another about a month ago and it's good to see how things are coming back.

 

Thanks again for coming and pass it on that New Orleans IS coming back and IS as safe as most big cities. The tourist areas are up and running and the French Quarter is cleaner than I've ever seen it.

[CruseKrazy]

We are much looking forward to returning to New Orleans and to taking the Katrina tour. We were last there in April 2005 and loved everything about NO - Jazzfest, Charles Street streetcar, food, Bourbon St., people, Mofest, Mayor Nagin etc.

 

Will have 3 nights to enjoy and bringing another couple with us.

 

This time would also like to visit the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery out off St. Claude Ave. Does the Katrina Tour stop there by chance? If not do I need a car to get there?

[steamboats]

Dave,

 

The Gray Line website

 

http://www.graylineneworleans.com/katrina.shtml

 

does not mention a stop at the Chalmette Battlefield. And I don´t see another tour going out there. You definitely will need a car to get there.

 

The riverboats Creole Queen and Cajun Queen used to make cruises to the Chalmette Battlefield. But due to financial problems the boats only do Dinner Cruises.

 

http://www.neworleanspaddlewheels.com/

 

The paddlewheel steamboat Natchez is passing by the Chalmette Battlefield on the harbor cruises but they don´t stop there

 

http://www.steamboatnatchez.com/

 

Gray Line New Orleans and the steamer Natchez are operating together. You can purchase combo tickets for a cruise and a bus tour.

 

steamboats

[spleenstomper]

Last I heard, chalmette battlefield was closed (the house maybe?) because that area flooded as well.

 

I googled: http://www.nps.gov/jela/chalmette-battlefield.htm The house and monument are closed from damage but the battlefield is open.

[CruseKrazy]

Thank for the info everyone. Will be taking the Gray Line Katrina tour.

 

As for the Chalmette Battlefield I found that the NO RTA No. 88 St. Claude bus:

 

http://www.norta.com/routes/88.pdf

 

Goes to within about a 10 min. walk from the battlefield:

 

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Aycock+Road,+New+Orleans&layer=&sll=29.950993,-90.074415&sspn=0.015989,0.028925&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=29.954117,-90.028238&spn=0.063955,0.172005&om=1

 

Love that early morning Mississippi air!

 

Dave

[jgmpuma]

We are renting an apartment just off of West End Boulevard, about eight blocks from our Katrina-flooded home, and the Disaster Tour buses pass by our front window several times a day. It's good to know that so many people are seeing first-hand what Katrina did to the parts of this city that tourists seldom visit.

[spleenstomper]

Dave, that's a "dangerous" part of town.. I would *never* recommend to anyone to take that bus or walk that walk. You're right in the middle of the apex of Katrina destruction and parts of the area are either deserted or have vagrants living in condemned housing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Ninth_Ward

[RSF Cruiser]

We are much looking forward to returning to New Orleans and to taking the Katrina tour. We were last there in April 2005 and loved everything about NO - Jazzfest, Charles Street streetcar, food, Bourbon St., people, Mofest, Mayor Nagin etc.

 

Will have 3 nights to enjoy and bringing another couple with us.

 

This time would also like to visit the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery out off St. Claude Ave. Does the Katrina Tour stop there by chance? If not do I need a car to get there?

The only stop on the Katrina tour is at a restaurant for a drink and bathroom, if needed. You are riding through neighborhoods the entire time.

[CruseKrazy]

Thanks for the advice and info Spleenstomper and RSF Cruiser - I guess I will stick to the Gray Line tour or possibly rent a car to get out to Chalmette ... if I am feeling brave.

 

The danger in the Lower 9th Ward and eleswhere in NO seems to explain why there were fewer people at Mardi Gras this year, why Carnival cancelled Triumph's move to NO this September and why tourists continue to express quisiness for this city.

 

How long will this situation go on do you think?

[spleenstomper]

Well, it is publicized that the killings are "black on black" (per the news).. turf wars, etc. Apparently dozens of kids aged 15-18 are moving back to N.O. with no parents and are taking up with others in the same situations and are living in abandoned housing. Most of the crime is happening in what is called "Central City".

 

So I still believe the French Quarter is safe... and also the National Guard is still patrolling the quarter. But Chalmette is outside of tourist areas. Chalmette is in St. Bernard Parish, and I think 100% of the houses were damaged/destroyed in St. Bernard. I last went to specifically Chalmette 6 months ago and it looked like a bomb exploded-- there is an area near the Murphy Oil Plant that was damaged by oil and the plant is now in the process of buying all of that property. The Lower Ninth Ward was dangerous before Katrina.

 

I have a house in the suburbs of New Orleans and I grew up there; my family is still there and I don't go as much as I used to. I don't mean to badmouth the city because I do feel like I am watching it die slowly. The one thing they need the most is tourist money and also for the residents to stop moving out (we moved out 12 years ago).

 

As I said.. I think if you stay in the CBD (Central Business District) and the French Quarter, you're fine in terms of safety. Just don't venture out from those areas and especially don't do it by bus and feet!!!

 

Truthfully, I don't think the city will ever be the same and I think it is going to take another 8-10 years before it even remotely resembles what it was like before the hurricane.

 

Definitely do the disaster tour. In my opinion, people need to see what happened and how long it is taking to get anywhere near the lives the people used to have.

[CruseKrazy]

Wow - you have really added some context here and I am really touched by the tragedy of it all.

 

I called the National Parks Service today in NO and they confirmed that no bus runs to the Chalmette Battlefield nor can you walk there.

 

They did say that you can drive there and that they have a makeshift visitor centre (trailer) set up on site.

 

The irony does not escape me. The Chalmette Battlefield is where two of the most important battles occurred in American history and now the field it is no longer ... available.

 

There is always hope for a brighter future. Knowing that our tourist dollars should help in the city's recovery is encouraging.

 

Dave

[spleenstomper]

You can keep up with the city on http://www.nola.com

 

There's a good article about coastline erosion today.

[map70065]

Wow - you have really added some context here and I am really touched by the tragedy of it all.

 

I called the National Parks Service today in NO and they confirmed that no bus runs to the Chalmette Battlefield nor can you walk there.

 

They did say that you can drive there and that they have a makeshift visitor centre (trailer) set up on site.

 

The irony does not escape me. The Chalmette Battlefield is where two of the most important battles occurred in American history and now the field it is no longer ... available.

 

There is always hope for a brighter future. Knowing that our tourist dollars should help in the city's recovery is encouraging.

 

Dave

One of the things Katrina has taught me is to see things I want to see NOW - not to put it off. Everytime I drove by Jefferson Davis' home on the Mississippi Gulf I said, "ya know someday I want to stop there - and now it's GONE. I also plan to visit the battlefield once it gets up and running again.

 

We did go to the Mosaic exhibit at the Old Ursuline Convent. I asked if they were going to open the convent for tours again after the exhibit was gone and was told that there is such extensive damage that it won't be open again for quite a while. This is the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley - very historic - and a wonderful building. I hate to see it shuttered for an extended period.

[dpomes]

Well, it is publicized that the killings are "black on black" (per the news).. turf wars, etc. Apparently dozens of kids aged 15-18 are moving back to N.O. with no parents and are taking up with others in the same situations and are living in abandoned housing. Most of the crime is happening in what is called "Central City".

 

So I still believe the French Quarter is safe... and also the National Guard is still patrolling the quarter. But Chalmette is outside of tourist areas. Chalmette is in St. Bernard Parish, and I think 100% of the houses were damaged/destroyed in St. Bernard. I last went to specifically Chalmette 6 months ago and it looked like a bomb exploded-- there is an area near the Murphy Oil Plant that was damaged by oil and the plant is now in the process of buying all of that property. The Lower Ninth Ward was dangerous before Katrina.

 

I have a house in the suburbs of New Orleans and I grew up there; my family is still there and I don't go as much as I used to. I don't mean to badmouth the city because I do feel like I am watching it die slowly. The one thing they need the most is tourist money and also for the residents to stop moving out (we moved out 12 years ago).

 

As I said.. I think if you stay in the CBD (Central Business District) and the French Quarter, you're fine in terms of safety. Just don't venture out from those areas and especially don't do it by bus and feet!!!

 

Truthfully, I don't think the city will ever be the same and I think it is going to take another 8-10 years before it even remotely resembles what it was like before the hurricane.

 

Definitely do the disaster tour. In my opinion, people need to see what happened and how long it is taking to get anywhere near the lives the people used to have.

 

Very well said! I used to live in Chalmette but moved to Slidell before the storm (we still flooded :( ). When I lived in Chalmette, I had to drive through the 9th ward to the CBD everyday, and it was dangerous then! I'm glad you warned Dave not to walk through that area because I was about to do the same thing.

[michigal]

We will be in NO for a day and a half before our cruise, and would like to take the Katrina tour. However, my family does not want to take the 3-hour Grayline bus tour. Does anyone know if we could hire a taxi driver to give us a tour? We would be willing to pay whatever the going rate is, but I wanted to make sure that it would be "appropriate" to ask a taxi driver to take us on a tour. Also, would this be considered safe?

 

We love NO, and have been there four times, and will certainly continue to visit this great city!

[RSF Cruiser]

We will be in NO for a day and a half before our cruise, and would like to take the Katrina tour. However, my family does not want to take the 3-hour Grayline bus tour. Does anyone know if we could hire a taxi driver to give us a tour? We would be willing to pay whatever the going rate is, but I wanted to make sure that it would be "appropriate" to ask a taxi driver to take us on a tour. Also, would this be considered safe?

 

We love NO, and have been there four times, and will certainly continue to visit this great city!

The taxi driver may or may not have been in NOLA during Katrina. Our Grayline narrator was a long time NOLA resident, so we got a lot of information on how Katrina was different from other storms that came through NOLA. Plus, the tour must change frequently with all of the rebuilding. In other words, I'd be hesitant to take a taxi, although others may disagree. The three hours went really fast - we were never bored.

[DETKZV]

I haven't visited the NOLA board in awhile.....What memoried this thread has brought back....we lived in NOLA until Katrina....it was a great town if you stuck with the safer areas...we miss the conveniance, culture and fresh seafood markets...I am sure we will be back to visit, but couldnt bring ourselves to remain there post hurricane....we have kids, and it was tough enoughh on them to lose all their posessions, we just couldn't put them thoughthe constant heart ache down there.

[CruseKrazy]

I am a Knights of Columbus member in an active Council seeking to help NO recover in any way I/we can.

 

I would be very pleased to meet with anyone between April 25 and 27 in NO to discuss any possible project that might help individuals or the community at large.

 

My wife is a nurse, I am a project manager.

 

Please drop me a line here if you would like to connect on this subject further.

[jgmpuma]

http://www.catholiccharities-no.org/operation_helping_hands.htm

 

This would be a good place to start.

[selucrey]

I am a Knights of Columbus member in an active Council seeking to help NO recover in any way I/we can.

 

I would be very pleased to meet with anyone between April 25 and 27 in NO to discuss any possible project that might help individuals or the community at large.

 

My wife is a nurse, I am a project manager.

 

Please drop me a line here if you would like to connect on this subject further.

 

You also might want to contact our State Office Administrator Robert Boudreaux for KC specific information.