It used to be that the last week of April meant the New Orleans Jazz Fest, but then Hurricane Katrina came along and ruined everything.

My son has been to New Orleans on business several times since Katrina and he says it is still a mess, almost nothing has been cleared away and rebuilt. Just thousands of half standing, abandoned houses for miles in every direction. They have fixed up the downtown and Garden District, but from what I had heard, the Garden District had almost no damage anyway, and the downtown was relatively easy to clean up and reopen, too. The problem is that there is no affordable housing to replace the thousands of homes that were lost, and no place for the workers to live so the businesses have trouble getting open without employees.

Haven’t had the opportunity to go back since Katrina, but if they’ve made enough progress to start having the Jazz Fest again, maybe next year I can work it into the calendar to go back and hear the fantastic music that New Orleans is famous for. I’ll be watching the news to see how this one goes, first. Or if you’ve been and think it’s safe to visit again, leave me a comment and share your story.