Tourism and visitor numbers are way down all along the coast, often for no reason other than people are assuming that the beaches are full of tar balls and such.

I’m not discounting the tremendous damage that some areas have experienced, but many places are suffering from a lack of visitors because people aren’t calling ahead or checking online.

For an overall view of coast conditions, go to the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) oil/tar tracking map.  It….

“….tracks the history of closures, advisories, and notices by county for beaches that have been affected by the oil spill. The tar ball icon indicates counties with any historical or current beach actions related to the oil spill. The sand pail icon marks counties that have not had official closures, advisories, or notices due to the oil spill.”

For Florida, go to the Florida Live site set up by Visit Florida and including beach webcams and local CVB (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau) tweets.

For anywhere, make some calls ahead to the local hotels and even restaurants.  They’d love to give you their perspective.

Helen Anders is a staff writer for my local paper, the Austin American-Statesman, and she just wrote “Crescent rising,” an article about her own trip to the city, to see how it’s doing post-Katrina and talk to the residents.

She also blogs on Anders Meanders about a variety of travel topics, including a recent post encouraging tourists to visit Louisiana.

There has been so much focus on the destruction from the storm that many do not realize that large sections of the state are untouched and struggling from the huge drop in tourist traffic.

If you have older kids, consider a trip this year to the world-famous New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 27-29 and May 4-6 2007.

There is an insanely wide variety of musical artists on tap — something for absolutely everyone in your family. If you decide to go, hurry up and book your hotel room as soon as possible.

Other fun festivals include the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge May 4-6 2007, the awesome Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette April 25-29 2007 or even the Natchitoches Christmas Festival later this year.

Where y’at?

Update 4 April 2007: For the art enthusiasts, the San Antonio Express-News has an interesting article about how France is lending a cultural hand to New Orleans through a special art exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art, featuring over 80 different paintings from across France that “emphasize the role of women in relationship to others in society.” Artists include Degas and Picasso.

Technorati Tags: travel, family travel, New Orleans, Louisiana

We are all staying temporarily with my parents while the Austin TX area job-hunt/house-hunt is in progress (that’s 2 adults, 2 kids and 4 cats, but who’s counting.)

I hope to get back to posting much more frequently now that the WiFi is up and humming.

During the drive to Texas, I decided to pull off of Interstate 10 for a few hours and do a “pulse check” in New Orleans. I felt that it was very important for me as an American citizen and as a traveler to judge for myself how one of the major American cities, and an international treasure of music, food and culture, was doing in its recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

I lived in a Big Easy suburb called Harvey LA a few years back and have visited since then as well, so I have some knowledge of the city, but when I say this is a “snapshot” that’s exactly what I mean — quick impressions from a 2-3 hour visit, with my 2 kids, in the French Quarter area around Jackson Square.

The drive to the center of the city was an eye-opener as we drove across one of the Lake Pontchartrain bridges and through eastern New Orleans. Miles of empty, blasted-out apartment complexes and blue-tarp-roofed subdivisions are still uninhabited, with fences and privacy walls crushed and flattened.

If you are driving in from the east and take the off ramp from I-10, turn right (instead of left towards the tourist areas near the Mississippi) and you are immediately looking at more deserted, boarded-up housing areas and crumpled homes with the famous spray-painted indications of whether bodies were found within or not. Many, many tall office buildings are dark and deserted, with more than half of their glass windows blown out and staring blackly down on the streets. My children were very subdued as they took it all in.

The smashed landscape goes for miles and looks as though it happened just 2-3 months ago, not last summer. This city is not “bouncing back” anytime soon and it is a shadow of what it was.

Yes, a few twists and turns found our minivan somehow absurdly cruising Bourbon Street, and that “den of iniquity” looks pretty much the same as always (this detour was not in my original quickie sightseeing plan, but my teenage daughter got to hoot at all of the girlie bars and soused adults wandering about.)

But drunks carrying daiquiris is not New Orleans.

The residential and business districts were dealt one hell of a body blow from which they are very slowly recovering, and all the powdered sugar beignets and chicory coffee slurped down at Cafe du Monde do not a real, live, sustainable city make.

I walked the kids up the levee to look out over the mighty Mississippi River and over at the venerable Huey P. Long Bridge. A guitarist was positioned near the steps down to the river; I was happy to see a musician and I threw a couple of bucks into his guitar case.

I join with Budget Travel Online’s recent article to urge you to visit the city and spend your money there now, rather than “someday.” Yes, family-oriented options may be a bit limited (although the world famous riverside Audubon Aquarium has re-opened) but try to focus your family on the culture of Mardi Gras and the wonderful food and music.

My kids just had fun eating beignets, seeing a new bride go by in a carriage while tossing beads, and buying silly skull stuff at a voodoo shop. Also, other areas of Louisiana (like Cajun Country) were relatively untouched and are looking for visitors.

So, where y’at? Go visit, take your family, and support this wonderful city. It needs you.

Update 30 Sept 2006: Another plea for tourists to visit New Orleans, from Arthur Frommer.

Update 02 February 2007: Smarter Travel updates us on how things are going in New Orleans; a mixed bag but improving.

Update 28 February 2007: World Hum, one of my favorite sites, has some links from terrific writers who are covering the situation in New Orleans.

This area fortunately did not get walloped quite as badly by Katrina as people may think, and it’s a fun family destination.

We’ve been to several of the places mentioned in the article, and I can personally vouch for Champagne’s Swamp Tours; (they pronounce it “shawm-PAN-yeh;”) they did a terrific job in an environmentally-sensitive manner. My kids loved it and we all learned a lot about the Atchafalaya ecosystem.

Cajun music is also irresistible to everyone, especially kids, and our family enjoyed a visit to Mulate’s in Breaux Bridge as noted in the article.

If you are up for some crowds, also consider attending this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 28-30 and May 5-7 2006.

Here’s the Web site for a look at the awesome music lineup.

It’s all a positive way to vote/support with your wallet.