Southern Photo Journey

New Orleans, Louisiana - Michael and I took a week off for a driving trip in the southern states. We flew to New Orleans to see the post Katrina damage, and we were shocked with the devastated surrounding. We both have learned the dire situation from the news, but seeing is believing. Many houses were so severely damaged beyond our imagination. Boats and abandoned cars were stacked on top of each other. It was just plain eye sore.

The famous French Quarter wasn't affected, and it was still quite crowded with most restaurant and shops open. We ate lots of delicious cajun jambalaya, seafood gumbo and beignet with cafe au lait, and visited the eerie graveyards that inspired the vampire novel writer Ann Rice. Best of all, we were able to take some great night shots without having to wait too long for the tourist to walk out of the frames.


Little Rock , Arkansas - We had no idea that the President Clinton's library was so huge. This modern structure is all about the former president with collections of approximately 76.8 million pages of paper documents, 1.85 million photographs and over 75,000 museum artifacts. The president's personal collections and gifts he received from all over the world were interesting to see. What impressed me the most was his statement, "I want to focus the economy like a laser beam". Indeed, during his presidency, he has brought the nation's deficit to surplus. Now look at how President Bush spent it all in making the world more dangerous...


Mike and I shot this self portrait while driving a long country road passing countless cotton fields. We even passed by a small town called Transylvania.

St. Louis, Missouri - Aah! The marvelous tall standing Gateway Arch. After a long 8 hour drive, we arrived St. Louis at night. I've always had fascination about gigantic structures. Even though I've been to the top of Taipei 101 - the world's tallest building, Sears Tower, Empire State Building, CNN Tower, and Eiffel Tower, the Gateway Arch was equally impressive as I gazed it from 630 feet below. The next morning, we rode the egg shell like elevator to the observation deck on the top of the arch, and learned about the westward journey of Lewis and Clark along the Mississippi river in the ground level exhibit.

Memphis, Tennessee - The wall of platinum record collection in Graceland. After a long line, we entered the famous Elvis' home. Walked all around the house including the jungle room, seen his extensive wardrobe collections, private jets, the pink cadillac, etc. Like many Elvis' fans. we paid tribute to his grave. Elvis sure lived a great life!

We missed the prime minister of Japan and President Bush by one day at Graceland, but I bought the BBQ sauce from the Rendezvous restaurant where they dined. As I stood in front of Lorraine Hotel where the great leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, I could feel the grief amid the calming atmosphere. In the evening, we had local favorite Gus' Fried Chicken and strolled along the lively Beale Street. The party crowd, the comfy night air, and musicians playing blues made a lasting impression on our stay in Memphis.