We're finally here!

Whew. That's all that we can say after a very long day of traveling. For most of us, our day started by arriving at the Rochester airport at 4:00 A.M. After a de-icing of the plane, we were able to make it to Atlanta on-time. Our 3 volunteers from the New York City area joined us at the Atlanta airport. We had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta before making our connecting flight to New Orleans.

Arriving in New Orleans was surreal. I couldn't believe after all of our planning, packing, and long day of travel, we were here. After getting our rental cars, we drove to Jackson Square in the French Quarter in New Orleans. On our way, we passed the Superdome, where many displaced homeowners spent anxious days after Hurricane Katrina hit.

Once in Jackson Square, our huge group of 25 split off into smaller groups, and wandered about the city. I went to Bourbon Street, saw amazing street performers (jazz, zydeco, tap) and took in the amazingly vibrant environment. Bourbon Street is the area that is famous for Mardi Grad celebrations. We ate real jambalya (sausage, chicken, creole seasonings, and shrimp). MMMM!

We then headed over to Riverwalk, which is on the Mississippi River. It began to rain a little, but that didn't deter us from going to Cafe du Monde to get some wonderful pastry/donuts! After getting to our cars, we began our long trek in pouring rain to Ocean Springs (1 1/2 hours) Mississippi where we will be staying. I think everyone is very excited to be here (finally!) and to be getting a good night's rest.

Tomorrow we will sight-see around the area. I'm happy that we made it safely and that we will beginning what promises to be a wonderful week!