Knowing how it is to be a displaced tourist both in mind and body, planning around a trip built
over months can sometimes be a heart-wrenching experience. Not too
sound cold or uncaring about the locals that just suffered a natural disaster, but boy it’s tough. It
happened to me three days before I was supposed to head out to Thailand. The tsunami’s came and ripped
through south east Asia. Next thing I knew me and my travel pal, were headed to Costa Rica.
When I saw this piece on
CNN I had to find out where all the folks who had planned months in advance to visit the city of New Orleans, opted
to go if they opted to go anywhere at all. A friend of mine who was planning to do a literary tour in the French
Quarter decided to stay home in Philly and wait it out. But even if you haven’t decided whether to go at it
out or not, the city is kindly asking leisure tourists to hold off on strolling the historic area. Some people
still wish to make good use of their precious and long-awaited vacation time, wedding plans, and business conventions
and those people are flocking to places like Charleston, Savannah, Memphis, Nashville, San Diego, Key West, and
Vegas. The city alternatives offer only pieces of New Orleans’ charm, music, food, party scene and cultural
activities. Festivities like Mardi Gras will be held on a smaller scale in February, whereas the VooDoo Music Fest
has been moved to Memphis as a benefit concert later in the month.
A good place to start though if your own plans got a little washed up in the Hurricane Katrina madness.