New Orleans

[FourAces]

Anybody been to NO lately? I'm thinking of taking a trip down there and wondering if the french quarter is somehwat back to normal? Or should I wait a few more months?

[kjun]

Somewhat, but I think you should wait.

 

the Cajun

[Guest DallasObserver]

I agree with Kjun if you're going to want to party stay way till next year.

 

- Dallas Observer

[+ ArVaGuy]

I'd wait a least a year before even considering a visit. My family down there tells me that things are getting better but its a hard slog. My boss went down last week to check operations in the state and he said its still pretty bad in some places. I am not 100% convinced its safe for tourists yet and would not go down for carnival season.

[Cruisemaster]

I live in New Orleans and I've been home since Thanksgiving. I would encourage anyone who wants to visit, please do. For starters, we could use the money. The tourist areas are mostly back to normal. The issue for a tourist may be finding a hotel room. But the locals would welcome you and honestly, the bars, clubs and restaurants need you. Strippers are back in some bars, sex happens in the Rawhide, and the baths are hopping, too.

 

Overall the experience of being here right now is truly like being a witness to history. The city was effectively destroyed and even now about 60 percent of the city is in such a dire condition no one will live there for a very long time. Large swaths of the city will require bulldozing. If you don't want to be confronted with this stuff, it is fairly easy to avoid by sticking to the Quarter, Marigny, and the Garden District.

 

By the way, sex is fantastic right now! I've not had this much FREE sex since I was in my 20's living in San Francisco. The town is about 70 percent male, packed with young men here to make a quick buck, plus National Guard troops, EMS, fire, and police from all over. There is a something in the air, perhaps the combo of so many outsiders just passing through, plus the locals who feel they've already been to hell and back.

 

Come on down guys! You'll be sure to feel welcome.

[bigguyinpasadena]

Wellllll I am a little torn up about this right now.

I watched a BBC report last night about the devestation of many parts of NoLa.

Sure the french quarter and some parts of the garden district are fine,they were really never touched by the flooding.But many other parts are still in shambles and something like only10% of the population is back in town-so the service industry is lacking the staffing needed to run the hotels,restaurants,etc...

Add to that the fact that what hotels are open are booked full with government workers and insurence adjusters so there are no bargains to be had.

But at the same time I do miss New Orleans abd would love to visit for my birthday in early Febuary,and if Cruisemaster is correct about the abundance of sex-well so much the better!

What to do?What to do?

[+ Lucky]

WWJD?

[BearDad58]

I have been to Mardi Gras in 4 out of the last 6 years. I made my hotel reservations last March for this carnival, but now cannot get a straight answer from anyone at the hotel if my reservations will be honored and at the price I reserved. Is anyone else in the same position of not knowing if their reservations are still valid?

[+ ArVaGuy]

Here is a link from today's (12/23) Washington Balde about the gay bars down in NOLA. The basic gist is that things are moving forward. However, I still remain cautious about visting right now but this article can give you an idea of how things are going for the gay nightlife.

 

Hmmm, if it was divine intervention that destroyed the city, as some conservatives asserted, then why are the gay bars making a faster come back?

 

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2005/12-23/news/national/nola-back.cfm

 

 

 

ArlingtonVaGuy

[BgMstr4u]

Maybe it's because God especially loves gay people?

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/9466/animateddoigiveadamn6in.gif

 

This message has been brought to you by the "Pre-LoneStar Posting Blitz Restoration Foundation".

[BearDad58]

>Hmmm, if it was divine intervention that destroyed the city,

>as some conservatives asserted, then why are the gay bars

>making a faster come back?

>

Maybe that was the purpose of the "divine intervention" all along. :9

 

The Blade article was interesting as it seemed to give the impression the city was packed full of FEMA and construction workers who along with the remaining locals were very horny, so it was possible to get all the free sex someone could handle.

 

While younger visitors may be able to get all the free sex they want, I somehow think that us client types would not be that attractive to the FEMA and construction workers, or the locals. Now if NO was packed full of younger guys who had no problem making extra cash with older guys, then I would be on the next plane down there.

[Bilbo]

VDN - The first time that I saw your little and I do mean little addition here, I thought it was funny and insulting. After that, it lost its humor and became merely insulting.

 

Have y'all heard that the two hardest hit groups of NO gays are probably the men who don't go to the bars very often (since they wouldn't have lived close to one, probably) and the lesbians? Since our sisters are more likely to have children, they were more likely to live away from the bar district, in places which were more likely to have flooded badly, and that now, since so many of the schools there are not open again yet, even those whose homes are again livable aren't moving back in as there's nowhere for the kids to go to school.

[bigguyinpasadena]

Well United is having a sale(fare would be $250)-may go for my B-day

[JT Brooklyn]

Bear..So True. Unfortunately It will be a long time before NO returns anywhere to it's original state. "Optimistic" is the only way to go, BUT the people living there now, have to deal with the Day to Day Realities of NOW! If Tourists do help fine, Cash Wise.

Sex wise, I am sure everyone is on there own. LOL :+

[JesusNYC]

NO WORKERS

 

Absolutely love MARDI GRAS,

 

Especially Marie LaVue's Voodoo Temple across from Congo Square, but the mayor was on TV and he said that the city can't house workers.

 

That Princeton guy, Paul Krugman was in the paper, and he said the same. No housing for workers, no workers, no one to serve food, make deliveries, if I go, I am getting a room near Baton Rouge with some friends just in case I need to get out of town to sleep.

 

Anyone hear about the Garden District? How did those home hold out?

 

JesusNYC

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[danknight2005]

Dan Knight 2005

New Orleans City Council votes official - Mardi Gras has been shortened to two weekends.

[danknight2005]

RE: NO WORKERS

 

Dan Knight 2005

To answer your question the arden District along St. Charles and Prytania Ave. over to the River did OK> It sits on higher ground

and has better drainage. Also the homes are more quality construction than in the poorer neighborhoods. I don't know if the street care are running along St Charles yet.