Business in New Orleans

This week I was on a business trip with several other people from our company to a Specialty Graphics (SGIA) show. It’s held once a year and this year Its in New Orleans. We will spend only two days there, but because its had to get convenient flights in and out of New Orleans we will have to fly in the day before and leave the day after.

Arriving in New Orleans and stepping out of the airport was a bit of a weather shock. New Orleans was experiencing a record heat wave and It was 93 degrees as we stood in line at the cab stand.

The heat wasn’t as bad as the humidity.The humidity must have been close to 100% .It was oppressive. The slightest movement of your body caused you to break out in a sweat.

I checked in at the Embassy Suites. My room was on the tenth floor and had a view of the Mississippi river Bridge and the convention center a couple of blocks away.

The next morning the air was so thick with moisture that you could almost drink it as I walked to the convention center.

Inside the convention center was comfortably cool and you could see sheets of condensing water running down the glass windows that contacted the humid air.

We saw quite a few interesting things at the show. A new type of printing device now prints images directly on fabric and will enable all sorts of new products to be sold.

Late in the afternoon I started back towards the hotel room. It was just starting to sprinkle rain drops as I walked along the route back to the hotel. About halfway back the skies opened up and it poured down rain. Now at the time I was standing under one of the many porches on the street in New Orleans so I wasn’t wet yet.

I waited for 15 or 20 minutes for the rain to let up , but it didn’t seen like it was going to quit any time soon so I decided that I would make a break for the hotel it was only 2 blocks away. If I run, I rationalized I can get there without getting too wet.

As it turns out it really doesn't matter how fast you run in a down pour. When I arrived at the hotel about 10 seconds later I might as well have gone swimming in my clothing.

I dripped my way through the lobby and up to my room where I changed clothing and snapped this picture from the dry safety of my balcony.

As it always does other than one notable exception with Noah and the whole Ark thing it stopped raining and the sun started to come out.

Standing on my room balcony I snapped a series of photos and stitched them together in the partial panorama of the historic warehouse district of New Orleans after the rain.

I had a business dinner that evening at 7:00 and walked from my hotel down towards Canal street to the restaurant where we were meeting. It was a nice walk with a few interesting scenes along the way.

I guess this is ART!

Typical New Orleans architecture

A Pano of a park along the way

The following night we had another business dinner but this time my walk to the restaurant took me along the River walk.

Part of the Riverwalk from my balcony

The other end of the Riverwalk

Here is pano stitched together from several photos of the Mississippi river as it flows into the Gulf of Mexico under the River bridge.

The riverwalk.

We had dinner at the corner of Fulton street on the Gordon Bierch patio.

I arrived at the New Orleans airport for my flight home at 10:00AM the next morning for a 11:00 flight.

At about 10:30 a sign went up that we would be weather delayed until 11:30. 10 minutes later the delay moved to 1:30PM. OH OH. I’m never going to make my connecting flight in Memphis. A line about 2 1/2 miles long immediately formed at the counter. (We are in trouble now!)

I grabbed my cell phone and immediately call the travel agent I use. She checked out all the flights and for the most part they were booked or wanted a thousand dollars. She was able to reserve a seat on the 6:00PM flight that evening in case the worst happened.

I then got in the 2 1/2 mile long line at the counter and slowly shuffled my way towards the counter with the rest of the prisoners. When I got to the counter the agent informed me that I was not going to make my connection in Memphis and that all other flights were sold out.

I politely asked him to check for my reservation on the 6:00 flight. Indeed I was booked on the 6:00PM flight. I was going to get out of here yet today!

It was 30 miles and a $60 cab ride back to town so I was stuck the rest of the day. I hung out in the airport had lunch and vegged out until 6:00PM. At 5:30 I boarded the plane. It looks like I was going to get out of New Orleans until the pilot came on the intercom and stated that thunderstorms were moving into the airport and he was shutting the engines down and was waiting until they passed, duration unknown! ( OH CRAP!). I got on the phone and called Margaret to inform here that I was on hold again and potentially sentenced to life in Louisiana. I would call again or send an email when I had further news.

People were up and milling about the airplane 15 minutes later when the pilot came on the intercom and urgently requested everyone be seated there was a small clearing and he was taxiing out to the runway. There was a chance we could get out!

We moved down the taxiway in the dark rain approaching the runway. I could see the lights stretching out along the runway as he made the turn. At this point planes usually stop, but he didn't even slow down as the plane straightened out onto the runway he powered up the jets and we were blasting down the runway in the rain on our way finally to Minneapolis!