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NEW ORLEANS
Everyone knows about the devastation that Hurricane Katrina left in her wake in the summer of 2005. What I didn't realize, or had perhaps forgotten, was that the storm didn't hit the city directly but rather, the Gulf Coast in Mississippi. The real impact took place about six hours after the storm passed by and the city's main levee broke, leaving 80% of the city flooded. Arguably, Ward 9 (about a 10-minute drive from downtown) was the hardest hit. I spent some time there and even though more than two years have passed, the shadows of broken dreams still haunt the area. Most of the houses and trees are gone. The homes that are still standing are shacks and there are new homes being built but still, there's a definite feeling of sadness and emptiness. If I hadn't visited the outskirts of the city, I'd never truly have known and felt how hard this place was hit. In the heart of the city, everything appears to be just as it was the last time I was here, which was back in 2002.

IS NEW ORLEANS SAFE?
Is New Orleans safe? The short answer is yes. Everyone I spoke with said that a storm of Katrina's power and magnitude passes through once every 60 years or so and that, for the most part, the levees are fixed. (I read somewhere that they won't all be completed until 2011.) Some say that New Orleans has been getting some unfair negative press lately because of crime rates. According to Forbes.com, the city has the dubious honor of being ranked number 3 on the list of America's Most Murderous Cities. In 2006, there were 162 murders. According to officials, the problem is mostly gang-related violence and takes place on the outskirts of the city. I met with the New Orleans FBI (see video below) and their spokesperson is quoted as saying that the tourism corridor of the city, "is as safe as any city in America. Bottom line." I believe it. During my visit, I wasn't scared at all and I saw a lot of police all around the city, especially in the French Quarter.

THE NUMBERS
The good news is that the number of visitors to New Orleans surged in 2007. According to a survey conducted by the University of New Orleans' Hospitality Research Center for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau and New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, there were 3.7 million visitors to the city in 2006 compared to 7.1 million in 2007. Now that's a significant jump! And all indications point to the numbers being up this year as well since the city was host to the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, college bowl games and major conventions.

DID YOU KNOW? The population of New Orleans pre-Katrina was 426,000. Now, it's 320,000.

AIRPORT TO HOTEL
There was no line to wait in at the taxi stand and it took roughly 22 minutes to get to downtown, where I was staying, just on the edge of the French Quarter. Taxis charge a flat rate of $29 and I gave my Somali driver a $6 tip. FYI: When I asked if there are a lot of Somali taxi drivers in New Orleans he said, No – most are from Haiti.



ASTOR CROWNE PLAZA
I stayed at The Astor Crowne Plaza, which is located on the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets. Yes, that does indeed mean it's at the start of the world famous French Quarter. Initially, I was a little worried about the noise and I grew even more concerned when I reached my room and found, lying on the bed, a cute little red sachet with a pair of earplugs and a music CD (each room has a CD player/alarm clock). But surprisingly, I didn't use either of them and the only outside noise I heard was the maids yapping to each other in Spanish in the hallway. Oh, I almost forgot: Also in the bag was a night's supply of lavender sheet spray – I take it a lot of action goes on in the rooms. No wonder my bed was lumpy. Just kidding! The bed was actually comfortable, though it doesn't compare to the plush bedding at major chains like Marriott, Hilton and the Four Seasons.

MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES
The hotel is old, which is part of its charm but the bathroom needed some work ... the toilet and tub had scratches and it wasn't sparkling clean. Other annoyances were the windows were filthy and I could hear the water pipes from other rooms but it was nothing significant enough to deter me from staying here again. The main reason besides the prices (rates begin at $125 but if you use sites like Priceline or Hotwire you can get if for cheaper) is that the rooms are spacious and if you are a priority club member (sign up here for free), you get free Internet (normally $9.98) and free breakfast in the clubroom. Unfortunately, I never made it to breakfast, the rooftop swimming pool or the fitness center. What a slacker! The Astor Crowne Plaza, 739 Canal Street at Bourbon, New Orleans, Tel: 504-962-0500.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The hotel's location is ideal. It's just blocks away (an eight-minute walk, actually) to Harrah's Casino, The Aquarium Of The Americas, Riverwalk Shopping Center and it's maybe a 20-minute walk to the New Orleans Sports Arena and the Superdome. Just across Canal Street is a trolley stop that will take you to St. Charles for a mere $1.25. If you're a party animal, you can go out the back door and you'll be right at the start of Bourbon Street. Woo hoo!

BOURBON STREET
Historic Bourbon Street runs the length of the French Quarter and is probably one of the most famous streets in the world ... and one of my least favorite. I don't drink (never have and most likely never will) so hanging out with a bunch of drunks is just not my idea of a good time. Besides, this has to be one of the biggest tourist traps in America. It's home to a countless number of bars, Lucky Dog stands, restaurants and has a gaggle of strip clubs. If you've never been before, it's fun to walk down the street and people watch for the very first time but after that, it gets old and quick. Every time I have been, the streets are filled with stumbling drunks. This begins in the early afternoon and gets progressively worse with each passing hour. Most are college students, or too-young bachelor/bachelorettes, or even worse, adults trying to recapture their college days. What was even more of trip is that there was a pirate convention going on so tons of people were dressed up just like Jack Sparrow. The last time I was here was for Mardi Gras/Super Bowl so it wasn't as crazy packed as then and the streets this time weren't as dirty. But it still smelled of puke and rambunctious adolescents were still trying to get women to lift their tops in exchange for beads.

FRENCH QUARTER
One early afternoon, I walked around the French Quarter by myself, which was so peaceful. Obviously, I stayed away from Bourbon Street as long as I could and admired the architecture, the stores and spent time watching the locals go on with their every day lives (though I don't think any of them are French). There are plenty of artists, street performers and horse and buggies filling the streets. I then walked down to the Riverwalk and decided to see what was going on at Mother's, a few blocks away.

MOTHER'S
Mother's is a New Orleans landmark that's been around since 1938. It's a hole in the wall that serves good ol' New Orleans home cooking. Just like the last time I came here, the line was a good 50 people deep but this time, I was truly happy to see it thriving. This was a great sign that in some regards, the city had bounced back. I waited in line for 30 minutes, which moved quickly, and the food came out even faster. A quirky guy named Elvis passes out menus so by the time you reach the cash register, you know exactly what you want and are ready to order. It moves so quick, I almost felt like I was going to Seinfeld's Soup Nazi.

PO' BOY
I passed on Elvis' recommendation of the "John G" po' boy with debris (debris is the roast beef that falls into the gravy while baking in the oven). Instead I had the Firdie special; a po' boy packed with baked ham, roast beef, debris and gravy, served dressed (cabbage, pickles, mayo, Creole and yellow mustard). It cost $9.75 and came out within a minute but it was just okay. Waiting in line, I got to talking to two women who were also traveling alone so we all ate together. They raved about their sandwiches and that's saying something since they both work in the food industry (a culinary convention was in town). Mother's claims their ham is the best-baked ham on earth but it was sold out so the ham I got wasn't anything special. Mother's, 401 Poydras Street, New Orleans, Tel: 504-523-9656.

DINNER WITH THE JUDGE
I was in town for just two nights so I didn't have a lot of time to dine at all of the city's fabulous restaurants. However, I did get to go to dinner with my good pal Louis Di Rosa (The Judge). When The Judge found out I was in town, he gave me a call, then picked me up for a last-minute late-night meal. We went to Tony Angello's Ristorante, which is about 15 minutes from the hotel. It's near where the main levee broke so the quiet neighborhood became even quieter. It wasn't the same as I remembered; it was missing a lot of houses and those beautiful southern Cypress trees.

TONY ANGELLO'S RISTORANTE
Tony Angello's was closed for a year as it too got hammered but it's back up and running and the place is as busy as ever. Tony doesn't advertise so it's popular with the locals and a few savvy tourists who hear about it from sharp hotel concierges. I warned The Judge that I wasn't dressed up since I hadn't planned on going anywhere fancy. I should've known better. The good people of New Orleans dress up to go out to dinner. When Louis saw my jeans and sneakers, he suggested we go through the back door. The back door meant the kitchen, which was uncomfortable at first. The moment he opened the door the banging of pans and clinking of glasses that I heard from outside all came to a stop. All the chefs, waiters and washers just looked up and then when they saw Louis they smiled and said, "The Judge!" We walked right through the place like we owned it, then Tony came out to greet us. He couldn't have been any nicer.

TEN-COURSE MEAL
Tony asked me what I wanted to eat and I said anything but seafood, lamb, goat cheese, eggplant, mushrooms … He looked at me like I was from Mars and his sidekick Dale, the maître d', asked in a Tony Soprano-esque, snarky voice: "You don't like seafood or you're allergic to it?" I explained that I just wasn't a fan. Wrong answer! The Judge is obviously a regular and the two times he's taken me, I've never even seen a menu. But I do know they have a tasting menu, which consists of 10-12 small plates and costs between $38 and $42. Their specialties are shrimp with horseradish sauce and sliced mushrooms with olive oil. But Tony and Dale started us off with a steamed artichoke. Then came artichoke soup. After I told Dale it was delicious he told me there were oysters at the bottom and he was introducing me to seafood. Great. NOT! But I kept my mouth shut for fear of being a statistic in next year's Forbes survey.

MIRLITON?
We then had a Sicilian pasta dish with a sweet sauce. Again, after I proclaimed it "bellissimo!", I was informed that it too had anchovies and sardines – two of my most dreaded foods. I'm sitting there thinking that if this guy serves me any more of the fishy stuff, there's a good chance that the next case The Judge presides over, will be mine. Then, out came some southern veggie with a fried egg on top. When they told me it was called "Mirliton" (a West African veggie), I looked at them like they were crazy. They laughed and said with their thick Louisiana accents: "Folks from outside the state know it as chayote." Chayote? You mean the stuff you smoke? No, they said. That's peyote. Well, whatever the heck it was, it was darn good as well as the salad with shredded beef and the pork cacciatore. Then Dale decided to make us (himself) a special pasta dish with sausage, finely chopped broccoli and other ingredients that he wouldn't reveal to me (maybe because he was starting to read my insane mind). Whatever was in it, sardines, peyote … it was incredible, just like the entire three-hour meal. Maybe Dale did broaden my horizons and isn't that what travel is supposed to do you anyways? Tony Angello's Ristorante, 6262 Fleur de Lis Drive, Tel: 504-488-0888.

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