The Big Easy: New Orleans, LA

8/11-8/15

That was close! I can’t believe that I completely screwed up my schedule and arrived so late to one of my favorite Cities in the country. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned I had a job that took me to different cities and in 2019 I was lucky enough to have a week in New Orleans, which started my love for it and I was pumped to do some further exploration beyond Bourbon street. I was staying in the Bywater area in a lovely shotgun house. Between it’s comfortable furniture and eccentric décor I knew I was in for a good stay. I also got the chance to finally understand why they call them Shotgun houses. Two long skinny units attached side by side in a single structure resembling the double barrels of it’s namesake. Anyway, the location was perfectly ideal. Right next door was an adorable coffee shop and down on the other end of the block were some great bars. The Neighborhood has a wonderful homey vibe and what has to be my favorite restaurant in the area, Bacchanal. Built into an old house Bacchanal is a fine dinning restaurant with a wine and cheese shop attached. It’s large back yard gives you the feel of a community picnic underscored by fantastic live jazz music played on a centralized stage. I beg you to visit this place. Speaking of food, I can not continue this blog without mentioning the Napoléon house. A restaurant and bar built into a home once lived in by Napoleon Bonaparte. This place has the most amazing muffuletta sandwich I’ve ever had. I won’t harp on this, but if you don’t get one on a visit we can not be friends.

I was on a mission to experience a bit more of local culture then the party atmosphere that draws people from around the world all year round. So I headed out on a walk to see what I could find. First stop was JamNOLA. A walk through art exhibit created by multiple local artists expressing the energy and style of NOLA. I stand by the fact that it would be impossible for anyone to visit this exhibition and not walk out wishing every day was marde gras. Next I went to the Museum of Jazz. Housed in a former mint this museum run by the national parks department explores art based on and the lives of the Jazz greats. It also has a small exhibit on the US minting process. So if you love music and your partner loves money, this might be exactly the place for you. At the Jazz Museum the ranger informed me that there were 4 other exhibits in Jackson Square and if you purchased tickets to all of them at once there would be a discount, so of course I did it. Following my delve into modern music I took the short stroll through a rain storm to the 1850’s house. An old house furnished in the style of the era with audio recordings giving you a soundscape of what conversations may have taken place in the home 170 years ago. The final one I was able to fit in was The Cabildo. This historic building examines the history of the city and displays gorgeous works of arts. Possibly the most emotional experience I had was going to the 9th ward living museum. Located on the other side of the canal the museum is housed in a small shotgun home and filled with photographs outlining its tragic past and the resiliency of the people who live there. If you don’t know the 9th ward is predominately black area that was purposefully cut off form the city of New Orleans by a man made canal. It is also the place that is most affected by hurricanes. While this currently expanding exhibit is not a fancy place, it is certainly something that you should see.

I of course enjoyed my fair share of debauchery while in town as well. But I’ll instead leave you with an experience I had that was the closest I’ve had to feeling like a local in any city on the trip. I met up with Sydney who I had met while in town for work previously and she invited me to a pool party. NOLA in August is pretty disgusting weather wise. It’s hot, humid and rains for like an hour in the middle of the day making your general experience a little miserable. So I was pumped to join Sydney and her friends. I walked into the back yard of a home with a large pool filled with vaccinated people and a full band playing. It was the most perfect experience I could have. I am so grateful to Sydney for letting me join and offering the chance to live like a local for a moment.

God I love the Big Easy. More stories then one could tell and I look forward to creating more and maybe revealing them all….

UPDATE:

Not long after I left New Orleans a class 4 Hurricane struck New Orleans Once again. While the levee luckily held it proved to cause the 2nd most damage to the area after Katrina devastated the area 15 years ago. For a community that has yet to recover from that devastation only to be hit again brings my heart great sadness. I hope that the community has better luck returning to it’s full strength then it’s past experiences would infer. All my love to all of you.