As the fall season reached its peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, tourists flocked to photograph the blaze of colors in the forests, gaze in wonder at the black bear family foraging for food by the side of the road or hike deep into the woods to enjoy the peaceful roar and natural beauty of the Grotto Falls.

Thousands create traffic jams on the parkway and sidewalks in the tiny town of Gatlinburg - doing some early Christmas shopping, or just enjoying some vacation time in a beautiful place.

Those who are lucky may venture into Baskins Square Shopping Center in the middle of town, and find a treat tucked away in the back - a place with an unlikely name in Tennessee, the New Orleans Sandwich Company.

Inside, Neesee Hurst hammers away at the electric piano - her strong voice belting out songs from the soul of Louisiana, and suddenly tourists who never heard of second-lining are dancing the afternoon away.

So how did a New Orleans restaurant come to Gatlinburg? Owner Amy Dowling was living in Lakeview, until Katrina destroyed her home.

"We evacuated to Chattanooga,” she said. “My husband and I, we were engaged at the time. We got married, and we came here on our honeymoon, and we found there was a real big need for good food here in Gatlinburg."

Dowling’s family owned a Metairie restaurant - and with fresh ingredients shipped from home, then whipped together in the kitchen by her mother, it seemed a profitable idea.

"We decided we were going to try bringing a little of New Orleans to the Smokies, so here we are," said Dowling’s mother Patricia Speer.

The cuisine is pure New Orleans - from the Vieux Carre Gumbo to the Pontchartrain Shrimp Platter, the Marigny Meatball and the Bywater Bacon Club.

The New Orleans Sandwich Shop has been open a year, surely a reason to celebrate – but two years after Katrina, the family is still homesick.

"I miss home very much,” Dowling said. “It's the people, its a way of life, its not just a place you live, and anybody that's from New Orleans knows what its like to miss New Orleans."

They have returned to New Orleans for visit, but when they see the state of the recovery it brings them to tears.

"It feels like there is not home, because its nothing like you remember it, and here's not home, because this just isn't home, and you feel like a bunch of people without a home," said Dowling.

Even Neesee, who was born in Charity Hospital, but grew up in the Carolinas, cries as she relives memories and worries about relatives in New Orleans.

"My aunt used to get out every morning, and sweep her steps,” Neesee said. “She said she got to sweep them steps to keep the devil from coming. But I miss them so much. They're such loving people, and they've had a really rough time in the storm."

And they're not the only ones crying. Repeat customers include other Katrina evacuees living in the area. In fact, the Lost Cajuns of East Tennessee formed a few months before Katrina, but swelled in membership to 300-families after the storm.

"They all want to go home,” Dowling said. “I mean New Orleans is who you are, it’s not just a place you live, it’s really who you are."

And then there are the tourists, who are drawn to a place with real home cooking.

"I'm a Cajun girl at heart, and I don't know, anytime I can find something that smells like home, tastes like home, it just brings a smile to my face," said Memphis resident Debbie DePew.

Upon arriving to the restaurant, there was a gentleman who had lived in St. Bernard before Katrina, and he was holding a loaf of French bread as if it were a prized possession. It was a little taste of home. Now they are living a long way from New Orleans, but the Crescent City is always close to their hearts.

"The nation has to give back,” Neesee said. “You can't throw your child out the back door, and close it, and don't help them. You have got to help your child, and New Orleans is our child, so we got to help her."