Louisiana Part Three: New Orleans

We entered the New Orleans city limits from the north, driving past the Superdome on our left and toward the Convention Center where we would drop off our rental car.  We chose to bring it back to Hertz with an empty tank and we may have been running on fumes when we arrived.  A taxi cab was called and we traveled at breakneck speed to our bed and breakfast.  We stayed at a quaint little place called The Chimes, on Constantinople (Not Istanbul) Street in the heart of the equally quaint Garden District of the city.  There’s even a literary connection here, as the main character of the definitive New Orleans novel Confederacy of Dunces, Ignatius J. Reilly, lived on Constantinople Street.

BowlingWidow at The Chimes Bed & Breakfast:  Great Place to Stay

The Garden District is a great (and very safe) place to walk, with all of its big deciduous trees and classic old homes.  Some of the more famous residents of the area include actor John Goodman (what was he thinking when he made King Ralph?) and ex-NFL quarterback Archie Manning, now more well known for being Peyton and Eli’s dad.  There are a couple of Garden District activities we really felt were worth doing.  First, take a tour of Lafayette Cemetery#1.  A guided tour if possible so you can take in the historical notes and learn how these cemeteries were constructed and operate to this day.  Then, walk the length of Magazine Street with its stores, shops, and interesting restaurants and bars.

A Typical Garden District Home

On a daily basis during the four days we were in New Orleans, we took the streetcars into the French Quarter that run along St.Charles Street.  While they weren’t exactly as fast a speeding bullet train they were a reliable and inexpensive way to get around.  The tremendously popular (and free!) French Quarter Music Festival was going on which had those streetcars busting at the seams with humanity.

Beads From Parades and Parties Gone By Cover the Lines and Cables Along St. Charles Street

Over the four-day run, the FQ Music Festival attracted around 500,000 people.  There was music for everyone’s taste there, unless you are a fan of chamber music or death metal.  Jazz, Blues, Funk, Zydeco, Brass, Traditional, Modern….it was all there on 20 stages (and some street corners) for 10 hours a day.  We couldn’t have possibly seen much more than a fraction of the hundreds of acts but some that made an impression on us under sunny 83-degree skies included Bruce Daigrepont, Rebirth Brass Band (absolutely blew us away), Papa Grows Funk, The Zydepunks, and Walter “Wolfman” Washington, who got our vote for Best Name for a Living Blues Musician.

Downtown New Orleans from the Mississippi River

A couple of more highlights would include getting in to Preservation Hall (barely), that classic concrete cathedral of traditional jazz, to catch a performance.  So was listening to Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue on the lawn on the last night of the festival.  Actually I think that all 500,000 people were right there with us so we recently got tickets to see them later this year at a smaller venue in Seattle.  All said, the weather more than cooperated, the food that we had (such as crawfish pie) sold at the event was great and even the Abita beer was drinkable for this Northwest beer snob.

The Rebirth Brass Band on Stage

Inside Preservation Hall (Barely) for a Show

Bourbon Street at Dusk

Finally, a few other notes about New Orleans:

·         We didn’t wander too far from the French Quarter and the Garden District into places such as Treme.  It would have been interesting to have set foot in those areas but we were warned not to by many and frankly we don’t run as fast as we used to.

·         There’s the French Quarter and then there’s Bourbon Street, within the FQ.  By and large the Quarter is a lot of fun to check out, drink a Hurricane at, shop and get something to eat.  The exception is Bourbon Street and the half block perimeter around Bourbon Street at which you begin to smell a fragrant combination of sewage and vomit.  We don’t really know exactly what goes on there, but it goes on there 24/7.  And they’re all drunk.

·         We were impressed by the ability of the residents (and visitors) to have a good time no matter what.  Katrina wasn’t a death blow for this place and neither will be the next thing that gets thrown at them.

·         The telephone wires along St. Charles Street were loaded with beads.  I think some of the strands have been there since Mardi Gras 1955.

·         Given the great (and rich) local food offerings, it’s perfectly understandable to me that Louisiana is near the top of the national leaderboard when it comes to obesity.

One Final Photo from New Orleans That Just Seemed to Capture the Moment

And speaking of food, next up is my fourth and final blog post.  I’ll conclude with a bite about the cuisine in Louisiana.