This was an early morning. I didn’t finish all the things I had to do to leave town until around 1am. Then, I had to get up at 4am so that John could take me to the airport in time for my flight. Getting there, I found Sue (a classmate) and her husband. We were scheduled for the same flights. In Washington/Dullas (our layover) we found out that our plane had a problem so a smaller plane would be taking us to New Orleans. Sue and her husband didn’t have seats. I had to get on the plane before I found out what happened to them. Sue, did you make it?
Once here, the shuttle in was fine. I had heard some rumors that it might be hard to get a ride from the airport, so I made the reservation ahead of time. The airport shuttles had contracted with Trailways and a host of local transit folks to provide enough vehicles to get people from the airport to their hotels. My shuttle was a clubbing van. It was complete with a starry ceiling, glowing handrails, an amazing stereo system, a DVD player, and glasses ready for drinks. We all thought it was a great way to kick off ALA. 
The ride from the airport was about half an hour. It was really strange. The juxtaposition of shiny, clean buildings with buildings that look completely destroyed showed there is still a lot to be done. The shuttle went right past the Superdome. There were people working on the roof and a sign saying it would reopen in September. So many people had made such a big deal about how the conference area looked like normal that I just wasn’t prepared to (a) see that much damage in the regular course of the conference and (b) that so many of the places we watched on the news would be places that we would regularly see. I spend most of my day tomorrow at Morial Convention Center, which will be a bit strange.
I was able to take a short walk before my first event. It was good to get a feel for the street, directions, and the area. There are a lot of storefronts that are out of business. The roads have a lot of construction markers (tape, barrels, etc). But overall, the city seems ready for a conference of this size. There are plenty of open shops and restaurants (from what I’ve seen so far) and the shop owners have been really friendly.
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