April 29, 2007
Kenner to Slidell, Louisiana
Into the Zone
So far, the areas we had seen along the levee trail and around Audubon Park seemed relatively normal after the storms... "the storms" having been several destructive hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast in late 2005. We learned that not all areas had been affected equally. It seemed the greatest damage had occurred North and East of Downtown New Orleans. We would pass into those areas before this day was done. But first, more pleasantry!
We started from Kenner, on the levee trail but this time headed East (again) toward The Big Easy, without any intention of returning West. The trail leads into Audubon Park and from there, we began plying the residential streets of New Orleans. Our first stop was an upscale coffee shop at Jefferson Avenue and Magazine Street. Stan wanted a coffee but since I already had my caffeine quota for the morning, I hung around outside and watched the eclectic clientele filtering in and out of the place. It was a beautiful, bright, and comfortable morning. The streets were lined with a mixture of indigenous and tropical trees, plants, and flowers that adorned artfully painted homes. I felt like I could spend some quality time here.
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We resumed riding again, eventually turning onto Camp Street, which we would follow for several miles. The surface of Camp Street was rough and bumpy but the beautiful homes and the flora along it had us looking around constantly and giving our cameras a workout.
Amidst our puttering and sightseeing, the cool morning began to give way to warmer and more humid conditions. Camp Street made a few angled turns but it led us into the heart of the city. It was along its length that we were welcomed into Downtown New Orleans.
I was getting excited as I had never been to New Orleans before. We were headed for the fabled French Quarter just as things were picking-up on this warm Sunday morning. We turned down Poydras Street, into lower New Orleans, where the Riverwalk, the Convention Center, and the Canal Street Ferry are located. We took a break and walked around through the area but didn't stay too long. We had miles yet to cover and I was anxious to see Bourbon Street.
We headed up Canal Street, toward the French Quarter, and to the famed Bourbon Street. Although it was still before Noon, the place was crowded and people were having a good time. We were biking on Bourbon Street!
After Bourbon Street, the aftermath of Katrina began to appear. We were headed for the Fairgrounds area. It was Jazz Fest weekend so people would be headed in that direction in significant numbers. We had turned left on Ursulines Avenue, which had lower traffic volume than the parallel Esplenade Avenue that led directly to the fairgrounds. The character of the surrounding neighborhood took on a more rundown appearance, the further North we went. After crossing under the I-10 Freeway, we began to see homes destroyed by the flooding and still abandoned, 20 months after the storm.
We could see other damaged areas so we cut over to the left and a little out of our way to Dumaine Street, where entire side streets seemed to be uninhabitable, save for a few rugged souls who were still living in some of these houses. We could see Xs on the doors with numbers signifying codes used by people who had searched the structures.
Form here we wended our way over to Esplanade Avenue. The Jazz Fest crowd was pouring into the area, which seemed night and day from the heavily damaged neighborhoods just a few blocks to the West. We took a break at a small cafe and did some people watching. The mood was upbeat as folks were anticipating a good time and some good music.
A bit further along, and still in the Esplanade Avenue area, we came across one of many above ground cemeteries. This one was more ornate than some of the ones we had passed by previously.
We made it to the Fairgrounds and City Park areas, then carefully threaded ourselves and our bikes through the crowd. There, we got onto Wisner Boulevard, turned right onto Harrison Avenue, and entered the Saint Bernard section of the city. It was like having a switch flipped. All of the neatly manicured areas disappeared immediately. In their places were properties that had sustained serious damage and had very little done in the way of restoration in the past 20 months.
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We talked with a fellow who was fishing from a small bridge, in what had once been a nice area. He was very depressed because his home had been destroyed. After having waited for many months, he learned the insurance company was not going to reimburse him enough to rebuild. Additionally, even if he could rebuild, homeowners insurance was going to be so expensive that he wouldn't be able to afford it. We felt badly for him. You could see that he was hurt, confused, and didn't know where to go next.
From Harrison Avenue, we would have to make a few turns because it doesn't cross the London Avenue Canal, directly to the East. The canal runs Southward, from Lake Pontchartrain and is only crossed by a few main roads. Our first turn was onto Hamburg Street where the stuff you saw on TV was still there on display. In this area, entire neighborhoods were completely abandoned. The homes and apartment buildings had sustained heavy damage. One house had a hole cut in its roof where people obviously had to exit the house and get up on top to be rescued. It was surreal actually being there. It was fascinating, scary, and sad, all at the same time.
Beginning with the neighborhood near Hamburg Street, things got a little weird. We were riding down several streets where homes were packed in close together but there were no people anywhere. It was creepy, to say the least. Even though he died in 1975, I half expected to see Rod Serling step out from a shadow smoking a cigarette, saying something like, "You've entered another dimension of sight, sound, and mind..."
After having made several turns, we rounded a corner and there was a car coming at us with a young woman driving and a young man in the passenger seat. They stopped and asked us if we knew how to get to Jazz Fest. They looked bewildered and a little scared. Since we had just come from there, I gave them directions like I was a native. After they moved on, Stan chuckled at my New Orleans navigational skills. I said, "Did you see their faces and eyes?" They were wide-eyed and looked like they were in that Twilight Zone episode where the city is still there but all the people are gone. As we moved further along, at times I too could feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.
We eventually made it out of the Twilight Zone, got onto US-90, and entered the community of Gentilly. Although some storm damage had occurred, it was comforting to see that Gentilly had many intact areas with people moving about. At one place, we passed a Drive-thru Daiquiri Shop. We don't have those in Pittsburgh. I was tempted to stop by but we still had a ways to go and were not sure exactly what else we were going to encounter or how long it would take to get to our destination for the day.
On the other side of Gentilly, US-90 opened up and was called Chef Menteur Highway, or Chef Highway, as the locals referred to it. We would be on this road for several miles, as it passed through some areas that were hit very hard by Katrina and the flooding she caused. We saw areas where houses had been swept away, abandoned boats that had drifted far from water, and more abandoned communities. A few photos of our ride along Chef Highway have been posted below.
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There was some beauty and peace out along Chef Highway too. We passed a natural area called Bayou Sauvage and stopped for a break. I haven't mentioned it so far in these two journals but if anyone happens to be a bird enthusiast, they are going to love Louisiana.
Chef Highway runs for a long way out to the Northeast of New Orleans but eventually this piece of land ends and a wide water channel must be crossed, by way of a bridge, to continue on. The area is called The Rigolets. Our bicycling guide, Jim, pronounced it, "The Rigoleze." There was a new bridge being built alongside the old one. I'm not sure if the old bridge was damaged in the storm or if the new one was a project already on the highway department's improvement schedule.
If you are on a bike, The Rigolets don't have to be crossed to get to Slidell but the only other choices are I-10 or US-11. Bicycles are not allowed on I-10. The bridge on US-11 is old, narrow, long, and heavily traveled, so we did not take that option. Our ride was, perhaps a bit longer, but it was well worth the extra effort.
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The ride for the day concluded in Slidell. This small city was also adversely affected by the storm but appeared to be getting back on its feet. We had a hotel reserved for the night, checked-in, cleaned up, and found a good spot to have dinner. Our waitress was a Russian lady named Katrina. She was excellent and a whirlwind as she moved about that place.
Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 119 miles (192 km)
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