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New Orleans and back

chuk hell

chuk hell

I just got back from New Orleans last night! We spent about 5 days down there and had a blast. I also managed to pick up some local spicy products.

I have a lot of thoughts about the experience. My overall feeling is that NOLA is coming back but slowly and it's been very hard on the people who live there. There a certain sad resignation in almost everyone we talked to but also a deep sense of pride in the city they love. Katrina was a defining moment whose after effects are going to be felt for a long, long time.

Anyway, we ate some great food, made some new friends, visited old friends, heard some awesome music and generally had a lot of fun. Sure, you gotta watch your ass down there and use some common sense to stay safe, but it was that way for a long time before Katrina.

If you're thinking about going but a little worried, I say go, spend money and enjoy one of the most unique cities in America.
 
Had a friend that went down to work with FEMA to set up campers. Lots of pictures and very sad sense about the outskirts. He had been to the city and said virtually the same thing. I think that when everything is back it will be a much better place. It some sense it really needed a cleaning not the way it had been done however but repaired and cleaned and better levee's -- Fun place indeed --
Hurricanes are much better in a glass ;)
 
Hot stuff from NOLA!

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I guess they some people decided to start profitting off of Katrina...but I guess I can't complain, the cajun restaurant has hurricanes (the alcoholic drink) rated by famous NO hurricanes, and the "Katrina" was available 6 days after it hit.
 
My wife and I spent about ten days there in '98 for our honeymoon. We had the best time! We found this little joint...uh....Felix's. Wow..good eats there! We'd love to go back but, we spent a major chunk of change. Also, living where we do, it's a little prohibitive to drive there anymore.
 
DevilDuck said:
We found this little joint...uh....Felix's. Wow..good eats there!
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We had oysters at Felix's. It's right across from the more popular Acme oyster house but easier to get a table. Excellent food and service. My wife had the crawfish cakes.



dreamtheatervt said:
I guess they some people decided to start profitting off of Katrina..
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Yeah, that KATRINA HURICANE SAUCE label is certainly of questionable taste, but the ingredients sound good so I bought it. It's from the same people who make "Bayou Butt Burner"...so there ya have it.


The Storm was such an overwhelming, pivotal event there that it is everywhere and there's a certain sense of humor about it sometimes...albeit "gallows humor". One example would be the T-shirts for sale in the tourist trap shops: FEMA = Fix Everything My Ass!
 
I can see both sides to the off topic (peppers) issue, but if its in a certain area of the forum where off topic subjects go, then whats the problem ?

chuck - I would also see this topic/thread about new orleans as worthy of being locked, just like the rosie thread, is there a double standard ? hey its a political thread right from the start, you bringing up FEMA/Katrina/safty/etc...

me personal N.O. is a big waste of tax payers money & it should go down ! let the ocean retake it, I mean really what fool would build a city (or even live there) by the ocean under sea level where hurricanes visit often :cheers: & then people whine to the gov't that they didnt help them , when in fact their own state didnt take measures to prevent the disaster or prepare for the disaster. & then you have their very own people taking advantage of the crisis for their own gain, which in turn made the USA make marshal law to keep order & take away citizens rights to protect themselves because of some worthless scum trying to profit from the disaster.

I mean really, if I built a house on the side of a volcano & it blew up & the house got leveled & someone died, do you think I'd get sympathy ? :clap: same goes for people living by the ocean under sea level where hurricanes travel every now & then, I'm sorry to say it but to me its just common sense THATS NOT THE PLACE TO LIVE ! but yet they choose to live there :hell: I guess this is where the darwin awards come into play :hell:

& even when its been pointed out that its not a livable site, & to beef up the dams would even sink N.O. even farther into the ocean. right from the start its been 1 big pork barrel project that should be stopped.
heck in certain areas of the USA the USA buys out people homes/land so they dont build there, since its a non liveable area in fact, but yet some people just cant get that around their head that N.O. is not a liveable place !
 
chilehunter said:
I can see both sides to the off topic (peppers) issue, but if its in a certain area of the forum where off topic subjects go, then whats the problem ?

chuck - I would also see this topic/thread about new orleans as worthy of being locked, just like the rosie thread, is there a double standard ? hey its a political thread right from the start, you bringing up FEMA/Katrina/safty/etc...
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Not to mention the Government confiscation of fire arms, moving people into camps, blowing the levies, having rescue working and the people that rebuilt the city (including my Uncle that had to be exposed to these chemicals) being exposed to arsinic and othe natsy chemicals, the "charity orginizations" such as Red Cross that didn't pay any money to the servivers of Katrina (barring the fact that the official death toll of the Hurrican, Katrina, was 54 people, the actual deaths resulted from the blowing/"failing" of the levies, a major fact that most everybody looks over or hasn't even heard of). Ya, I think this thread could go very political.

But I held off when I read this thread last night, just like when I read about the "Rosie" thread the other day. But now I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.

:cheers:
 
chilehunter said:
chuck - I would also see this topic/thread about new orleans as worthy of being locked, just like the rosie thread, is there a double standard ? hey its a political thread right from the start, you bringing up FEMA/Katrina/safty/etc...
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Ai yi yi....


I was really hoping to keep politics out of this. I wanted to talk about the food and the people but yeah, I guess it's hard to keep politics out of it.

Chilehunter, I actually agree with a lot of what you are saying but the difference is that I have spent a lot of time in New Orleans and I love the city. I think it's worth saving. It's the birthplace of Jazz and probably rock'n'roll too not to mention an incredible food culture.

Yes, it's very dysfunctional and so is the state government down there and so is our federal government for that matter. In general, government sucks.

As far as being a pork-barrel project, yeah, true enough but it's a pretty complicated picture. Most of the honest working folks down there ( and yes, they do exist!) have not seen any of that fed money because their state government has it tied up in a mess of red tape. They've also been screwed by their insurance companies.

Hell, anyone with any sense KNEW the big one was coming so they have to blame themselves a little for living there. My friends who live there realize this and knew they had to pull themselves up by their boot straps and that's exactly what they are trying to do.

Hurricane fraud happens anywhere FEMA is involved ( it's especially rampant in Florida) so I wouldn't blame that on New Orleanians...there's dishonest people everywhere.


No that's all I want to say on the subject. I would really appreciate it if we can keep the politics out of this thread! Consider it a favor to me? Please...I really don't want to have to shut this down. I had a lot of fun there and I'd like to talk about the POSITIVE aspects of the great city of New Orleans...great food and music.
 
Dude...Felix's has the BEST stuffed flounder. Did you get a peek at their crab salad? It looks like two huge ice cream scoops of lump crab meat on a lettuce leaf!!!
 
DevilDuck said:
Dude...Felix's has the BEST stuffed flounder. Did you get a peek at their crab salad? It looks like two huge ice cream scoops of lump crab meat on a lettuce leaf!!!
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No, we just stopped in there for oysters before going to The Aquarium of the Americas. I did try the wife's crawfish cakes though and they were awesome. The food other tables were being served looked real good too. I'll defiantly eat there again.

Another fave spot of mine is Coop's Place on Decatur St. The jambalaya with rabbit is awesome.
 
Decided to fire up the smoker today ( it's been too long!) and I used near all of that SLAP YA MAMA spice mix for the rub on pork ribs and chicken.
 
I live about 2 hours away from NOLA and have spent most of my time there over the years... Anyway, I could tell you many post-storm stories that would make you cry.... Not just the crap that the media aired....I would say more, but someone will prob. knock on my door and inject me with some hab juice and make it look like an OD. :lol: Still, I wouldn't say it's fair to just write NOLA off.... it could be YOUR city next...your home.

Primo
 
primo - it couldnt happen here in MN to a point like new orleans, since far as I know none of our cities are built under water. & our state has laws on where you can build a house 1st you must have a accectable site for a septic system (if using city system we build citys above the water level :lol:) 2nd if the water level is kinda close to the top soil the county will tell you how far you can build your house into the ground & even tell you cant have the house in the ground it'll need to be a slab home.

plus if theres problem areas where flooding happens often or the houses were built in a flooding area (Ex. river area), our state/gov't will buy you out & destroy your home & will NOT allow anyone to build there ever again.
yes we still get some flooding in our state but it tends to happen to areas were older homes were built & with our laws nowadays its becoming rarer, flash flooding does not count since that could happen anywhere.

new orleans is a city that never should of been built where it is or at least to the size of it is now.
 
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