New Orleans

Bourbon Street historic marker 

French Quarter historic marker

Neil and I went to one of my most-desired domestic locations: New Orleans, Louisiana! We flew there as part of a larger trip down through Florida to visit friends and family, but spent three days getting up early to explore and eat and eat and eat. I had been wanting to visit NOLA for almost twenty years, and I'm so glad I waited until I had a travel partner who would spend ten-plus hours a day walking around, getting happily lost, and eating our weight in oysters. And po'boys, beignets, etoufee, shrimp creole, and oysters and oysters and oysters!

New Orleans is pulsing with life, warmer and more ecclectic than bigger, bristling cities. It is so much more than the few blocks of Bourbon Street that are stuffed full of strip clubs and walk-up hurricane counters. We neglected to meander about with neon-colored plastic novelty cups full of sugar and booze, despite staying in the French Quarter. That's not to say we are resistant to all tourist attractions; we did find ourselves at Cafe Du Monde first thing in the morning to get beignet sugar all over our hands and chicory coffee (au lait, of course) in our veins.

 

During our quick three days, we investigated the French Quarter, the waterfront, downtown, the Marigny/Bywater, and the Garden District. Aside from transporting ourselves from Place d'Armes to the Garden District, we did all our exploring on foot. If you are at all ambulatory, this is the best way to experience a city like New Orleans because it allows for accidental discoveries and it slows you down enough to experience a place on its own terms, with opportunities to escape the more tourist-heavy areas. We found a couple interesting artist studio/galleries (Dr. Bob's painting studio and Simon Hardeveld's sign garden), excellent coffee at French Truck's roastery cafe, a delicious softshell crab po'boy at Magazine Sandwich Shop, and a junk store whose concern about shoplifting distracted from the far back corner so full of heaped-up furniture and clothing it looked like Trash Heap from "Fraggle Rock" had taken up residence. 

Our favorite oyster spot by far was Felix's. Unassuming lunch counter feel inside and heaps of ultra-fresh raw oysters. We sat at the bar, had a sazerac and Abita amber, and devoured oysters the size of my hand. The oysters here are just as fresh as the more expensive spots, but the vibe is much more casual. 

We stayed at Place d'Armes for two nights in a comfortable room with no windows. I tried hard not to think about the lack of windows in the event of a fire, but as soon as I was in the courtyard or on the balcony all was right with the world again. Being just a few blocks from the French Market and Cafe du Monde certainly didn't hurt. 

Walking around the French Quarter started to hurt my neck. There are a lot of great signs hanging from balconies, and I am a little on the short side. There were a number of dwellings for lease, haunted or not to varying degrees. I still haven't figured out if a ghost in your home means a cheaper lease because you are haunted, or more expensive because you are splitting some of the cost of (un)living with a spectral roommate. This line of thinking of course led to quite a bit of daydreaming for this intrepid couple and there is a chance that when we have larger incomes we will be wintering in NOLA.

Street art and murals here are pretty killer, and abound throughout. Being on foot for most of our time in New Orleans gave me a chance to stop and appreciate what a colorful, eccentric city I was in. I fell in love.

You can find more of angler Neil's take on our trip at conflictedaboutfishing.blogspot.com

Defend New Orleans might be one of the best things about the Garden District. It is a small, clean shop full of locally-printed tees, local-made accessories, home goods, and body products. They have a pro-community attitude and their mission of positivity and community uplift that speaks deep in the heart of this Portland native. It's no wonder New Orleans feels like my second home; as my hometown loses much of its funk and community strength with unchecked development destroying middle-income housing options, New Orleans feels like coming back to the place where I was raised. They are experiencing their own growing pains, but local pride is strong and weird there in the best kinds of ways.