New Orleans in October 2006

I spent 2 weeks in New Orleans wandering around, exploring, talking to people, taking pictures and hanging out. Here's a slightly random collection of thoughts & pictures I collected.

My house in Marigny (owned by Dr. Bob & GiO). I stayed here pretty much by myself. You could hear the train rumbling a couple blocks away... beyond that the Mighty Mississipp...

My typical routine was to wake up grab coffee at a neighborhood spot (Cafe Flora or Zots) and basically begin a day of wandering and exploring. Sometimes I'd wander along the river & train tracks, traverse the French Quarter antique shops, tourist sights, & oddities. It was fun to head into the residential Bywater neighborhood (I visited Nocca & Dr. Bob's sculpture garden). And if I was feeling ambitious I'd truck it out to the Warehouse District & Uptown/Magazine. These boots were made for walkin' !

I visited the Audubon Aquarium and saw the white alligator (kinda creepy in pre-historic way) and the scuba divers were out too.

Down by the train tracks... Like a bird on a wire... this flock was so loud! At first I though they were bats.

Food in New Orleans is in a league of own: po'boys, gumbo, jambalaya, friend green tomatoes, oysters, muffaletta, shrimp remoulade, beignets, pralines, red beans & rice... the list goes on and on. Like my cab driver said "Honey, If you don't like the food in N'awlins, they you just don't like to eat!"

A couple of my favorite restaurant discoveries:

Elisabeth's in the Bywater (good down home cookin')
Muffaletta Sandwiches at the Italian deli on Decatur
Beignets at Café du Mondé
Crepe Nanou in Uptown (delicious French food)
Café Atchafalaya (yummy Southern cuisine & really good chocolate cake)
Café Restoration (hearty lunch cooked and served by local youth!)

And a few of my favorite nightspots to hear good music and chat with folks:

Molly's in the Market (Decatur in the French Quarter)
One Eyed Jacks (French Quarter)
R Bar (Marigny)
D. B. A. (Marigny)
The Spotted Cat (Marigny)
The Apple Barrel (Marigny)
The Maple Leaf (Uptown)
Le Bon Temps Roule (Uptown)

Local architecture is historic & odd. I like these strange 1/2 houses:

I visited the Common Ground Collective in the 9th ward and things looked a lot better than they did in March. For example, when I was there in March it was pretty deserted and maybe one or two houses on the block would have life in it (during the day only since there was no electricity). This time around each block had at least 5 or 6 houses that appeared occupied, the electricity was up & buses were running. It was progress, but by no means was the neighborhood "back" yet. It will come back but it's going to take time and it's true, it will never be the same, I'm sure.

Brandon & I went down to the lower 9th (which was even more sparse) and visited the levee.

Back up in the Uptown glittering beads dangle from trees on St. Charles Avenue.

Speaking of trees, my friend Scott took me to visit "the tree of life" in Audubon Park. It's this amazing ancient tree (1850's maybe). Unfortunately I don't have a picture, but it was incredible to visit it and think about how much history (& weather) this one tree has seen...

Back in the French Quarter:

Lastly, I visited the Iron Rail Book Collective, which ironically was right around the corner from my house in the Marigny. They had an awesome zine library and book collection.

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