I tend to get a feeling about things, a sixth sense or something like that.  And while we were in New Orleans, especially certain areas, I had a really bad feeling.  A feeling like there was evil there.  It made me really uncomfortable.  And to add to that, I had a very strange experience that I cannot explain (and that my husband thinks I am overreacting about- he tends to be much more logical than I do): we were walking in the French Quarter on Decatur Street, and all of a sudden something took my breath away and I saw what looked like a skull out of the corner of my eye.  I turned to look and absolutely nothing was there, just the brick front of a building.  It was very strange and unsettling.  To add to that, we walked past several people who were obviously involved in the occult (or at least dressed like they were) and several Voo-Doo places.

Of course I can’t leave out Bourbon Street, which I call “Sin City 2″.   To me, a place where people go just to get drunk, party and go to strip clubs is not somewhere worthwhile.  We really didn’t fit in at all.  I would much prefer a place where I can see different cultures without being slapped in the face with pornography and drunkenness.

I did enjoy the time that we spent visiting the churches and other touristy places.  My husband and I both appreciated the hours that we spent in the car driving around Louisiana, from Baton Rouge to Slidell and even the Ninth Ward; although, the Lower Ninth Ward was a bit scary and heartbreaking at the same time.

So, Anastasia, I would recommend asking your husband to go to the conference in Honolulu.  I think Honolulu would be much more fun!

Lake Pontchartain is the longest bridge over water in the world.

It wasn’t a very exciting trip, but we did get a beautiful view of New Orleans.

We also drove through the Lower Ninth Ward,
which is the area that was hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina.

It was so sad to see how these people are trying to pick up the pieces, and now, five year later, they haven’t come very far.  After our drive through the neighborhoods in the Ninth Ward, I couldn’t get the images out of my mind.  I can’t imagine the incredible loss that these people have faced.  I have been blessed in that I have never had to witness firsthand such terrible devastation.  I pray that God will be with these people and help them to move forward and make better lives for themselves.

After dinner, we went to Sucre on Magazine Street and as we were about to leave, guess who dropped in:

Nicolas Cage.

He is filming The Hungry Rabbit Jumps in New Orleans, and we were lucky enough to watch a part of it being filmed the following day.  We were walking through the French Quarter when we saw this:

We watched them film a car crashing into a bus.  Exciting!

We enjoyed the French Quarter, especially the food.  We spent a couple of days walking around this part of New Orleans, but made the mistake of heading down Bourbon Street one night.  I can tell you that I won’t be doing that ever again; and I don’t think we will go back to New Orleans again at all.  For us, it was nice to visit once, but we’d rather go somewhere else the next time we have a chance to travel.

Since I had never really been to an area with a swamp, I urged my husband to go on a Swamp Tour.  He ended up really enjoying it, and with a coupon, I was able to save some money, too.
The tour took us through Honey Island Swamp, near Slidell, LA.

We saw several interesting places, including an area where, during Hurricane Katrina, the river broke through a forest and joined together the swamp and the river.  And “Bob’s House” was taken by the current out of the swamp and about a mile away on a riverbank.

We also saw a Nature Preserve (above) and the “Indian Village” (below), where settlers in the area found where Native Americans were living.  Their entire beach was filled with pearls because the Native American caught oysters, but had no need for the pearls and just cast them aside on the shore of the swamp.

Someone else really enjoyed the tour: