A thought on New Orleans

It is with sadness that I'm leaving New Orleans. There is so much to see here, so much history. The city itself is almost as old as Boston. The French Quarter is delightful once you get away from the faux, tourist, frat party atmosphere of Bourbon Street. I missed getting to the Garden District, and the cemeteries. I missed out on a long sit by the river to try and get a sense of it's size and power.
New Orleans is a mystery.  The French Quarter has a lot of closed doors, both figuratively and metaphorically.
At some point I will come back to explore this city a lot more intensely. I would definitely stay at the same hotel. It has been interesting to sit on my Toulouse Street balcony, to experience the noise (at a respectful distance), the smell of great food cooking, and the sense of sitting in the middle of something, and someplace indefinably alive. The spirits of this place are still walking and talking, and if you take a moment to feel them, they are willing to talk.