Guess They Ain't Coming!

One Less Reason To Travel To N'Awlins

I heard something distressing today concerning New Orleans...

No, Not Mayor Nagin's plan to re-chocolatize the city. I could give a damn about the racial makeup of the town. In fact, let me rant a bit. I've got some good friends who rave about New Orleans. I've never seen the attraction, really. OK, some good restaurants and good music, but you can get that just about anywhere and not have to live amidst tropical heat & humidity, 3rd world-style corruption, and the better-than-even chance of being washed away in a hurricane.

At any rate, I've learned that the Lee Circle YMCA is no longer operating, and has been turned into a hotel. I'm not all that concerned about YMCA's, but that one has stood across from the statue of Robert E. Lee since the 1930's.

What's my point? The statue of Robert E. Lee sits in the middle of Lee Circle, on top of this huge marble column. It puts him (facing north, of course) at eye level with the giant YMCA sign on the roof of the Lee Circle Y.

The running joke for decades was that the "YMCA" stood for "Yankees May Come Again", and was the reason Lee's statue was facing north. I always got a chuckle out of it when driving by, and it was one of the few things I liked about New Orleans.

Well, if the YMCA sign is gone, maybe they can turn ol' Marse Robert northeast to face towards Arlington, Virginia.