Fun on the Street

One performance we enjoyed so much we went back to see again the next day. A group of four young men doing acrobats/break dancing/tumbling and they were incredible. They were also very comical, talking to passersby and entertaining the crowd. They had a huge gathering on Saturday and a smaller crowd on Sunday although it was rather large too. Two of these fellows were on the TV show America's Got Talent last season and you can catch that performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qAx3657h5g

this guy went out in the street and stopped traffic and proceeded to stand on his head then bounce on his head on the pavement.... OUCH!

the guy on top is spinning around on the other guys head

a great balancing act... no hands

check out the guy flying thru the air... (next to the red vehicle) these are photos Jamie took and she captured a special moment here

I was waiting on the second day for this guy to do this with his eyes and snapped a photo... he looked downright scary when he did this

Joan of Arc

I kept seeing references to Joan of Arc all over New Orleans and couldn't figure out why. What did she have to do with New Orleans??? After several days it finally dawned on me... Joan was the "Maid of Orleans" in France. I had one of those ah-ha moments where the light bulb suddenly flashes on and you feel so stupid for not realizing it before. Anyway now I know. On the carriage ride I found out from our tour guide that the gold statue below was originally silver and a gift from France. When Harrah's Casino first opened up in the city they took one nights house winnings and had Joan covered in 24K gold. WOW! The second photo is of a statue of Joan inside the St. Louis Cathedral.

Cemeteries

The cemeteries in New Orleans are very interesting for several reasons. All are buried above ground because most of New Orleans is 15 feet below sea level and if you buried the dead underground they would wash away. There are a couple of really interesting cemeteries running along both sides of I-10 that I have seen in the past and always wanted to go check out. It wasn't meant to be on this trip however. There are acres and acres and acres of tombs here. Jamie and I tried to visit the Lafayette Cemetery #1 however it was on Sunday and the cemeteries are closed on Sunday's. Not sure why. We did walk the entire square perimeter and looked thru the gates on each side and took a few photos.

that's me peeping thru the gates

Jackson Square

Jackson Square is located within the French Quarter and has a lot going on, especially during the weekend. During the week it was pretty quiet and not very many people around. There is a big statue of Andrew Jackson on a horse in the center of the square. Lots of artists display their work for sale all around the square, lots of street performers and astrologers too. The cathedral is located there as well. Below are a few photos taken from the square.

Andrew Jackson statue

St. Louis cathedral

inside the cathedral

a sign outside the cathedral

the Louisiana Purchase was signed here

the astrologers were lined up wanted to tell you your future


artists selling their works

Port of Call

One thing you do a lot of when you are in New Orleans is eat. We tried to stay away from chain restaurants (you don't see many of them here anyway) and sample the local flavor instead. I can honestly say I am not a fan of cajun or creole food. Sorry. Anyway we ate a lot of different things and always tried a different restaurant for each meal. One place that was highly recommended was Port of Call. We all agreed that may have well been the best hamburger we've ever eaten. It was fantastic!!! I wish I had made a photo of the outside of the place. It was tiny. I don't think there were even 10 tables inside. We had to wait a while for a table but it was well worth it. Delicious! The burgers come with a baked potato side and between the burger and potato you leave feeling full. The next day I discovered another dirty little hole in the wall that had a peanut butter burger. Now before you say that sounds disgusting let me tell you that I had read about 50 reviews of it online and all were positive, many saying it beat the Port of Call hamburgers. Well I wouldn't go that far myself but it was really good. David and I ordered one for lunch and shared it. He didn't like it as well as I did but for him it is a mental thing. Port of Call was hands down the better burger. Both places seem to cater more to the locals than to tourists.

Emeril Lagasse

I think most people are familar with the famous chef Emeril Lagasse and are aware that he has 3 restaurants in New Orleans. We passed by one of them while on the St. Charles streetcar the other day... Delmonico. Nola is the other one and it is located in the French Quarter. David and I ate at Nola last night and it was a delicious meal indeed!!!! The prices were not all that bad, no more so than most restaurants in this area but the food was outstanding. We had the Texas red fish and a couple of appetizers that were to die for... one was parmasean pocket bread and the other was a cilantro grilled shrimp with eggplant and some sort of sauce drizzled over it. I can't even begin to describe how delicious it all was. For dessert I had banana pudding cake and David had the pecan pie with sweet potato ice cream. We left feeling mighty fine. I highly recommend to anyone in the area to give it a try.

Carriage Tour

Yesterday David and I took a carriage tour around the French Quarter. We saw many interesting things, most of which I had seen during my time here but had no idea what I was seeing until the tour. One thing we did pass by was the voodoo store of Marie Laveau on Burboun Street. I had wanted to go in there to check it out but never made it back. After the tour the guide showed us how the horse would take a biscuit right out of her mouth... YUCK! And then she passed out biscuit treats for us to feed the horse. David did but I wasn't brave enough to give it a try.

Strange Characters

Sometimes you just never know what you will run into on the streets. We saw several interesting characters while in New Orleans but unfortunately most of them slipped by before I could snap a picture. I did manage to get a nice shot of this fellow though. We had stopped to listen to a band on the street and this guy was standing directly across from us. Interestingly enough I saw him again the next day too... wearing a different outfit but the same glasses. Jamie and I both thought he belonged in Austin.

Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street is pretty dirty and not a place I care too much for. We only made it there a couple of times although it was less than one block away from our hotel. I guess you have to go there when you are in New Orleans just to say you went but otherwise I don't have any use for it. There are plenty of other streets that much more fun.

Bridges

The bridges at City Park made for nice photos opportunites so I took advantage of that.

City Park

I decided to go to City Park this morning and went out front to catch the Canal Street streetcar. On the map I had it appeared to only be about 6 blocks away and I had seriously thought about walking but since my time was valuable to fit everything in today I opted to take the streetcar. I had to wait nearly 30 minutes before the right car came along. I got on and rode and rode and rode. I didn't think we'd ever get there. City Park was located at the end of the line but we went much, much farther than 6 blocks. It took half an hour to get there so it was more like 10 miles or more... SO glad I didn't try walking! I got there and discovered I had to walk about half a mile to the entrance to get to where I was going. I had planned on going to the Sculpture Garden and the Botanical Gardens to get some good photos. I stopped along the way and took some photos of the many birds I saw in front of the art museum. I finally made it around to the Sculpture Garden only to find it is closed on Monday and Tuesday... darn! I was so disappointed. I could see thru the fenced area and it really looked like an interesting place that I would have truly enjoyed. I never could find the Botanical Gardens so I gave up and instead walked around and took photos of the magnificent trees... old live oak trees with Spanish moss and the most amazing trunks and limbs and a few bridges. Below are some of my favorite photos. After leaving the park I had to wait for over an hour for the next streetcar back to the hotel. I am not sure if it was worth all the waiting and long ride only to discover what I wanted to see was closed or not. The scenery was nice. The park had almost been completely destroyed by hurricane Katrina and they are still building it back.

The photos don't do justice to these magnificent trees.

Streetcars

We discovered a wonderful way to see New Orleans outside of the French Quarter is to ride the St. Charles streetcar. This takes you on a 13 mile adventure into the Garden District passing lots of beautiful antebellum mansions and historic monuments, as well as Loyola and Tulane Universities. You also pass by Lee Circle, a roundabout with a statue of Robert E Lee atop a tall column. He is forever facing north so his back is never to his enemies. This particular streetcar is the oldest continuously operating streetcar in the world! It has been in operations for over 165 years. It is a fantastic way to see the city and the cost is only $1.25 each way. There is no one to tell you what you are seeing as in a guided tour but is still a great way to see the city.

the St. Charles Streetcar

statue of Robert E Lee at Lee Circle

The Canal Street streetcars run along Canal Street (of course). They run from the harbour up to City Park where the old city cemeteries are located. I have not been on these as of yet but think I will do that this morning and perhaps check out the cemeteries. Below are a couple of photos of the Canal streetcars.

Crawdaddy's

Crawdaddy's seem to be on all the menu's here in NOLA and we saw this cute T-shirt one day and I had to take a photo. Who's Your Crawdaddy?

Jamie Wins a Benjamin

There is a Harrah's casino just down the street and Jamie and I decided to go in and blow $10 each. I lost mine but she ended up winning $100... WOW! She was so excited. I had blown my ten bucks and had gone to a cash machine to cash out the remaining dollar I had won and when I returned she was saying LOOK! and pointing to the total on her machine. How cool! She promptly cashed out and we left. She had a free airline ticket to New Orleans, a nice free hotel room and now she won 100 bucks... she got paid to come here and enjoy the city for a few days. You gotta love a story like that.

Jamie standing outside of Harrah's wearing a big smile on her face and carrying a fatter wallet

New Orleans Street Musicians

New Orleans has a lot of street musicians. Austin may be the "Live Music Capital of the World" but a lot of the live music there is in clubs. Here in NOLA there is a lot of live music out on the streets and we have enjoyed our fair share of it so far. I have especially enjoyed the cajun style myself. Below are a few photos of some of the many musicians we have seen so far.