A Red Carpet for the Penguins

New Orleans is home to a world-class aquarium, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. In addition to human lives lost when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans three years ago, animals at the aquarium died, too. We visited to see how the aquarium is doing now and to learn about what happened to the animals. Most of the fish died, but the anaconda, the rare white alligator (a Leucistics alligator), and several other species survived. The filtration systems ran off of generators, but then the fuel ran out. The penguins had been sent to the Monterey Aquarium, and in May 2006, nine months after Katrina, Federal Express brought them back free of charge. The Aquarium rolled out a red carpet, and the penguins waddled along the carpet and back into their tank.

The hardest place for me to visit was the French Market. There were no local artists selling hand crafted items, no fresh produce, no spices... only tables and tables of cheap Made in China imports: sunglasses, cell phone holders, plastic wallets, plastic toys, plastic sandals, plastic, plastic, plastic. I hope that someday soon the market will once again host local residents selling authentic New Orleans items.

There is a sense of desperation in the city. Lunchtime restaurants have few customers, and wait staff hover on the sidewalk, aggressively asking folks to come in and dine. Jackson Square has only a few artists, where once it was home to numerous portrait painters, mime artists, jugglers and musicians.

To top it all off, just two weeks ago, the city suffered a severe oil spill and the stench of oil is overpowering as one strolls along the Mississippi River waterfront walk.

New Orleans was once a magical place, and I hope it can become that again.

New Orleans photos here.