With the sale of Adventurer Travel to the American International Travel company located out of Baton Rouge LA I was transfered to downtown New Orleans. Located on the ground floor of the Chevron Building at the corner of Gravier and O’Keefe I was a 98% corporate agent handling travel arrangements for some of the major players in the New Orleans area. Lisko & Lewis, Jones Walker, Middle South Utilities (now Entergy) along with the administration and nuns at Hotel Dieu Hospital, the doctors and trainers that handled the New Orleans Saints.
The leisure travel that I did during those 5 years was only when one of our corporate peeps needed to get away with their family. But with each vacation request I would dive into the destination, which remember was not done on the computer back then I had to go to the local library, I yearned to do more leisure arrangements. By 1988, as I was planning my wedding, Lenny and I decided that I needed to be closer to home instead of downtown if we were going to begin a family. I applied and got hired by two wonderful ladies who owned Carousel Travel in Chalmette an agency that was only 40% commercial and 60% leisure, I was elated!
I spent from 1988 to 1996 at the same location which during that time changed ownership twice. During my time at 1308 East Judge Perez Drive we saw several changes and advancements in the travel industry and technology as a whole. Something that we wondered how we ever lived without came about, the Facsimile machine, WOW did this help us cover our butts. Now instead of just having a client tell us what and where, and us giving them flight schedules and costs we could have them FAX it to us and we would do the same with getting the information back to them, and then of course saving the information we sent to them by placing the actual paper FAX into the clients folder…. oh the paper trail in those years was long.
About 1994 I was promoted to the manager of the American International office in Chalmette, YES, the Same American International that I had worked for back in the late 80’s had come full circle lucky for me I didn’t burn that bridge in 1988 and had only left to be closer to home.
Now 1988 here I am working 6 blocks from home, newly married and hoping to start a family, but what was next?