Travel Maven Blog ...... David Molyneaux posts from TheTravelMavens.com

New Orleans: Building a fence for Mr. Stripling

Our van of volunteers arrived in New Orleans' old Treme neighborhood on a cool April morning made for manual labor.

We were assigned hammers and paint brushes at 2030 St. Ann Street, called a shotgun house because rooms follow one after the other from front to back without a hallway or unnecessary walls that would stop a breeze or a bullet. 

In the dead of summer, precious breaths of wind may trickle into the front window of a New Orleans shotgun house and wander through all the rooms, leaving unimpeded through a back door or window.

Losing a wife and a home

The double house, about 100 years old, is owned by Vincent Stripling, 64. It has not been occupied since August 2005 when the waters of Hurricane Katrina rose and floated Mr. Stripling out, like most of the rest of this city's residents.

Before the flood, he lived here with his wife, who died in a hospital during the storm. Her life was celebrated in a jazz funeral in this neighborhood known for its musical roots. Treme was one of the first places in the United States where freed blacks could own property.

In August 2005, Treme was under water. Since the storm, Mr. Stripling has lived in a trailer, working as a cleaner at Harrah's casino, spending his spare time getting his house back in order, removing the moldy walls and buying roofing,  windows, doors and siding with a government $40,000 loan. He is out of money, but some work goes on, as volunteers from Rebuilding Together put finishing touches on the house that has been in the Stripling family for 43 years.

Organizing volunteers to rebuild houses

Rebuilding Together is an organization that pledges to help people who own their own homes. The New Orleans team has rebuilt some 90 houses in five neighborhoods since Katrina, thanks to a stream of volunteers that continues to make New Orleans a prime destination for working vacations.

"We want to bring people back home," said local director Camille Lopez, "but we don't do anything fancy."

Our task was to help provide some privacy to a small backyard that faces a trashy lot, an abandoned store and a busy road.

So, we set about constructing a privacy fence from recycled boards rescued from buildings torn down nearby.

The only new wood was stakes set in the ground to hold the recycled boards, which we nail-gunned to the stakes, primed white and painted a dark green.

Our group included one-day volunteers from Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Petersburg, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and Stockholm. All were editors and writers meeting in New Orleans the next day in a professional development session of the Society of American Travel Writers.

Longer-term workers included Cambria Marinelli, 25, from Boston, and Grady Minnis, 27, of Meadville, Pa., both AmeriCorps volunteers and Michael Dion, 61, of Bexley, Ohio, who said this was her second volunteer effort in New Orleans, following a visit in 2007 with Elderhostel.

We sawed, nailed, swept, shoveled and painted -- a rewarding and productive day.

In a matter of hours, we built a fence for Mr. Stripling.

Party in New Orleans at Jazz Fest, starting April 25. Click for Jazz Fest information and tickets. Click for New Orleans info or call 800-543-6652.

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Molyneaux is editor of TravelMavens.net. CLICK for articles on cruising, Florida, Europe, adventure and travel gear and gadgets.

Jazz Fest is party time in New Orleans

New Orleans can play tricks on the conscience.

In the classic best-of-times, worst-of-times, two different cities sit here, though visitors can explore one city without ever touching the other.

One New Orleans contains the residential areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and they are mere skeletons of their days before August 2005, though in some neighborhoods, volunteers are among the workers rebuilding houses.

The other city is New Orleans' playpen, including the French Quarter, which is party headquarters. The Quarter, left, looks as if the rains of 2005 never happened, except in a good way, because the streets and buildings are fitter and cleaner than ever.

As a conscience soother, local officials say that New Orleans will gain no matter which city you choose to visit: Houses need rebuilding and could use more volunteers, but the revelry of the French Quarter and outlying hotels, restaurants and music places fuels the local economy and employs 80,000 people, paying the mortgage.

Jazz  Fest begins April 25

This weekend is a special party in New Orleans when most folks will lay down the hammers and saws for Jazz Fest, the annual spring celebration of music and food. The Jazz & Heritage Festival, held at the Fair Grounds about 3 miles from the French Quarter, is a mix of rhythm & blues, rock, jazz, country, blues and gospel. It begins with the weekend of April 25-27 and continues May 1-4. Last year, some 350,000 people crammed into the fair grounds oval. This year may be the biggest ever, says producer Quint Davis.

Admission: $40-$50 at the gate, cheaper on line, for food, crafts and 11 stages of simultaneous music from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., including such stars as Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, Keyshia Cole, the Neville Brothers, Jimmy Buffett, Santana, Widespread Panic, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, and Diana Krall.

Click for Jazz Fest information and tickets.

Click for New Orleans info or call 800-543-6652.

At night, fest guests head for the French Quarter for more music, food and laughter.

"Don't feel guilty about having fun in New Orleans," says Sandra Shilstone, who leads the city's efforts to appeal to tourists. "Even the folks in New Orleans dance and sing. It's part of their heritage." Local folks need your vacation money, she says, and your fun is serious business to the people who are trying to get their lives back in order.

Eating well, feeding the economy

I dropped a few bucks into the local economy earlier this month, mostly for seafood, and I recommend four of my best eating experiences:

Perfectly sauteed redfish with a heaping pile of fresh spinach ($25) and jalapeno grilled shrimp ($8) at Grand Isle (504-520-8530)  at 575 Convention Center Blvd., across the street from Harrah's Casino.

Cochon de Lait, which is a spicy pulled pork sandwich on ciabatta ($12), at lunch under an umbrella on a brick courtyard at Café Amelie, right, in the French Quarter at 912 Royal St. (504-412-8965)

A wonderfully messy shrimp Po Boy ($16) in the Swizzle Stick bar of Café Adelaide in the Loews New Orleans Hotel at 300 Poydras St. (504-595-3300)

Louisiana Drum piquant, a local fish served with crabmeat ($33.50), and a plate of spicy crispy oysters ($8.75) at Upperline, below, one of the best restaurants in New Orleans -- a pricey neighborhood joint full of charm, history and a homey atmosphere that includes an amazing collection of regional art covering the walls.

Upperline owner JoAnn Clevenger compares the New Orleans of today to a famous old house being restored after a serious storm. Of the 9 rooms in the house, 6 are finished and dazzling, but 3 are still a mess.

Now, she says, is a good time to come for the party in the city's 6 best rooms.

After the party, though, you may want to pick up a hammer and take a look at the other 3 rooms, joining volunteers from all over the world who are helping to restore  neighborhoods flooded after Hurricane Katrina. Later this week, I will tell you about my experience, when a few visitors helped build a fence for Mr. Stripling.

BTW, the name of the dog in the top two pictures is Spirit, visiting from Beachwood, Ohio.

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Molyneaux is editor of TravelMavens.net. CLICK for articles on cruising, Florida, Europe, adventure and travel gear and gadgets.

Stop smoking at sea

Rules about cigarette smoking on cruise ships are changing this year, but not in a uniform way.  Each cruise line has its own plan for dodging the opposing forces -- vacationers who want to smoke aboard ship and folks who demand not to inhale even a puff of second-hand tobacco smoke.

What cruisers need is an industry-wide policy banning cigarette smoking in cabins and in most public places where passengers gather.

The issues are both health and safety, because careless smoking is a major cause of fires at sea. Cruise lines have been slow to respond to the national trend of prohibiting smoking where people work, relax, eat and drink. The only ships that prohibited smoking have not been successful economically, partly because some tour companies will not book a group of cabins on such a ship.

Until the industry decides on a uniform policy, cruise lines will continue to wallow.

Don't look for any agreement soon, especially now that vacationers from Europe and Asia are booking cruises in growing numbers. As the website Cruise Critic points out in its recent analysis of smoking policies, any ship that sails with a large European or Asian contingent is bound to be smokier than a ship filled with North Americans.

Before you book a cruise, you may want to ask about smoking policies. In general, passengers may smoke in their cabins on most ships, on their private balconies on most ships, and in most bars and lounges, but not in most dining rooms.

Celebrity leads with new anti-smoking policies

Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises and Royal Caribbean have issued new smoking policies this year.

Celebrity and its partner Azamara clearly are on the right track, an industry leader and far ahead of most cruise lines, including their parent company, Royal Caribbean.

Celebrity, which reported that 90 percent of its passengers do not smoke, banned smoking in cabins and on private balconies starting Oct. 1. Designated indoor areas where guests may smoke cigarettes will include the port (left) side of one lounge per ship, and a designated slot machine area in each ship’s casino. Azamara allows smoking only in two areas outdoors.

Crystal, which allows smoking in cabins, has banned smoking on balconies.

But Royal Caribbean seems to have the whole idea backwards. While Royal Caribbean banned smoking in cabins starting next month, ships will allow smoking in most bars and lounges and on outside private balconies, a terrible idea if you happen to be downwind of smokers. Banning smoking in cabins -- no doubt to reduce cleaning charges -- merely encourages smokers to go outside to spoil their neighbors' holidays.

I have been forced off my balcony on several cruise ships by clouds of cigarette smoke from next door; if I left the balcony door open, smoke was sucked into my cabin.

Wake up cruise industry: On this issue, you are not operating in the best interests of your  passengers.

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Molyneaux is editor of TravelMavens.net. CLICK for articles on cruising, Florida, Europe, adventure and travel gear and gadgets.

When you lock your keys in the car

Learned a lesson on a recent road trip to Washington, D.C.

Keep a copy of your auto insurance card -- with the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) -- in your wallet. If your car has never had its locks changed, an auto dealer can issue you a new key.

The insurance card was essential when I locked my keys in the trunk -- Don't ask how -- because Toyota dealers have a rule about making new keys: You must show either a vehicle registration card or an insurance card with the VIN number and a drivers license issued to the same name.

Otherwise, says Toyota, you could be a thief who simply copied the VIN number. I keep my car registration in the car, which was locked, so the insurance card in my wallet was my only hope unless I wanted to break into my own car or hire a locksmith.

I borrowed a car, drove to Bethesda, Md., and less than $10 later, I had a new key from Toyota. This would have been much more expensive if Toyota had been asked to replace one of those non-key keys with the computer chip inside -- reason enough to be happy with the old-fashioned key.

I put the insurance card in my wallet because occasionally I'm asked to prove insurance when I rent a car. Now I know another reason to carry that card.