The Sunshine Empire

The world tour stop is coming to an end and as I write this I am driving (riding) through Mississippi on my way back to the great state of Florida. The trip could not have gone any better. As we entered New Orleans you could see lingering damage from Katrina five years on. From I-10 you could see the unused washed out old span crossing what seemed to be a potion of Lake Ponchitrane. You could see large shopping center parking lots, with no shopping center left. Though not as bad as I thought, near the 9th ward you could still see abandoned flooded out homes. The city center though is something to see. We stowed our things and walked to the French Quarter.

We met up with more family and headed to the legendary Antoines. The restaurant was filled with New Orleans history and charm. I had to have something with bourbon so I had my first old fashioned. The food was staggeringly good and we then headed toward the Hilton to see the last Gator walk of Tim Tebow’s illustrios college career. Urban Meyer looked stone faced and exausted. We headed to the Louisiana Superdome and watched a performance for the ages. At the end of the game, the Florida faithful were chanting “URBAN MEYER!” over and over.

After the game we walked down the spectacle that is Bourbon Street. By this time I had been drinking for most of the day. I went back to the hotel and crashed. This morning we went to another New Orleans instution, Mothers, for breakfast. I have to come back again to that incredible place. We’ve now made it to Pascagoula, and there are many more miles to go before we get back to The Sunshine Empire.