USS New York (Ama: houseboat, rich, cities)

[Drouzin]

Hubby put on his Old Navy shirt and we waved at her from the levee!

[jacq63]

You guys probably take it for granted, but those huge ships on a river still gets us hicks down here every time! Rivers down here would barely support a toy battleship! I love the Mississippi...sigh.

[jacq63]

Nola.com has a video of the USS New York leaving Nola..it took ages to load, so I didn't put it up here. I didn't realize it was built using steel from the Twin Towers. Personally I think it's a fine tribute. As they said on nola.com, 'from one resilient city to another, bon voyage'.

[Drouzin]

You know Jacq, it never really struck me that lots of other people really don't see these big ships like we do. I can't imagine what it would have been like not having grown up standing on the levee waving at them. Thanks for the eye opener.

[toupsee]

One of my favorite memories, is sitting on the levee at the battlefield and watching ships from all over the world pass. I loved to see all the different flags. I'd wonder how long it would take them to get back to where they had come from and what were in all those boxes and crates on deck. The river always made me feel peaceful and small.

[jacq63]

Oh I really envy you two, and other New Orleanians, not just for the obvious reasons. You have such an amazing waterway right there on your doorstep, and it's an equalizer. Only the very rich have good harbor views in Sydney, for all the brouhaha that's made about it. And it leads to open ocean, so tankers, though still pretty spectacular, are just..not seen in the same light as NOLA.
Plus, the Mississippi is a working river, very few of those down here. I remember actually thinking 'oh, we should go houseboating on it' a few years back, til some good CD New Orleanians set me right.

I still remember being amazed on Fat Tuesday down at Riverwalk, watching our friends band, with this huuuuuge freighter gliding past in the background. Amazing. People must wonder what outpost of civilzation we're from, gawking and getting thrills like that.

Btw: One week to go!! I still have my at&t sim, with your number on it Drou.

PS: ..and dont get me started on the Ponchatrain!

[mnr3]

one thing I've missed over the years: the fog horns. I'm sure Drou knows what I mean--they can be heard for miles, reminders on a still night that the river is never far away.

my parents went down to the levee to see the USS New York go by; a nice physical connection between NOLA and NYC, that's really a fitting tribute to both great American cities

[Drouzin]

Ooh I love the fog horns! Sometimes you can hear them from the house and sometimes you can hear that boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, that sounds like the captain is really irritated.

T. do you remember going home and looking up where the flags were from?

[toupsee]

Yep. I still have the Rand-McNally World Atlas Dad gave me for Christmas in 1966. (pre you) I wore that thing out. The world has changed a bit since then.