Urban Expectations

Having only traveled outside of Illinois a handful of times to places like St. Louis, MO, Clearwater, FL, Atlantic City, NJ and Baltimore, MD I haven’t really ever experienced big urban cities. The only place I saw while in St. Louis was Six Flags. In Florida, I saw the condo and the beach. In Atlantic City I saw the pier and the resort. In Maryland, I saw my sister’s house and the beach. Never have I really been able to explore these foreign cities thoroughly. Living close to Chicago, I have been there a couple times to enjoy some shopping, I was able to walk around downtown Chicago and take in all the forever tall buildings, I imagine most big cities to be like this. I think of tons of people walking around in a hurry to get somewhere and crowded streets full of cars. From the people I have seen in the cities I have been, I picture most of them to be career individuals walking around to get to work or tourists like myself since most of the time it is summer when I have been to these places. Of course, living in Peoria, IL my entire life I have always thought other states and their cities too be more exciting than my own. Therefore, I imagine these places to be full of life, entertainment and excitement. I feel like other cities constantly have something fun to do. I almost feel like I cannot even think about what New Orleans might be like because it is so different than my own home. I can only get a slight idea from what I have heard or seen in pictures or shows. I feel like there is music constantly playing all the time in the city, and I think of alligators for whatever reason, probably because I have watched the show Swamp People to many times. Another thing that pops into my head when I hear New Orleans is voodoo. I guess I contribute Voodoo with New Orleans because all the movies I have ever watched that discussed Louisiana had some type of Voodoo scene. Movies like the Skeleton Key, The Princess and the Frog etc. I also think of food like Jambalaya, Gumbo and beignets probably mostly from what I saw in The Princess and the Frog. In the end, I feel like New Orleans is going to be an exciting new city to visit and there is a lot I will learn from my trip there!