Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: US Trip

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Econo Lodge Homewood Birmingham)

    2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Econo Lodge Homewood Birmingham)

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    The bus that I had travelled on to get to the hotel wasn’t the cleanest, but it did drop me off outside and on time so I relieved to get there. Also, public transport in the United States is cheap, so it had been a cheap expedition. I was a little worried about this hotel in advance as I had read that they needed a cash deposit and I had spent most of my remaining money at a restaurant in New Orleans. The ratings are also dreadful and I only stayed here as it was very cheap, indeed the cheapest stay of my entire trip.

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    I had a wait of ten minutes before I could check-in as the desk staff were struggling with their IT, but everyone seemed calm and ready for their fate. The hotel is sizeable, but guests are allowed to look at the site map before trundling off to their room. There was a deposit of $25 which seemed ridiculously low to me, it’s apparently a cleaning fee in case you smoke in their room or pinch their bed. I’m not sure that the $25 would cover much, but they put my deposit on a card and refunded it the next morning, so I had no need to worry in advance about needing cash.

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    Here I am at my room. They haven’t gone down the route of buying numbers for their doors, they’ve just written them on with a pen. I was humoured, I liked it as it just shouted quirky, quality and decadence.

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    The hotel room looked quite tolerable in the dark. One of the things that the owners have done is put in new flooring. This is a great concept, but it was like I had done it, with bits not lying flat, some not reaching the wall and gaps in other areas.

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    The mostly broken hanging rail, not that I had anything to hang up. I just chuck things into my bag or onto a chair, I’m not a demanding traveller. There was an ironing board and iron holder, but no iron.

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    I admired the attention to detail here as this ceiling had recently been painted. There was no plug in the bath and I don’t mean that the rubber bit was missing, but the whole lot so there was just a huge gaping hole. I was a little concerned that a snake could come up there, so I ensured that I shut the bathroom door. I only spotted one cockroach, so that was good as others have seen whole bus loads of them walking across the room.

    There was meant to be breakfast included, but I knew in advance from the reviews that there wouldn’t be and I also didn’t think I wanted to eat here anyway. But, actually, I quite liked this hotel as although it was a complete dump I did sleep well and very cheaply. I felt safe in the hotel (not because the safety lock was even there, but I barricaded the door with their assorted furniture), the staff members were pleasant and I was quite amused at the state of the facilities that they were renting out. I also got the impression that they had given me one of their best rooms, so I didn’t feel hard done by. I was only staying in Birmingham for one night and although my expectations were hardly exceeded, I did feel that I got what I paid for.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Lovely Clean Buses in Alabama)

    2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Lovely Clean Buses in Alabama)

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    My bus turned up on time but we had to wait a short time whilst a cleaner went through the vehicle to sanitise and clean it. This photo was taken at the bus station immediately after that thorough deep clean. I nearly stuck to the floor at one point and the seats behind me had an assorted collection of litter on, but I was glad everything was nicely sanitised.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 27 (First Impressions of Birmingham Alabama)

    2022 US Trip – Day 27 (First Impressions of Birmingham Alabama)

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    I have more to write about Birmingham, Alabama, but my first impressions weren’t that positive. I think it is absolutely possible to get a sense for any location by judging the atmosphere, how people look at you and just how it feels. Staying safe when travelling relies on some awareness of the environment, so whether rightly or wrongly I do tend to think about my surroundings a fair amount. I left the Amtrak station and I did get the impression that people were looking at me. I’m not normally sensitive to that, I’ve visited 35 or so states in the US and the last time I felt like that was in Baltimore when I accidentally walked to the zoo through an area which wasn’t entirely decadent. I then went to a shopping centre on the way back and felt that the place was completely on edge, very much not a city at ease with itself. That centre was the Mondawmin Mall and a few months later it is where the Baltimore riots kicked off, one of the worst cases of disorder in the United States in recent years.

    Anyway, back to Birmingham, but having noted that I don’t usually feel ill at ease as I think that’s relevant. The sheer number of security guards was another sign, they were guarding the Amtrak station, they were guarding the Greyhound bus counters and then had a ring around the city’s bus station. The problem seems to be the number of homeless, not that they’re necessarily concerned about anyone being attacked, but because they don’t want homeless people using these facilities. I have further stories about this from later on during my time in Birmingham, but I didn’t feel entirely comfortable even walking the 100 metres to that bus station.

    There’s one photo here as that’s the only one I took, simply as I needed to get the information on the modern display boards to remember which bus I needed and where it was leaving from. There were power points at the seats, but I didn’t feel confident enough to get any devices out to charge them and I just waited not too far from a security guard. I was getting the 14 bus and although it was showing as operating 15 minutes late, I was pleased to see that delay decrease to the point where it turned up on time. There was an eerie quiet in the bus station itself, I never like such an obvious quiet when there are plenty of people around as that’s just not what public spaces are about. It felt like the moments before an exam, where there’s an element of nervousness. One of the security guards was outside shouting at a homeless person who was trying to come in, but at least that broke the silence. There’s some perpetual tension going on in this location as if an invisible force just keeps enough trouble going to ensure that there’s no moment for relaxation, maybe the staff now thrive on that.

    I felt oddly guilty sitting there trying to think of a way of passing twenty minutes without looking at my phone. The city had evidently paid out a fair amount of money for this bus station, it was staffed with ticket agents, security guards and it had modern technology and plenty of charging facilities. There had been investment here and the city authorities seemed as though they genuinely wanted people to be comfortable. There are numerous locations in the United States where much less effort has been put into the main bus station facility, so I thought that I should perhaps be grateful. Then a fight started outside, nothing major and it seemed to be two people who knew each other. The security guard went outside to look at it, but he seemed to decide that it didn’t impact on his bus station and so he came back inside. A staff member was mopping the floor, one of the most pleasant cleaners you could hope to meet, she was merrily chatting with passengers as she washed down the already clean floor, she didn’t mind when most of them didn’t respond. I got the impression she had decided to improve the general ambience, but had long since given up with whether the local characters wanted to engage back. I liked her, she lifted that bus station and I noted just how clean everything already was, she was proud of working there.

    As for whether I was justified at feeling ill at ease, I too often just keep noting how friendly, welcoming and exciting so many places are to visit. When I’m in Poland, or indeed countries such as Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and many others, that’s something I write with alarming regularity. In many states of the US that is also the case, but there’s a clear poverty issue in Birmingham and I only realised later on just how this city has fallen into a tailspin of decline and an almost inexplicable sustained population fall as residents are fleeing to other locations. Birmingham was the 36th largest city in the United State in 1960, it’s now 138th and continuing its decline. And so I feel justified, and indeed I’ll return to this on the blog, because if the residents are leaving en masse then something has gone badly wrong.

    Any local who happens to read this will think that I’ve lost the plot and entirely exaggerated that is a perfectly normal bus station. Like a child scared of ghosts, they get skittish and terrified when anything slightly odd happens, however explainable away that incident is. But then again, many of the reviews on-line of this bus station are full of negativity about the staff, the environment and the lack of caring. As a slight spoiler, I have to note here that this blog is most certainly not sponsored by the Birmingham Tourist Authorities. Strangely though, I didn’t entirely dislike it, I wanted to leave to get to my hotel as it was by now soon about to get dark, but I wanted to come back and try to understand why this felt unwelcoming. There must always be a reason and I wanted to find out what it was.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Amtrak Train Journey : New Orleans to Birmingham)

    2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Amtrak Train Journey : New Orleans to Birmingham)

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    I’m not sure that I’ll ever grow tired of these beautiful trains with all their complete lack of subtlety. The boarding process started over thirty minutes before departure which was earlier than expected, leaving me with just a little less time in the railway station building that I had expected. My first little problem was that I struggle to pronounce Birmingham in the way that the Americans pronounce their Alabama city, I keep trying to call it like the UK one. Fortunately, this didn’t overly confuse the rail staff and I just got an odd look instead which seemed a fair compromise.

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    Spacious seats once again, which is fortunate as the Crescent train was scheduled to depart at 09:15 from New Orleans and not get into Birmingham until 17:15 so I would be on board for some time. I have no complaints about the ticket price though which was $25.

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    I know that I witter on about the same thing on every Amtrak train post, but the space that they give passengers is truly admirable. The guards were personable and helpful, although once they’d checked my ticket and reminded me my stop was coming up next there wasn’t much more interaction needed. It was a quiet service as well, there was never anyone sitting next to me and many of the seats remained empty.

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    Leaving Lousiana. Once again, I had all that I needed from an Amtrak service, namely power and wi-fi.

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    I was way too excited about this, a train journey through (well, on) Lake Pontchartrain. I’ve been along a rail line in California between San Diego and Los Angeles which goes along the beach, but I’m not sure I’ve been transported over a lake like this.

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    An engineering triumph, I was on the Pontchartrain Bridge which at 5.8 miles long was apparently the longest rail bridge over water in the world for some time and that record has only recently been beaten.

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    A train service where you’re watching people fishing from their boat is definitely a little bit special.

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    And here’s a little video. It’s the same on the other side of the train as well, there’s not land to the side, this is right through a lake.

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    I’m not a train heritage expert, but this might need a little bit of work.

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    Arriving safely, and on time, into Birmingham, Alabama. This was also my first visit to the state and I was entirely unsure what to expect from the city. I’d note here that I didn’t take any photos of the railway station as I didn’t feel comfortable doing so for safety reasons, which tells its own story.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 27 (New Orleans Amtrak Station)

    2022 US Trip – Day 27 (New Orleans Amtrak Station)

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    This is the sculpture outside of the New Orleans Amtrak railway station which made me quite fancy a large bag of liquorice allsorts.

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    I’ve just spent a little too long wondering whether that’s the moon or some mark on my phone camera, but I won’t digress there. This is the Union Amtrak railway station and Amtrak coach station in New Orleans and that’s a traditional American beauty of a construction. It was opened in 1954 at a time when it was the heart of long-distance public transportation, but then cheaper air travel came along. Although the decline of the railroads was already inevitable at this stage because of greater car ownership and this station replaced five others in the city, but there’s still an air of confidence and self-belief about it. Incidentally, the decision to knock the other stations down in the 1950s is though perhaps something of a mistake, they could have been repurposed and their grandeur maintained.

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    The interior harks back to another time, but this should be cherished for its under-stated glamour and I hope that they don’t try and modernise this too much. The seating seems wrong though, although I can’t find some older photos but perhaps they would have had some tall back wooden seats there originally. The murals by Conrad Albrizio are from the opening of the railway station and they depict the history of Louisiana.

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    I can think of very few railway stations where there aren’t automated electronic boards. The staff at New Orleans have no such luxury, but what is perhaps the most sad about this is just how few trains there are operating from the station. Despite my previous comments, I do accept that this board could be just a little bit modernised.

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    Quiet chatter and a tangible sense of anticipation of this sort can only be found in these distinctly unbusy Amtrak stations. I of course very much like the grandeur of the large stone railway stations such as in Chicago Union Station and the modern and shiny railway stations such as in New York Moynihan, but this speaks to a specific period of the history of the US, it’s all just very 1950s.

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    After sitting down for around twenty minutes I was surprised to hear that they were boarding my train to Birmingham, Alabama early. I’m not sure that I’ll be returning to New Orleans for a fourth time any time soon given its new status as one of the most dangerous cities in the country, but I hope I’ll get to see its railway station at some point just to check they haven’t changed it too much. But one of the advantages with stations such as this is that it’s unlikely that there will ever be a big enough surge in passenger numbers to justify knocking it down to create anything else.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Plaza Tower in New Orleans)

    2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Plaza Tower in New Orleans)

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    This delightful building was once really quite something, completed in 1969 and at the time the tallest building in New Orleans and Louisiana. Although there were a few residential floors at the top when it was constructed they had been turned back into offices by the early 1980s. It might have looked to be an almost luxurious working environment, but the building was riddled with asbestos, damp and mould by the end of the century, which wasn’t seen as ideal. In 2002, the final workers left the tower and there were plans to turn it into a residential building to be proud of.

    There were plenty of plans and this was going to be a high-end residential structure once reconstructed, especially after the project to remove the asbestos and other things such as toxic mould which residents probably wouldn’t want in the corner of their apartment. This was all going well until the development company went bust in 2007 when the global economy deteriorated badly. It went on the market for over $15 million in 2010 and sold at auction the following year for $650,000. Bearing in mind they had expected to sell each flat for not much less than that, someone took a huge loss on this. But, what on earth can a developer do here as it’s likely cheaper to find a nearly empty lot and start afresh there rather than try and restore this mess of a building.

    And there the building’s history comes to something of an end. Or at least, until May 2021 when a large bit fell off it. But they added some protective nets to the top and re-opened the area once again. Then the building caught fire, more bits fell off and that’s why there’s protective fencing now around it again. Indeed, just this week another big bit fell off the building so it seems a greater area of land is now fenced off since I was there in October 2022. I know that it requires quite a lot of imagination given how it looks now, but I see the graceful plans that the initial designers had in mind. There’s another question from this, which I’ve seen raised a few times, about how skyscrapers around the world can be repurposed once their life span is up. Unfortunately the current answer is too often to raze the building and construct a new one, but that’s not entirely environmentally sound.

    I’m not brave enough (and indeed I don’t aspire to change this) to be an urban explorer of abandoned buildings, but these brave folks in the above video had a look inside. They noted during the video that it might be the tallest abandoned building in the United States, which doesn’t seem an unreasonable suggestion. It’s clear that many homeless people have used the structure over recent years, a tempting thought when the city’s homeless number is so high, but nonetheless it remains a dangerous building to be in for numerous reasons. I’m not sure what the future is for the structure, but it’ll take years of work and a lot of money to make it liveable and decent once again.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 26 (Curio Creole Restaurant in New Orleans)

    2022 US Trip – Day 26 (Curio Creole Restaurant in New Orleans)

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    For anyone carefully paying attention to the blog about this US trip, I’d firstly congratulate you on bearing with it since it’s taking me literally months to finish writing this expedition up. Secondly, for anyone with excellent powers of recall, they might note that I mentioned I had to get $100 cash out to pay a deposit in the Travelodge in Las Vegas. This meant that I still had a chunk of it left and so I decided to take myself out to a decent (I’d add my definition of decent isn’t Michelin, it’s just one step up from Popeye’s) restaurant in New Orleans and just pay cash to get rid of it. I had a lie down on my hotel bed pondering why they hadn’t put more lights in the room and deciding that I’d book a table rather than risk not being able to get in somewhere. I opted for Curio and it was relatively busy, but they didn’t struggle to find me a table as is evident from the photo.

    Actually, just to add some background to this, a large musical parade went by that window in front of my table just after I took this photo. There was banging, shouting and dancing, something I was pleased to discover was organised as until it went by I was starting to wonder whether there was a riot taking place. It’s New Orleans though, it’s part of the atmosphere. The dancing and parades I mean, not the rioting.

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    As a starter, I opted for the fried alligator and although I seem to recall trying it at some random point in my trips to the United States I’ve managed to forget all about it. That meant that this was a fresh new experience and this dish surprised and delighted me. The portion size was generous and indeed more than the photo suggests, with the batter being light and melting in the mouth whilst also retaining an initial bite. The alligator was tender and I’m going to have to roll out the trite explanation of the taste insomuch as it was like fishy chicken. There was a spicy pepper jelly and a lime mayo to dip the alligator in and these were both smooth and tasty in their own right, although I did try the spicy bottled sauce which they brought over. When the staff weren’t looking I used my finger to finish up both of them. I never claimed to be classy. I had anticipated the alligator being rather more chewy, so this was all a pleasant dining experience.

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    This is the restaurant’s ‘Taste of New Orleans’ selection and you can order any three of the dishes, or indeed all four which I did. I’m never very good at choosing in situations such as this, as it would mean missing out. There’s some bread provided, although ideally there might have been a little more, with generous portions of each of the four dishes. On the left is the Creole Jambalaya and this felt authentic with the Cajun smoked andouille sausage, chicken in a rich sauce and this was also perhaps my favourite of the four. Next is the Crawfish Étouffée which was like a broth with rice served on top and then there’s the duck andouille & black-eyed pea gumbo, which had tender meat and a hearty feel to the sauce. The final dish on the right is the red beans and rice, a much thicker arrangement than I had expected, but there were some spicy flavours to it. There were no disappointments here.

    Not the cheapest of meals, but the quality was high and it was as much food as I would have wanted, with the advantage that I had been able to try numerous local cuisines within two courses. I’ve sampled this cuisine before during previous New Orleans trips, but the highlight of this evening was the starter of the fried alligator. Indeed, I would make this at home, but I’m not convinced that the local Aldi sells alligator. The beer was the Blackened Voodoo from the local Faubourg Brewing Co, which was a creditable dark lager, or effectively a German dunkel. It was pleasant and smooth rather than offering any voodoo hidden secrets and I’ve discovered that dunkels go well with alligator. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to try that food and beer pairing again, but never say never.

    The service was timely, the server was personable and engaging, with the dining environment being clean and comfortable. There was frequent yelling and other random noises taking place outside, but inside felt a little bastion of calm. I don’t deny that there are more authentic restaurants in New Orleans, but this met the requirements that I had been looking for and it also handily meant that I had used the bulk of my cash up.

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    With the meal done, I had a little walk around New Orleans and along the river, but there are limited photos as I hardly dared take my phone out of my pocket. But here’s one of the city’s famous streetcars.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 26 (Pelham Hotel in New Orleans)

    2022 US Trip – Day 26 (Pelham Hotel in New Orleans)

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    Other than for the airport hotel of the previous evening, I was only staying in New Orleans for the one evening so I didn’t want to traipse too far from the city centre, although the prices for hotels were getting a little expensive so what I wanted and what I was going to get didn’t necessarily collide. Fortunately, there was the compromise of a boutique hotel which seemed entirely acceptable with the limitation that the room didn’t have any windows. I can work with that though, it was well reviewed and seemed reasonable.

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    The high ceilings ensured that the room didn’t feel claustrophobic with the lack of windows and I was able to get the temperature down to a suitably chilled level. It felt more snug and cosy than in one of the Easy Hotel operations where they’ve put guests in a cupboard, although this was as bright as I could get the room as it wasn’t bestowed with an exotic array of lights. I’m not suggesting that they need to put spotlights pointing towards the bed, but preparing a coffee was mostly a procedure completed in the dark.

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    Plenty of hotels offer coffee pods to use in their machines, although I can’t recall having a tea pod before. I think I must have lived a sheltered life or something like that.

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    There were some decadent soaps and a sign noting that if any guest were to pinch them, or take them home to enjoy as hotels say, there was quite a price tag to them. I’m not an interior designer, but the hotel felt to me as if some considerable care, thought and indeed competence had been put into the design. I think they’re quite proud of what they’ve done and I’d say that was entirely reasonable.

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    I’m not sure that I really understood the artwork, but it didn’t fill me with joy and delight. Perhaps I was being too excitable when praising the internal decor, this felt like flames engulfing a child. I accept that New Orleans does things very differently, but that’s excessive even for the voodoo capital of Louisiana. The hotel doesn’t offer breakfast, but there is a neighbouring outlet of the popular Ruby Slipper Cafe and there’s some tie-in available to ensure that guests can get a table. It all looked a bit expensive to me, but it’s a convenient option for guests.

    The reviews for the hotel are generally positive, but I noted this one from a few weeks ago:

    “The Desk Clerk does not secure the guest’s car keys at the front desk. I checked-in and handed my car keys to her for valet and went to my room. The desk clerk left my car keys unsupervised and on her desk. She left her desk and when she returned, the keys and the car were gone. Desk clerk did not call the police but did notify hotel security once I dialed 911 to report the car stolen. I had to ask for the valet charge to be removed and I still had to pay for my one night stay. Never Again.”

    The element I felt most notable was the “I had to ask for the valet charge to be removed” which seems entirely reasonable since they managed to lose the entire car. I’m suspecting a problem with the valet arrangement given this review:

    “Not only was the stay not well which I reviewed previously but I have now received a speeding ticket of $160 from one the cameras in town and a toll charge of $25 mailed to my house. The date and time of the ticket was when vallet from Pelham Hotel had possession of my car. I’ve attempted to reach out a few times but due to the recent hurricane still no responses back by phone or email. Words of advice is if you decide to stay there, park your own vehicle because their employees are not responsible!”

    Anyway, I digress as I frequently do when reading on-line reviews. I found the hotel staff to be friendly and helpful, with no noise issues internally or externally although there seemed to be constant shrills of delight from ladies drinking cocktails when I walked through reception. This hotel forgot to cancel my deposit left by card and so I had to wait for it to fall off my card statement a month later, but to be fair I didn’t bother contacting them and just patiently waited. That was the only negative that I could really say about the hotel, I left in the morning being entirely satisfied with my choice of accommodation and it meant that I could walk to the Amtrak station for the next part of the journey.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 26 (Bourbon Street Drinkery in New Orleans)

    2022 US Trip – Day 26 (Bourbon Street Drinkery in New Orleans)

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    Excuse the lack of an outside photo, but for reasons relating to my last post there was no way that I was getting my phone out in the busy street. This bar is known for its craft beer and its live music, although it was the former that was tempting me having seen their Untappd options. It was busier when I entered, but I was served immediately and managed to order despite the music being louder than in venues that I’d usually visit. But it’s Bourbon Street, it would seem excessive to complain about noise on one of the country’s most infamous streets.

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    Their live beer list is on Untappd, but this was the selection when I was there and I can see that I took this photo just after tagging in a beer as my image (that I keep meaning to change) is visible on the bottom left.

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    And so onto the beer, which I think was $9, or at least I just gave the barman $10 and left it at that, so it wasn’t the cheapest drink from my US travels. However, it was a glorious beer, the Peanut Butter Korova Milk Porter from Gnarly Barley Brewing. Peanut butter in a milk porter is one of my favourite things and it was also infused with some chocolate flavours, being rich and decadent. I savoured this one for some time and it was a calm place to just people watch with that glorious knowledge that I didn’t need to be anywhere and I was in no hurry.

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    There’s the live music to my right and I understand that they not just have live music every evening, but also throughout the afternoon and early evening on a daily basis. That’s some commitment to music and it did add somewhat to the atmosphere, although it was a tough crowd and there wasn’t much applause or indeed interest in the performers. I imagine though that when live music is the normality in a venue that you forget to stop and applaud after every track, but it all felt quite authentic New Orleans. They’re proud of their toilets here, not something I know by visiting them, but because they frequently mention them in their response to on-line reviews. There’s something to be said for a busy bar in New Orleans focusing on their toilets. It’s absolutely right that they do, but it tells me something positive about the venue that they feel the need to highlight their pride in them. But that’s evident, if you pride yourself in the state of your toilets, on the cleanliness of the bar and the variety of live music, then such things as the beer selection and customer service are going to flow in the same direction and tide of excellence.

    Not necessarily cheap but they weren’t applying any cover charge to be fair and I was only ever having one drink before heading to my hotel and it was a delightful beer, so I left content and pleased with my choice of bar. For what could be quite a tourist trap they seem to be managing a slick operation and making efforts to have some decent beers. This must be a tough gig to manage given the size of the venue, the number of customers and the seemingly quite complex variety of drinks available, whilst keeping very high reviews on Google. I was impressed, it’s worth the money and this is how I like to think of New Orleans, as opposed to the rather negative things that are happening all around outside of this bar.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 26 (Crime and Disorder in New Orleans)

    2022 US Trip – Day 26 (Crime and Disorder in New Orleans)

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    In an attempt to actually finish the blog of this US trip at some point this year, I’ve limited myself to how many posts I can make about the National WWII Museum and have forced myself to leave it with the riveting text I’ve already written. The museum was a tour de force of US military involvement in the Second World War and an important tourist attraction for the city.

    I’ve visited New Orleans a few times before and it has been one of my favourite cities, but things felt very different in October 2022. The city is verging on lawless and although that’s something of a sensationalist line, I’m not sure how else to define a location which has become the US murder capital in such a short space of time. I saw a robbery in progress when I was there and fortunately sort of managed to get out of the way in my own style, but the city had a harsh edge that I hadn’t noticed on my previous visits. Reading the local newspaper today, they’re reporting that the city is suffering from “wanton violent crime” following yesterday’s carjacking and shooting of a cyclist.

    These crimes aren’t rare, New Orleans police reported that in 2022 there were 218 carjackings, 343 shootings and 397 armed robberies. Inevitably much of this falls outside of the tourist area which the police will be desperate to keep safe to protect the hospitality industry, but crime is now embedded there too.

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    The city is desperately trying to recruit more police officers as they’re operating at little over half capacity and they’re making more funding available to tackle this crime-wave, but it will likely take some time to turn this chaos around. The Wall Street Journal reported a few months ago that there is a crisis as some business owners and residents are leaving the city and the average 911 police emergency response time is 2.5 hours.

    If anyone were to ask me if they should visit New Orleans, I’d personally suggest that they remove it from their itinerary until the police can get back control at least of the central tourist area. Local tourist authorities are claiming that the city remains safe, that there is safety in numbers in the central core and that rumours of a crime-wave are exaggerated. I’d suggest that the crime map at https://nola.gov/nopd/data/ tells a different story as that shows crimes for just the last four weeks and there are murders, rapes, armed robberies and the like all in the tourist centre. It’s really not ideal and the Mayor of New Orleans has this week declared the crime situation as “a public health crisis”.