As Hurricane Gustav approached the Louisiana coast, I thought back to how lucky I was to have spent several days in the beautiful city of New Orleans just a few months before Hurricane Katrina hit in August of 2005. I really enjoyed my time there and consider myself fortunate enough to have seen the great city before devastation hit.

Laurie was attending a convention for her job and I joined her for some days of relaxation. Her work days were over by mid-afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to check out the city. In the mornings, I usually roamed around on my own, basically walking a different direction every day.

We stayed about a mile away from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. This is a spectacular facility (hosting about 95 conventions a year) spanning 10.5 city blocks along the waterfront. It is not simply spacious. It is beautiful and well run.

During the mornings, I checked out the French Quarter, the SuperDome, the lakefront art area and Harrah’s Casino. It was odd to see the French Quarter early in the day, when the wild crowds were not everywhere partying.

Together, we took a couple tours; one was a tour of hauntings. I am not a real believer in the supernatural, but this was an outstanding tour. I learned the origins of “graveyard shift” and “dead ringer”. Of course, some say it is simply folklore, good for naive tourists. Either way, it sounded plausible and was interesting,

The tour also pointed out the home of New Orleans royalty, Archie and Olivia Manning. Archie was a star quarterback for the New Orleans Saints in the early years in the 70s. Despite the team being horrible, Archie was excellent and the fans still love him (and his sons Peyton and Eli, current NFL star quarterbacks).

One of the best parts of our trip was after one of the tours. We decided to walk back to the hotel. We underestimated the distance, but we got to see so many great sites. We were very tired, but it was worth it.

Laurie was determined to eat some authentic New Orleans food, eschewing our cabbie’s suggestion of Harrah’s buffet. She eventually did find some good down-home cooking. Inspired by her, I even had a bowl of turtle soup (tastes like chicken).

We had our fortune told by some hipster in the Riverwalk Marketplace. I gave him no hints and I am not a believer, but I have to say he nailed some really oddball things in my life (past and future). Again, believe or not, but it was interesting.

We jammed quite a lot into those several days, and yet it was so relaxing (the Big Easy?). We really felt we experienced New Orleans. As the events of the last few years have unfolded, I feel horrible for the citizens of New Orleans, who have gone through so much. I also look back fondly at the wonderful times I had there.

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist

I had another post all ready to go this morning when I happened to catch the last segment of CBS Sunday Morning.

I’m not always in agreement with Ben Stein, but I think he was a great choice for replacing Andy Rooney, and he didn’t play his usual political harp or do his I’m-smarter-than-you-are gig today. It seems that with the big spate of foreclosures, or of people abandoning their homes in advance of foreclosure, or just not being able to pay the mortgage and giving up, there’s a new category of victim: foreclosure dogs and cats.

There are so many animals in this category–being left behind for realtors or bank personnel to find, sometimes with a dish and food and water and maybe a leash and some toys, and sometimes with nothing–that animal shelters have established this new category of pets up for adoption, foreclosure dogs and cats.

I can understand that people may have to part with their pets–moving in with family that’s allergic or already overpopulated with pets, renting in a no-pet zone–but there’s no excuse for just abandoning them. This isn’t Hurricane Katrina, a run-for-your-life situation. This is just take-10-minutes-to-drop-your-pet-at-the-shelter.

Anyway–if you happen to be someone that was motivated to adopt pets after Katrina and didn’t get around to it, here’s a heads up about some more animals who need you. Quentin Tarantino might not make a movie about it, but it says a lot about unnecessary cruelty nonetheless.

–Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer

This past weekend, my family and I departed on our first family trip in probably 10 years. The trip included my brother and his wife, my parents and myself on a 6 AM Northwest flight to Memphis. The morning went smoothly and quietly, for me at least, as I slept the way down. (FYI - Bar Blanc in the West Village is a great venue for a date night).

We hit the ground running and then collectively slowed down quickly as no one else in the airport, or the city for that matter, was moving too fast! We were not on a time table, so we embraced the slower pace (a difficult task for my family who can’t sit at a dinner table for more than 45 minutes). Now, I could go on and on about the differences between NYC and southern Memphis, but the main point of the trip was to attend an event that unites the whole country - a baseball game!

It was the last exhibition game of spring training for the NY Mets. They were playing the Chicago White Sox in Memphis for a charity game to raise money for the National Civil Rights Museum. Prior to the game, the players visited the National Civil Rights Museum, which was formerly the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was assassinated nearly 40 years ago.

It was a star studded event with actress Ruby Dee and hall of famer Frank Robinson in attendance. Martin Luther King III threw out the first pitch! It was a memorable ceremony to be a part of and it was interesting to see the timeline they gave of baseball players breaking through civil rights barriers. History was kept alive that day and the game was a great way to further understand American history.

The only downfall was the weather, which was rainy and cold, but, of course, the Mets, decked out in a 1950s style uniform, prevailed. The history, southern hospitality and Memphis style BBQ ribs at Ralph’s Palace on Beale Street were well worth a trip down South!

-Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher