New Orleans: The Good Times City

After President Barack Obama’s recent visit to the slowly recovering New Orleans and his promises of more aid to speed up its rebuilding, I recalled the happier times in the once great city.

Of my many visits to New Orleans, the one that I remember best was in 1999. I had just arrived at the airport minutes before it closed down for the arrival of Air Force One and then President Bill Clinton, who was known to love the food, music and good times in New Orleans. He was heading to the ultra-deluxe Windsor Court Hotel while I was heading for the lovely Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter.

I have always been fascinated by the history of New Orleans and how it came to become part of the most important land deals in American history. It was about 200 years ago that the United States consummated a deal with France that doubled the size of America. Originally, Thomas Jefferson had his eye solely on New Orleans when he approached Napoleon Bonaparte to discuss purchasing the land. Napoleon overwhelmed Jefferson by offering him a deal that included the entire Louisiana Territory. Napoleon reasoned that if he sold off only New Orleans, he would be unable to control or defend the whole territory. Thus, more than 800,000-square miles of land came under American domain for a paltry four-cents an acre. It is believed that Jefferson felt he was getting a good deal, but did not realize how sweet it was with the inclusion of New Orleans.

For centuries, New Orleans has been a great tourist mecca for Americans as well as Europeans. Its heritage combines French, Spanish, African and many other European and Caribbean influences. This has resulted in some of the best food, music, dance, writing and art in America. In fact “La Nouvelle Orleans” was founded in 1718 and was ruled first by France and then by Spain for nearly 100 years. It was the only U.S. city in which French was the predominant language for more than a century. Another first was Creole and Cajun cooking, a blend of Old World tastes with New World ingredients and sensibilities.