His room was on a high floor, looking out east over Canal Street to the Quarter. The first thing he saw from his small balcony was the spires of St. Louis Cathedral, several blocks away in the dusk. The streets he’d seen on TV a year ago spread out at his feet. The steady grind of traffic noise was punctuated by shouting and snatches of music, and the sidewalks were busy in every direction. He had to grip the railing for a moment, dizzy with the reality of being somewhere new for the first time in years.
Nobody in the world knew where he was.
He’d planned to just order room service the first night, but the street sounds were too much to resist. He put on his walking shoes, along with a rather natty sky-blue jacket and a heather gray trilby. He surveyed himself in the full-length mirror o
