Off the Beaten Track

We put down the Frommer's and headed to less-touristy Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans' for a day with Hands On New Orleans.

The city's rebuilding efforts are evident.

We ended up hunched in a hot elementary school hallway scalping old paint for seven hours. Our hands throbbed. Our fingers kept a claw-like shape until manually straightened.

What struck me most about the experience was that the neighborhood reminded me of a school in North St. Louis I used to visit weekly. I could just as well been back in Ms. Maclin's class dressed as the Cat in the Hat on Dr. Seuss' birthday. Maybe that's one reason why New Orleans' story struck a chord. It's that universal recognition of others in our own experiences. And our need to reach out.

Here's the story I penned for National Geographic Traveler's Intelligent Travel blog.