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Earlier last month Beth and I trekked down to New Orleans to spend a weekend with my father-in-law for his 60th birthday.

(Long Side Note: Jeff works for HUD and is temporarily assigned to New Orleans. Needless to say, the government in general and HUD in particular aren't high on people's list of favorites in New Orleans. He's directing some of the operations there and, subsequently, he isn't high on people's list either. There's a lot of low-income housing issues and unfortunately Jeff is right in the middle of it. It's a shame that he's facing a lot of adversity and ill-will because he truly is a very good person. I don't know all of the details and specific issues in terms of what HUD is doing, but I wish him the best of luck.)

I'd never been to New Orleans, so I was pretty pumped. Jeff had asked us what we wanted to do and we told him we wanted to do one thing: eat. And then eat some more. Rinse, repeat. Well, we sure as hell did that. Seafood gumbo. Andouille sausage. Gulf shrimp. Crawfish etouffee. Beignets. Mmmmmm. Our first three meals in New Orleans were at Commander's Palace, Emeril's, and Cafe Du Monde. Sweet.

Anyway, we couldn't just eat for three straight days (although I tried) so we spent most of the weekend touring the city: the Garden District, the French Quarter, Jackson Square, etc. (in other words, the areas Katrina left fairly undamaged). And even though I really liked the city of New Orleans, there was a weird vibe everywhere.

Weird vibe? Yeah, or more like a sad vibe. Despite the fact that it was the beginning of Mardi Gras, the city seemed, well, quiet. Sure, people came out to see the parades, drink on Bourbon Street, and all that, but everything was muted. On our last day there, Beth and I walked a few blocks down to the Riverwalk--which is a long indoor mall--to grab a quick bite. Unfortunately, only about half of the 25 or 30 eateries were open. And as we walked further along, we saw the same thing in the rest of the mall: closed shops everywhere. Apparently, since a large percentage of the city's population isn't returning (or haven't returned yet), retailers are simply without employees--even the places that weren't touched by the hurricane. For a lack of a better term, the mall was a ghost town.

I'm not sure how I feel about all of the political and social considerations of reconstructing the city or not, but I wish I had visited New Orleans before Katrina. It's too bad.

And it's sad.