Dreams of the Crescent City- Part I

                                       Dreams of the Crescent City, Part I

Our base of operations for the Big Easy rambles!

 As a musician, foodie and fan of all things historic, visiting New Orleans was a long time on my bucket list. Welcome to the first of what will likely become a series of blogs about it! In August 2016, my wife, aka Mrs. Good Life Ramblings, booked us for a few days at Club La Pension at 115 Decatur Street in the Central Business District (CBD), an easy walk to many of the most popular destinations in the city.

We learned the fertile crescent shaped land that New Orleans sits upon was inhabited for thousands of years by the Chitimacha people and their ancestors. In 1542, Spanish conquistadors led by Hernando de Soto were the first Europeans to explore the region, but it was the French who established La Noivelle-Orleans in 1718.

Joan of Arc

 Walking the streets of the city, reminders of New Orleans long history and diverse cultural influences are all around. From the grand mansions of the Garden District to the quiet dignity of the Treme to the incomparable party that is Bourbon Street, NOLA is a living, breathing history book set to an amazing soundtrack! 

St. Augustine Catholic Church

We did, in fact, do quite a bit of walking but we took advantage of ride sharing services like Lyft and Uber after long nights of music and drinks on Frenchmen Street! The historic streetcars were a cheap, easy and fun way to get out and explore some outlying areas of the city.

View from streetcar

 

Buses and taxis are available options to get around but are not nearly as fun as the streetcars!

 For a different view of the city, we recommend a day trip on the Steamboat Natchez, a two-hour tour down the river and back which includes a buffet brunch and live jazz.

New Orleans Skyline

Steamboat Natchez

The captain calls out points of interest over the PA but it was somewhat difficult to hear over the sounds of music and other guests talking. You can tour the engine room as well to see how this last, authentic Mississippi steamboat works. Pretty cool stuff! 

Like many destination cities, the cost of parking is not cheap, especially at the hotels of the CBD so if you’re planning on driving in town, do a little research to find options that work best for you.

You can’t help but be impressed by the diverse architectural designs throughout the city. French and Spanish influenced styles sit shoulder to shoulder on storied streets and by ways. Some of the earliest structures were called Creole cottages, squarish buildings of a minimalistic design popular for their practicality and economic construction cost. Another prevalent building type is "Shotgun". The name is derived from the long and narrow construction of these buildings with rooms opening up one after the other in a straight line.

We visited a lot of shops and eateries during our visits. It seems to me there is an air of timelessness on every street, every alley, every square. Each building has a story to tell. More about that in the next blog however must sees on any trip to New Orleans include the majestic St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square.

St. Louis Cathedral

and the beautiful melancholy of the above ground cemeteries some may call “Cities of the Dead”.

St. Louis Catherdral has a very different vibe at night!

We love a good Ghost Tour and we did indeed indulge in one in New Orleans! I mean, come on, how do you not with the colorful and at times tragic past of this place? From the tales of Marie Laveau, Creole Voodoo Queen and legendary pirate Jean Lafitte to the LaLaurie Mansion to an abandoned amusement park on the outskirts of town, there is no shortage of creepy, bone-chilling stories!

Our Ghost Tour guide

There is no way to fully appreciate in a single visit or a single blog for that matter, all New Orleans has to offer. We returned to the Crescent City in 2019 and besides revisiting some of our favorite places in the Vieux Carre aka The French Quarter, we made an effort to see and do a few new things! NOLA is home to a vast array of museums of many types. 

A highlight on this ramble was a visit to the incredible National WWII Museum which can easily take up a full day with the huge amount of exhibits, both guided and interactive. If you don’t know the names Sgt. George Shenkman, Lt. John R. Fox, Pvt. Oscar Johnson, Jr. and Pvt John D. McGrath you should look them up.

 

We really love the Besthoff Sculpture Garden that sits on eleven beautiful acres in City Park at the end of the Canal Street streetcar line.  Plan to spend a few hours walking among the many beautiful, clever and thought-provoking works of art.

Pro tip- eat some breakfast first then pack a lunch or munchies and plenty of water, there isn’t much in the way of refreshments close by although a pleasant and savvy local was vending ice cold bottles of water by the streetcar loading zone in the park!

On the outskirts of the French Quarter is the Louis Armstrong Park in the Treme section of New Orleans.

Treme has the distinction of being the oldest African-American community in the country. The park is filled with sculptures and statues dedicated to the some of the city’s most famous musical denizens: its namesake, jazz legend, Louis Armstrong among them. Not to be missed is the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts. Traveling Broadway productions, opera, ballet, and orchestral performances occur regularly. Also in the park is historic Congo Square which was a meeting place for 19^th century slaves and free blacks. Every Sunday, the slaves’ day off, there would be music and dancing in the traditions of their homelands and their handmade wares were sold to locals and visitors in a market  setting. Even today Congo Square remains a vibrant part of the community, hosting festivals and weekly drum circles.

Speaking of art, there are a surprising number of galleries in the city, something we were not aware of. On our 2019 Ramble we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Phil Tracy, brother to and gallery director for famed artist, Craig Tracy. Craig has elevated body painting to a fine art as you can see in the photos below.

Phil Tracy was incredibly warm and eager to talk about his brother’s works. We spent more than an hour with Mr. Tracy and left with a few modestly priced prints. A really nice visit, we recommend you stop if you are in the area. This and many other galleries and shops can be found on Royal Street among others.

Our experiences exceeded all expectations but honestly there isn’t much that can be said or written about the amazing city of New Orleans or The Big Easy (or “Nawlins” or NOLA) that has not been said or written before! After all, the good and the gritty of this beautiful and historic city have been the setting for countless books, movies and television shows. In fact, New Orleans is also nicknamed “Hollywood South”!

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog, we hope it entertains and maybe even informs! Stay tuned, the next installment of Dreams of the Crescent City will focus on food and music, see you there!