Spreading the New Orleans experience - by golf cart
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A university student is trying to entice tourists back to New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, by traveling from Los Angeles to the Big Easy -- in a golf cart.
Greg Thurnher will set off from Los Angeles on May 20, the day after he graduates from Tulane University's Business School, in a souped-up golf cart to let people know that "New Orleans is open for business and pleasure."
"It's the least I can do to bring back what's missing," Thurnher, who moved to New Orleans from LA to study in 1998, said in an interview.
The 26-year-old will embark on the trek with a group of friends and alumni in a procession that will also include a revamped limo and a Range Rover.
The idea for the journey was inspired by the vintage golf cart he rebuilt for an undergraduate project which became his vehicle of choice for celebrating the annual Mardi Gras.
Thurnher retired the original cart and had a new one built, an ostentatious cart that travels about 21 miles per hour.
"It's bright yellow, covered with green and purple Mardi Gras flames. It's got the university crest on the hood, big tires and big rims. It's pretty wild," he said.
The tour, called "Big Easy Go," is expected to take 13 days and will make overnight stops in several cities along the way.
"In comparing it to my time in other cities, when you're in New Orleans, you feel like you're at home, everyone's your family," said Thurnher.
"I certainly had no idea it was going to sculpt my life the way it did, but I can't imagine where I'd be if I hadn't moved there," he added.
