What a weekend. Jam-packed, non-stop, and mostly fun.
Left town Saturday and headed down to I-10. I've been there since but this was my first time driving into Louisiana and seeing how bad it was on lower Mississippi and SE Louisiana.
We arrived around 5:30 and went to Alex's cousin's 5th birthday party. It was at one of these kiddie party places, so Alex got to run around a little and get some pent-up energy out.
We got to the Hilton Riverside just at sundown. They've done an amazing job getting it back to being even better than it was a year ago. After a quiet dinner, I decided to make my initial trip to the Harrah's across the street.
I stop along the way at the mayoral victory party for Mitch Landrieu, as it is also taking place at the Riverside. At the moment there are only about 100 votes separating Landrieu and Nagin.
As planned, I enter my satellite and we begin around 11:30 PM. As feared, I did not win, finishing 6th out of 10 when getting knocked out when my Q-10 loses to a Q-J owned by the bullying big stack.
During the satellite, it gets broadcast that Nagin has been re-elected by about 5500 votes. I've never heard an entire room of people gasp and curse simultaneously. I'm thinking the party upstairs just died.
I decide to go ahead and activate my Total Rewards card after I'm knocked out by playing on the slots for a little while - since I'll be spending a lot more time in other Harrah's casinos over the next few months. Thankfully, my luck changes, and after about 90 minutes of hitting slot after slot after slot I've now got a pretty good size pot to enter the hold-em ring games. I figure, even if I lose, it's house money anyway.
I start playing around 2 AM at a $3-$6 Hold 'Em table. About two hours later, I decide that it is time to sleep. So, I go to cash out - having doubled my chip stack. A very nice start!
On Sunday, we went back uptown to visit Kim's cousin's family. It went mostly well, aside from Alex picking up lots of little rocks in the backyard and throwing them everywhere. He's at the point where throwing things is quite fun.
After walking a little bit we head up to Audubon Zoo. Trekking through many leftover signs...
we get to the best sign we see during the entire trip. Gotta start early for November. It's about time they started electing people with common sense.
At the zoo, Alex has quite a bit of fun. A staring contest with a turtle...
...chasing peacocks....
...and trying to get the attention of alligators. Who think he's probably just the right snack size.
Since it's nearby, we go to Loyola University & Loyola Church. It took a bit of damage but is still in OK shape. 
Sunday night, back to the casino. I take my seat at the same table, same game, and proceed to TRIPLE my stack from the beginning (after taking some of the previous night's winnings and banking it so I don't lose it back). I start losing a bit, and try to enter another satellite. However, they are done for the night (this is about 1:30 AM). So, instead of going back to the poker table and grinding for another two hours to get up to having enough for the entire WSOP buy-in without a satellite, I decide to try my hand at blackjack. I figure I'm only about $150 away at this point. I'm really wanting to get in since the first prize in Monday's tournament is a lot of money (around $66,000). But I don't want to be up half the night trying to grind it out, then be wiped out before it begins.
I sit down - and karma slaps me in the face as a new dealer takes over. She should have worn the name tag saying Mariano Rivera. $125 later, I run from the table, screaming. I think the run of good luck is over.
Monday morning, it's time to start heading around town. We take Alex down to the Riverwalk, which is right underneath the hotel, so that he can see the paddle boats and river.
Next up, the Quarter. Definitely different walking through there with a two-year old. We walk to the Gumbo Shop on St. Peters and get to taste some great po' boys.
We follow that up with the part of the trip Alex probably loved the most....Cafe Du Monde and BEIGNETS. Mmmm....sugar.
One big difference between this visit to the French Quarter and others in the past - there's no people. Even on a Monday, it was normally fairly crowded. Not this Monday. It was crowded over the weekend, but there is NO ONE in the Quarter. Everyone left. That is not normal. Even driving through later that night, we are able to drive ON Bourbon St. That never happens. Ever. Not whenever I've been there. It is eerie.
We go back to Grandma's house Monday afternoon and evening, and then I head to the casino again Monday night. I go back to the $3-$6 table, but I was right, my luck is gone. I leave after about an hour. I'm not as well off gambling-wise as I was midway Sunday, but I did end up winning enough to cover the hotel cost and I left better than when I first came into Harrah's. So that's something. A nice warm-up for next month.
We head out of town Tuesday morning and, because we have not been down that way, we turn off at I-510 towards Chalmette and St. Bernard's Parish. This is where we see a lot more of the damage. Honestly, I don't know if this area will come back, given there was flooding not just from water, but from oil lines as well. Few businesses have returned, except for the port and refinery. No stores, eateries or much else is open. It's a sobering reminder of how much more is still left, despite the progress we've seen downtown in rebuilding.
We head out of town and finally get back around 11:30 PM. Just in time for a few hours sleep before going back to work Wednesday morning.
I'm glad we went. I'm glad Alex got to go to New Orleans. And I can't wait to go back for next year's WSOP. I also can't wait for more building to be done and more people to return, whether it's to live, work, or visit. I saw a lot of people Saturday and Sunday, but they disappeared Monday. I think they will come back, in time.
Now we just have to avoid another Category 3 until they do....
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