What is NOLA like now?

[yasmina27]

My sister and I are taking my mom on a road trip to FL this summer, to help her since the passing of my father last Dec. One of our stops will be in Pensacola, where some dear relatives live (unfortunately all BushBots, but for Mom will bite my tongue). I am thinking of taking a day trip by myself over to NOLA to 1)See for myself what it's like, and 2)get some authentic Mardi Gras stuff - that's my favorite holiday - I don't know why.

According to Mapquest, it's only a 4 hour drive. Of course, that's assuming good roads. Are all the major roads opened up again, or should I anticipate difficulty? I could turn it into an over-nighter, but would prefer not to.

Although I've already donated to the recovery effort, I would like to "contribute" more by giving some of my tourism dollars.

What think you all?

PS. Driving through the south, should I take the "Impeach Bush", "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam", "If You're Not Outraged, You're Not Paying Attention", and "Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home" magnets off my car? My 8 yo & 10 yo daughters will be with us and I don't want a road rage incident to endanger them. If it were just me, I'd just flip them off and call the cops.

[wicket]

1. I am very sorry about your father's passing

:hug:

[yasmina27]

2. Thank you

While dad was not in the best of health overall, it was a bit of a shock. It was only 6 weeks from his diagnosis with esophogeal cancer to his death. It's been hard, especially for my mom.

[drthais]

3. my condolences, and about New Orleans...

If you want to take a road trip
the I-10 from Florida all the way to N.O. is open and fine
as you pass through Mississippi
drop down and look at Biloxi and/or Pass Christian
you will not believe what you see...mostly nothing and debris
and folks trying to scrape it together
New Orleans itself, well
Fr Quarter, Downtown, Uptown...thats about it
huge swaths of the city are in ruins

if you have a friend to take with you, do
and from Pens. to N.O. is a long way for a day trip
if you plan on leaving New Orleans before dark
so you may want to make it two days, overnight somewhere (not N.O., no room to stay)

the stickers are fine
we are all pissed down here

PS: my dad died the exact same way
esoph. cancer, 6 weeks, very shoking, very sad

[Maddy McCall]

11. I am so very sorry.

So terribly sorry about your father's death.

I live in Mississippi, not but about an hour out of NOLA, and I visit frequently. I have pro-Dem/liberal stickers on my car, and I've never had any kind of an incident.

You'll probably be surprised how many pro-Dem stickers you see down here. On my most recent road trip (earlier this week) I saw two Bush stickers and probably a dozen or more pro-Dem/anti-Bush stickers.

At any rate, NO, you don't have to worry about roadway violence because of your stickers. As for the time it will take you to get from Pensacola to New Orleans--I'd plan on at least six hours. Traffic moves REALLY slow from Pensacola to the Alabama/Florida state line.

[lastliberalintexas]

4. You can leave your stickers on

There are plenty of people down here who have those and other stickers. Yeah, you might get some jackass Bubba in a jacked up 4X4 glaring at you, but not much else is likely.

New Orleans is recovering still, and there are some parts of the city that are still largely uninhabitable due to the lack of rebuilding efforts to date. But there are plenty of areas that, while not yet thriving, are at leass starting to bounce back. Especially the more touristy areas like the French Quarter or the wealthier areas like Audobon. Go and have fun!


And I'm very sorry about your father. It's never easy, even when there is such a dire diagnosis as esophageal cancer.

[Warpy]

5. I'd take 'em off when you park

because the world is full of right wing cowards who will key your car if they don't like your politics.

However, there are fewer of them every day, even in the deep south.

I had no trouble going the length of Alabama during the height of the Roy Moore fiasco with anti Bush stickers on my truck (although there was little any redneck could have done to that poor thing). I got no comments, no fingers, no thumbs up, no nothing.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. About the bumper sticker magnets. . .

I get really tired of stereotypes about the South.

I live in the South and the biggest Bush* supporters I know are Yankees who've moved here because there are jobs and good weather here.

You can find road rage anywhere. You can get your car keyed anywhere. If you want to be sure of avoiding that, you don't have bumper stickers/magnets that may piss someone off, no matter where you are.

As for NOLA, having just read a couple of articles about how many of the hotels and restaurants have not reopened and how Jackson Square no longer has musicians, clowns, and other street entertainers, I wouldn't go there because I'd find it too depressing. NO has always been my favorite American city but it's not what it was now and maybe never will be again. Many with money and power would like to turn it into a theme park.

[Poppyseedman]

9. Off thread rant

One of my biggest pet peeves about this place is the constant derogatory stereotypically assumptions that southerners are stupid and ignorant.

I lived in New York City and the Northeast for first twenty years of my life and wouldn't move back there if you paid me. I've been down south for 27 years and love it.

I work for a company based in NY and have to remind them all the time I'm not stupid just because I live in Florida. I had a VP come down to do some planning in my warehouse and he showed me how to connect a air hose to a compressor we rented with a pull back coupler connector. He didn't ask me if I know how to use it, just assumed I was needed instructions. I almost bit my tongue off not telling him to shove it. Crap like that happens all the time.

Some northerners are some of most condescending anal retentive assholes on the planet. They assume the world stops at the New York state line.

Rant done.

[Poppyseedman]

7. I understand your concern

PS. Driving through the south, should I take the "Impeach Bush", "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam", "If You're Not Outraged, You're Not Paying Attention", and "Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home" magnets off my car? My 8 yo & 10 yo daughters will be with us and I don't want a road rage incident to endanger them.

Despite the propaganda you have been fed by the MSM about male southerners, you know, most are redneck, racist, beer bellied, toothless, knuckle dragging, foul brained, neanderthals bushbots.

99.9 % of even the most severe bushbots would never endanger you or your children because of a bumper sticker on your car.

Geesh. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Maddy McCall]

8. It will take you longer than 4 hours.

Plan on six or seven.

[frustrated_lefty]

10. Condolences on the loss of your father.

Wherever you go, you should try and have a good time. Given your loss, parts of New Orleans may be too dismal, although the people of New Orleans could certainly use any dollars you care to spend there.

Regarding your magnets, I had several bumper stickers in New Orleans and never had any trouble. They included "Democratic UnderGround," "Bush/Orwell '04," "A village in Texas is missing its idiot," and others of the sort. Never experienced any trouble until Katrina decided to total the car.

[npincus]

12. sorry about the loss of your dad.

Have a blast in NOLA.... i'm going back when my daughter gets a bit older.