French Quarter

WASHINGTON -- President Bush made his eighth visit to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, meeting yesterday with state and local officials over a private dinner in the French Quarter to review rebuilding plans. Bush dined with members of the Bring Back New Orleans Commission, which was set up by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Also invited were Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who is in charge of all federal relief efforts, and Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore, who is leading the military's response to Katrina.

The only questions six years ago when the tradition started in Havre de Grace were why had no one thought of it before, and why did so few people show up for the first one. This year, the event drew a reasonably healthy crowd that was very well-behaved, considering the nature of the festivities, being a traditional last hurrah before the fasting season of Lent. The event, of course, is the Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Parade that came to full blossom last week on Bourbon Street in Havre de Grace.

NEW ORLEANS -- Which is pronounced "NAAAAWLNZZ" and is believed to have been named by the same guy who invented the name Krzyzewski, as in Mike, who, incidentally, happens to be in Naaaawlnzz this weekend, though he seems to have forgotten his team.In keeping with the basketball-hip spirit of the Final Four, I have shaved my head, bought a pair of plaid walking shorts Raymond Burr could wear comfortably and purchased a pair of sneakers made of enough leather and padding to upholster the interior of a Chrysler LeBaron.

I was in New Orleans from San Francisco for the Super Bowl . I was impressed with the graciousness and friendliness of the Baltimore Ravens fans after their win. Out in the French Quarter after the game, walking around in my red 49ers jersey expecting catcalls and rude remarks (there were a few), I had Ravens fans shake my hand, compliment my team with "good game" and "see you next year in the Super Bowl . " I even got a hug from a pretty purple clad lady. Congratulations on your win. Your fans represented your team and city well.

NEW ORLEANS - It was supposed to be a festive New Year's Eve celebration. Levon Jones and his teammates at Georgia Southern University were in town for a flag football tournament. So on their free time, they did what most college students do in New Orleans - they went to a bar on Bourbon Street. The evening turned tragic when Jones, 25, got into a scuffle with three bouncers outside a popular nightspot, Razzoo Club and Patio. When it was over, Jones, an African-American, was dead. The bouncers, who are white, held him down, causing his lungs to collapse, and he suffocated, an autopsy found.

There's a lot to be said for visiting New Orleans without the kids, and friends said most of it to us: The greatest music is in 21-and-over joints. Children whose idea of haute cuisine is a hot dog will not appreciate etouffee and gumbo. Bourbon Street after dark is not a fit sight for the very young. There are no rides. But family power relationships being what they are these days, our party in the Big Easy consisted of four adults and five children: our friends' 14-year-old son; our son, 10; our daughters, 14 and 17; and my older daughter's pal, also 17. And we learned that for children in double digits who bring a sense of curiosity and adventure, this place can be a terrific destination.

I was in New Orleans from San Francisco for the Super Bowl . I was impressed with the graciousness and friendliness of the Baltimore Ravens fans after their win. Out in the French Quarter after the game, walking around in my red 49ers jersey expecting catcalls and rude remarks (there were a few), I had Ravens fans shake my hand, compliment my team with "good game" and "see you next year in the Super Bowl . " I even got a hug from a pretty purple clad lady. Congratulations on your win. Your fans represented your team and city well.

NEW ORLEANS -- The French Quarter is the most mysterious neighborhood in America. The 17th- and 18th-century Spanish houses hide behind their high walls, impenetrable to the casual onlooker. A rich and secret life takes place behind them, in patio gardens, along second- and third-story galleries, and in tall, fan-cooled rooms.Slavery, murder, objection, romance and the discussion of the opera is what used to take place. Nowadays, those horrors have transmuted into other, less spectacular activities, such as lawyer orgies.

French Quarter's Lucky Dogs available at the airport Lucky Dogs, a popular food among people who flock to the French Quarter of New Orleans during Mardi Gras, are available on Concourse B at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Lucky Dogs, a retail operation established more than 30 years ago ago as a street-vending company, sells hotdogs and sausages. Besides the usual chili and onions condiments, a spicy Creole sausage and a smoked sausage, both made in New Orleans, are also available.

A MEMORABLE PLACE No city's like New Orleans By Evan Balkan SPECIAL TO THE SUN It's getting harder to find American cities that are unique. There is a disturbing homogenization in the United States that can leave a cross-country traveler scratching his head on any given day and wondering exactly what city he's in. One city exempt from such a feeling is New Orleans. When you're in New Orleans, you know that you couldn't be anyplace else. A big part of New Orleans' charm is that its history is unlike any other big city's in America.

NEW ORLEANS - With a historic evacuation of nearly 2 million people from the Louisiana coast complete, gun-toting police and National Guardsmen stood watch on this city's empty streets last night in a preamble to a powerful storm that officials said could overwhelm the levee system still not completely repaired after Hurricane Katrina's damage three years ago. As heavy rain began falling in the city last night, National Weather Service forecasters predicted...

NEW ORLEANS -- Against a backdrop of criticism over the slow pace of the federal rebuilding effort two years after Hurricane Katrina struck, President Bush marked the storm's anniversary yesterday with an optimistic message. "This town is coming back," he said at a charter school in one of the city's most flood-ravaged neighborhoods. "This town is better today than it was yesterday, and it's going to be better tomorrow than it was today." The president spent much of the day in the Crescent City and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, repeating the message of federal support that he has espoused in 14 previous visits to the region, but bringing no new money to spur the recovery.

IT'S SPRINGTIME IN NEW ORLEANS. The lemon trees and Japanese magnolia are in bloom, and as in years past, the city marks the season with its beloved rite of spring, the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival. But is the hurricane-wracked and flood-washed city ready to receive guests? My family spent four days at Mardi Gras at the end of February, and I have half a mind to buy another set of plane tickets (which have never been cheaper) and head back down this month for the music festival known as Jazz Fest.

NEW ORLEANS -- At almost any time of day, vehicles on this city's grandest avenue, St. Charles, crawl along at 7 mph. The French Quarter is packed with cars and delivery trucks, not to mention horse-drawn carriages. Side streets in the Garden District and Uptown are blocked, offering no escape. More than half the city's 450 traffic signals are nonfunctioning or nonexistent, blown away by Hurricane Katrina or corroded by the floodwaters that followed. Nearly five months after the storm, traffic in New Orleans is, in a word, terrible.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush made his eighth visit to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, meeting yesterday with state and local officials over a private dinner in the French Quarter to review rebuilding plans. Bush dined with members of the Bring Back New Orleans Commission, which was set up by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Also invited were Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who is in charge of all federal relief efforts, and Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore, who is leading the military's response to Katrina.

NEW ORLEANS -- Mayor Ray Nagin bowed yesterday to the potential threat of a new hurricane and the insistence of President Bush and other federal officials in calling off the reopening of large sections of the city. Tropical Storm Rita represented a "new event" that forced a change in the plans he outlined late last week, the mayor said. "If we are off, I'd rather err on the side of conservatism so that we make sure that we have everybody out." Bush and Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's operation in New Orleans, had expressed strong reservations about Nagin's plan, which by Monday would have reopened neighborhoods that once accommodated about 180,000 people, or just over a third of the city's population.

NEW ORLEANS - For nearly two weeks, Patrick Pearson guarded his suburban neighborhood against the unknown. His arsenal consisted of orange cones, tiki torches and a rifle. He stopped anyone trying to gain entry. He slept little and ate less. "I had to use every skill I had to keep these people safe," said Pearson, 45, a former Marine who lost 12 pounds in the chaotic week after the storm. But over the weekend, for a few hours, he let his guard down. The New Orleans Saints were playing their season opener, and he was going to watch.

How does an inn turn a $59-a-night room into a $219-a-night room? Simply by booking guests during a big event in the area, such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics or the recent New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Price gouging, consumers say. Prudent business, hotels say. Whichever side you're on, the laws of supply and demand make it hard to land a bargain bed during big gatherings. As demand increases, so do room rates. You might spend more than you'd like, but you don't have to wail the budget blues to get into the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival or sprint into bankruptcy to attend the Olympics.

NEW ORLEANS - Even as he announced that the repopulation of his city would begin this weekend, Mayor C. Ray Nagin said yesterday that only half of the residents of New Orleans would be able to return to their homes in the coming months. Nagin told reporters that the city, devastated Aug. 29 by Hurricane Katrina, would begin reopening, making portions of the city available to about 182,000 residents. The city was forced to evacuate almost all of its nearly half a million people when broken levees made it uninhabitable.

NEW ORLEANS - For nearly two weeks, Patrick Pearson guarded his suburban neighborhood against the unknown. His arsenal consisted of orange cones, tiki torches and a rifle. He stopped anyone trying to gain entry. He slept little and ate less. "I had to use every skill I had to keep these people safe," said Pearson, 45, a former Marine who lost 12 pounds in the chaotic week after the storm. But over the weekend, for a few hours, he let his guard down. The New Orleans Saints were playing their season opener, and he was going to watch.