Hello New Orleans...hello 35 degree weather! I arrived at the airport around noon on Saturday, and set out to explore the "Big Easy" before the ACUHO-I conference started that evening. How you ask? Well, by boat of course! That's right, I checked out the Creole Queen "Battlefield" tour down at the Mississippi River. What an experience.
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| Raw Sugar Being Hoisted into the Refinery |
First off, we headed down the river on an authentic river paddle-boat. The cruise headed to the Chalmette battlefield where the "Battle of New Orleans" took place. This is the location where the Americans took over the British during 1815. When Katrina hit, Chalmette was demolished, and is now in somewhat repaired conditions. The group landed ashore to tour the facility for some time. The cruise ended with some authentic New Orleans live piano on the ship's lower deck.
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| Tug Boats on the Mississippi River |
Once back, I headed to the ACUHO-I New Attendee Reception where all first time attendees were warmly welcomed to the ACUHO-I conference and association. There were formal welcome addresses from the ACUHO-I President (Jill Eckardt) and conference hosts as well as introductions from ACUHO-I committee representatives. After an hour of mingling and getting to know one another, the conference delegation was lead to Generations Hall for the Opening Reception. What an event! The food consisted of local authentic gumbo and rice dishes, bread pudding, and pecan/praline desserts! There was live music in the form of a jazz ensemble, tarot card and palm reading, party pics and more! What a great opening to such a fun and lively conference. Currently, there are over 170 interest sessions and roundtable discussions set for the conference agenda. Highlighted speakers include economist Marvin Worthy, Dr. Maureen Wilson (Scholar in Residence), and social media expert in residence Eric Stoller. I am definitely looking forward to what's in store for tomorrow!
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