Saturday, September 17th (Part 3: Mid-City)

My house is a few blocks off of Carrollton Ave. and Canal St. and one of the joys of living there is that there are so many things within walking distance. For the price of a five minute walk, you could get to a Mediterranean restaurant, a burrito place, a 24-Hour diner, one of the best seafood restaurants in New Orleans, a grocery store, one of the oldest ice cream shops in the city.... To say it's a great place to live is an understatement.

That's why driving around was so difficult. Businesses in the immediate area also didn't do so great. Major Video had its window busted and was no doubt looted. The Robert's grocery had its sign ripped off, probably a few blocks away. Lil' Ray's, the 24-hour diner, had more water than we did. To see the Angelo Brocato sign on the ground and the shop itself wrecked.... How many times did we get ice cream there?



It's a bit difficult to see here, but the pond at City Park, only a short car ride from the house, was still pretty much full. The N.O. Museum of Art fared pretty well, but it's also raised about fifteen feet.



Cars on Esplanade Ave. were worse off than cars on Canal St.



After driving around City Park and Esplanade Ave., we went back to take Jeff Davis towards Uptown. On the Jeff Davis / I-10 overpass we saw remnants of people living there. Chairs, ice chests, and garbage were gathered on the shoulder, along with this sign. Can you imagine getting put in a position to write this?



We also got to see a side of the Superdome most people haven't gotten to see, since the media likes to show the angle that makes it look like the roof was totally ripped off.



Next: Uptown