New Orleans
Tonight I'm in New Orleans at the Chateau LeMoyne. Those of us who study the work of Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810)--we call ourselves the Charles Brockden Brown Society!--get together for a conference every two years. I've been to three of the five conferences so far: Las Vegas in 2000, New York City in 2004 and this one in New Orleans. The first one took place in Brown's native Philadelphia in 1998 and the third one in Groningen, The Netherlands, in 2002.
I picked up a car at the ETSU Motor Pool yesterday (11/1) at around 1:00 or so and left Johnson City at around 3:00. I drove and I drove to Chattanooga, where I stopped to eat supper at a place called Glen Gene's Deli. The I drove and drove and drove to Meridian, Mississippi, where I stopped and slept at a Motel 6. I got to bed around 12:00 (11:00 Central).
I woke up at 5:00 Central and started working to finish the paper I was to deliver today. At around 10:00 I finished it up, showered and went to a computer store to print it out. The older fellow running the place, to whom I'd spoken a couple of times to get directions, asked if he'd seen Johnson City on his telephone when I called. He said that his wife was pushing hard to retire in Elizabethton. That's what he said. I figure if she wants it, he'll end up there before he knows it. After printing the paper at the computer store and eating an early lunch at a place called McAlister's Deli, I headed for New Orleans.
I don't know what I expected to see here--remains of Katrina, I mean. The last few miles along I-10, before getting into the suburbs and such, I saw lots of clean-up taking place in the Interstate median and along the sides. I wasn't sure if it was Katrina-related or not. But when I started coming into the city, I saw a lot of buildings--even a Wal-Mart--still boarded up and deserted. As I-10 passed through New Orleans suburbia, I saw lots of new roofing on the houses; then again, I saw lots of houses missing shingles and some missing roofs. I saw entire rows of apartment buildings roofless and abandoned. And these aren't even in the areas supposed to be hardest hit. Many areas still appear to be either abandoned or only partially inhabited.
By 2:30 I was loading my stuff into Chateau LeMoyne, and by 3:00 I was in the conference's second session. My paper was third in the third session, so I'm finished with that part and can now relax, enjoying the conference and enjoying New Orleans. "Images of Islam in the Literary Magazine" was my topic, and it seemed to go fairly well.
After the session and a little beer and cheese reception, I came up to the room, talked to the folks at home, watched CSI and then went to eat at Louisiana Bistro, just down the street from the hotel. Even on Central Time, this was much later than I usually eat, so I kept it on the lighter side--or so I told myself. I had this great little salad of mixed greens, a little apple and onion bits, some candied walnuts and a great sort of raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Some good crunchy bread. A dish of grits and pork (grillades?). Two beers--Arbita Amber (?). Some incredibly rich ice cream, well decorated with chocolate and strawberries, and a cup of coffee. The "lighter side" went out the window after the salad!
And now, to sleep in the Big Easy!
After
I picked up a car at the ETSU Motor Pool yesterday (11/1) at around 1:00 or so and left Johnson City at around 3:00. I drove and I drove to Chattanooga, where I stopped to eat supper at a place called Glen Gene's Deli. The I drove and drove and drove to Meridian, Mississippi, where I stopped and slept at a Motel 6. I got to bed around 12:00 (11:00 Central).
I woke up at 5:00 Central and started working to finish the paper I was to deliver today. At around 10:00 I finished it up, showered and went to a computer store to print it out. The older fellow running the place, to whom I'd spoken a couple of times to get directions, asked if he'd seen Johnson City on his telephone when I called. He said that his wife was pushing hard to retire in Elizabethton. That's what he said. I figure if she wants it, he'll end up there before he knows it. After printing the paper at the computer store and eating an early lunch at a place called McAlister's Deli, I headed for New Orleans.
I don't know what I expected to see here--remains of Katrina, I mean. The last few miles along I-10, before getting into the suburbs and such, I saw lots of clean-up taking place in the Interstate median and along the sides. I wasn't sure if it was Katrina-related or not. But when I started coming into the city, I saw a lot of buildings--even a Wal-Mart--still boarded up and deserted. As I-10 passed through New Orleans suburbia, I saw lots of new roofing on the houses; then again, I saw lots of houses missing shingles and some missing roofs. I saw entire rows of apartment buildings roofless and abandoned. And these aren't even in the areas supposed to be hardest hit. Many areas still appear to be either abandoned or only partially inhabited.
By 2:30 I was loading my stuff into Chateau LeMoyne, and by 3:00 I was in the conference's second session. My paper was third in the third session, so I'm finished with that part and can now relax, enjoying the conference and enjoying New Orleans. "Images of Islam in the Literary Magazine" was my topic, and it seemed to go fairly well.
After the session and a little beer and cheese reception, I came up to the room, talked to the folks at home, watched CSI and then went to eat at Louisiana Bistro, just down the street from the hotel. Even on Central Time, this was much later than I usually eat, so I kept it on the lighter side--or so I told myself. I had this great little salad of mixed greens, a little apple and onion bits, some candied walnuts and a great sort of raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Some good crunchy bread. A dish of grits and pork (grillades?). Two beers--Arbita Amber (?). Some incredibly rich ice cream, well decorated with chocolate and strawberries, and a cup of coffee. The "lighter side" went out the window after the salad!
And now, to sleep in the Big Easy!
After
posted by mac | 8:26 PM
1 Comments:
Have a great time! Eat some good cajun food for me...just don't over do it!
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