When the Levees Broke

This is a completely untimely post, since New Orleans flooded over three years ago, and the HBO series came out two years ago. But we highly recommend checking out When the Levees Broke, a four-part documentary by Spike Lee. We finally watched it this week, and it broke our hearts. But it made us fall in love with NOLA all over again (as many of you know, our daughter is named after New Orleans, LA).

We last visited New Orleans in 2007, and there was still so much to do. Since much of the population was bussed to far-flung places, "Help Wanted" signs hung everywhere. We didn't do "disaster tourism," so we didn't see the Lower 9th Ward, but even in the wealthy Garden District, where we stayed, people were rebuilding two years in. And the Mississippi coastline still looked like a disaster area.

President Obama vows to fulfill the broken promises of the Bush Administration and rebuild the coast. We'd love it if he created some sort of service component to help finally get gulf coast back where it used to be -- the Katrina victims back home, the neighborhoods rebuilt, and the levees actually strong and stable. After viewing this series, we'd be the first to sign up.

Oh, and if you ever stay in New Orleans, we highly recommend the Avenue Inn!