free day

The air is chilly with a New Orleans winter. Today I embarked to take in all that New Orleans shopping has to offer. The mall at Riverwalk offers so many stores to indulge any shopping addicts best day dreams. There are stores which are uniquely New Orleans as well as designer stores which many you grew up in Peoria have never laid eyes on. The mall is a perfect representation of the diversity of incomes in this city. There are stores with 5 dollar tshirt right next to a Coach outlets with 500 hundred dollar wallets. As I walk around this city steeped in history it is increasingly apparent that the  financial divide in this city is extreme. There are homeless and starving sitting outside restaurants with menus containing 40 dollar shrimp. This city is beautiful and rich in so many indulgences, however as I sit here and sip my coffee in the warmth of a Hilton lobby my heart strings pull for those who may not survive a winter on the streets of this beautiful city.