Journey to New Orleans

I used this past weekend with Joe to go visit New Orleans for my first time. When Joe went to Ole Miss for college about 6 years ago, he visited New Orleans himself. For him to visit it post-Hurricane Katrina was especially interesting - just to see how the city changed.

Overall, I didn't like the city. It was gross, dungy, dirty, sinful, puke-y, smoky, drunk, and a total redneck shithole. I don't understand why girl after girl goes there to celebrate her bachelorette party, or why so many people back at work were so excited for me to go visit it. But hey, I've been real good this summer about checking out everything at least once. With just one week left here I finally found the first thing that I didn't really like. I think there's something to be said for that record.

We rode the Amtrak down from Jackson, and the whole way down through the countryside we passed through shit town after shit town. Honestly, the closer to the coast we got, the more redneck and God-forsaken these towns got.

Jackson's train station.

Stop #1: Mississippi little town, Hazelhurst.

Stop #2: Mississippi little town, Brookhaven.

Stop #3: Mississippi little town, McComb. Also the birthplace of Jamie Lynn Spears's baby. The train later took us through Kentwood, LA, the Spears's hometown. Also a shithole. :)

The local 'sk8r' club in McComb, MS.

Stop #4: Hammond, LA. This train station was so "big and glamorous," they couldn't even spring for real bathrooms! Enter: port-a-potties right alongside the train tracks. [Is that my small intestines rumbling or is it just the afternoon train?? Shoot!]

Marshes of Louisiana.

Swamps of Louisiana.

Louisiana Spillway - a 40 acre something-spread that should have held the flooding from Katrina, but didn't. The train tour guide told us the dams at the southern end of this spillway were capable of handling 2.2 million gallons of water per minute........so much for that.

To space my massive influx of news more appropriately on this blog, other posts will follow about my actual weekend in New Orleans - as well as a project at work that I'm getting into that will surely make any girl say, "Hell yeah!!"


Well, if you're not a total typical girly-girl, that is. :)

P.S. Tomorrow is my last day of work with Bryan before he goes on vacation. He'll return only after I have left for WI. :( The good byes are officially starting, and it sucks. I am conflicted with where my life is about to take off to. I kinda feel like I've got two different lives, just both living in the same skin.

Alas, more entertaining posts to come - just on another day when it's not bedtime like it is now! (This week is CRAZY for me with all of these odds and ends that are pretty emergent for me to tie up, so I apologize if the blog, emails, text messages, or phone calls are not my top priority. Work has been coming first, and it will through my last day on Friday.) Hang with me - thank you!!