ON THE UPSWING; NEW ORLEANS' FOOD, MUSIC AND SPIRIT THRIVE AS REBUILDING WORK GOES ON.(Travel-Books)

Byline: MATT PACENZA - SPECIAL TO THE TIMES UNION

NEW ORLEANS

A belly full of shrimp. A cold beer in my hand. A rollicking brass band a few feet in front of me.

It was after midnight one glorious warm evening at Vaughn's Lounge in the Bywater neighborhood. I was back, nearly a decade after my wife and I spent two decadent years in this funky little city.

In the spring, we made our first trip to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. Eighteen months earlier, the storm had dunked the city under water for long enough to nearly kill it. At the time of our visit, the news coming out of the city of residents under siege by marauding criminals was, possibly, worse.

So as we traveled to visit friends, with our 2-year-old son, Marcus, in tow, we wondered what we would find. Struggling businesses? Fearful residents? A bleak future?

No, no and no. We had a fantastic four days in New Orleans. The core of the city is in a word thriving. Restaurants were packed; the streets were thick with traffic and the city's blend of tourists and New Orleanians were living life exuberantly, as they do so well.

Not that Katrina is a distant memory. A trip to flooded neighborhoods reveals the future remains precarious for many.

Real beauty

…