This morning, Ray and I went to The McKendrick-Breaux House which is an absolutely gorgeous 2 building B&B in the Garden District. We met with Brett Ruth, the owner, and his wife Rachel. They are both originally from Miami and moved here a couple years before Katrina.
They have had less business since Katrina because tourism is not nearly what it was pre-Katrina. They are excited to help us house our volunteers at a discounted rate.
Between their two buildings is a beautiful courtyard with a pond that is home to Leon, his pet turtle who is about the size of a large pizza. When it’s warm, Leon will come out of the pond. However, today, Leon decided not to come out. Apparently, Leon is also a very social turtle and loves to come and hang out with people in the courtyard. They have held weddings there in which Leon comes out and watches the ceremony.
When we got back in the house, Brett shared with us his large collection of yearbooks many of which predate 1945. He collects yearbooks from everywhere and has only some of them displayed. It was very interesting to hear him talk about them. We then talked to him about the storm and his experiences of it. He said that he would have stayed, but that his wife was very pregnant at the time. He told us that he lived through Hurricane Andrew in Miami and that he didn’t see it as a risk because he had previously been a Risk Analyst for an insurance company. This was definitely one interesting contact and I can’t wait to go back there next week…I’m giving him a yearbook (though it’s not as old as many in his collection).
Marte P.