A few years back, back before hurricane Katrina, my wife and I drove down to New Orleans so that I could a conference. Just so happens that the conference was during the French Quarter Festival. How convenient! Anyway, it was a long trip and we actually ended up driving through severe storms with hail and tornados. Having never experienced this before, being woken up in the middle of the night in a hotel in Montgomery, Alabama, by the sound of tornado sirens was totally new. Hopefully that will be the last time too.
For me the entire trip was made a bit more enjoyable because we were in my 2002 MINI Cooper S. (Luckily it was not damaged by hail.) On the way back this little car really showed what ot could do. Let me just say that the speed limit was left far behind.
At that time there were not as many of these fine cars on the road as there are now, so there were quite a few enquiring looks and more than a couple of people making comments or asking question. But, that entire trip for me is wrapped up in a picture my wife took of the car sitting on Bourbon Street in front of Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. This was taken early on Sunday morning just after a rain and before the sun had risen very high or the residents and tourists had started hitting the streets. The picture to me is very serene and conveys a great sense of the old and the new, and of two of my real loves – New Orleans and great cars.
Call me foolish and sentimental, but I love this picture.
