Many years ago, on my very first trip to New Orleans, I remember I drove past a sign which read: “NO Airport.” It took me a moment to realize that that meant “New Orleans Airport.”
New Orleans goes by other names. Many might know NOLA as Crescent City, the Big Easy, or Mardi Gras City. Thanks to the vampire history which has become an intrinsic part of the city, NOLA is sometimes referred to as “the City of the Dead.”
New Orleans is my second favorite city after New York City. There’s something about NOLA that makes one fall in love with it. There’s a certain feel and mood attached to it offering an intriguing invitation to the edgier side of life…or the afterlife.
What can one do in New Orleans? Plenty!
- tour one or more of the historic cemeteries; there’s a nice one located in the Garden District, right across the Commander’s Place restaurant
- stroll down the streets of Garden District and check out Ann Rice’s (and other) houses
- take the Ghost and Vampire Tour with the fantastic Lord Chaz. I highly recommend it!
- check out A Gallery for Fine Art, a unique art place displaying work by Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson and other famous photographers
- remember that New Orleans sprawls beyond the French Quarter, so don’t be shy, go where tourists don’t go; step inside the jazz bars along the way; if you walk down on Frenchmen Street, you will find The Three Muses; do check it out!
- take the bus tour to Old New Orleans Rum Distillery
- take time to enjoy amazing street performances
- walk on the waterfront, check out the ships on the Mississippi; let yourself be embraced by the Mississippi fog
- take a bus tour to Lake Pontchartrain and the Ninth Ward; see the damage that Katrina left behind
- take the streetcar to Magazine Road and check out the shops and the Mardi Gras beads that adorn fences, trees and houses along the way
- check out the jewelry, t-shirts, and jars of pickled eggs and spices at the farmer’s market
- Jackson Square is a must-see; there are street art festivals and shows around the square, and museums, too.
Also, here’s a very short video of street performers in New Orleans.
Here are a few of the images I took while in New Orleans:
As always, thanks for stopping by,
Alina Oswald 