Charles has his best night of sleep yet in the Hannah Montana bedroom. After prying him out of bed, we enjoy come coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde. Then we head south across the Causeway into New Orleans (estimated population of 273,000 - before Katrina estimated at 454,865) to visit my old neighborhood, Lakeview. The Causeway consists of two parallel bridges which are the longest in the world at 23.87 miles. They cross Lake Pontchartrain, connecting New Orleans (technically, Metairie) and Mandeville.
The house I grew up in is still there, and it looks like they have removed the water line from it since the last time I had stopped by. The house of my friend Chris, whom I had just met in Houston, is no longer there. His parents sold the land back to the government, and the house was razed. In fact, the neighborhood consists of remaining houses mixed with empty lots.
A few blocks from my old house is a sno-ball stand we used to frequent as kids. They were re-opened and Charles and I enjoyed strawberry/banana & bubble gum sno cones, respectively. When I mentioned to the kids manning the store that I was just visiting the neighborhood I grew up in, they expressed very little interest. I guess that could have been me 20 years ago serving sno cones - things must be slowly coming back in the old hood.
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