As my next travel experience looms (California wine country – stay tuned!), I thought perhaps I better finish up these NOLA posts.
View from our balcony
Our fourth day was spent with Laura and her family. We started with brunch…
Across from St. Roch Market. I asked The Girl to pose, and this is what she gave me. Love her – and the bright blue wall. We don’t have such colorful backdrops at home.
At St. Roch Market.
Where we had a lovely brunch.
…then a neighborhood walking tour led by her husband, Charles (aka C.W. Cannon)…
At many intersections in NOLA, tile markers indicated neighborhood and street names.
I felt connected to Cancer Carl, though I never saw him – just his tag. I wonder how he’s doing.
On our walking tour of the St. Roch neighborhood, we passed this house. On the porch is a statue of a dual being. One side is a woman, the other a man. The crown indicates they are royalty. We weren’t sure if they were supposed to be someone specific, or a purely artistic creation.
Front door of a house in St. Roch. Note the markings from Katrina, indicating the water line, that the house had been searched, and no bodies were found inside. many homes across NOLA still bear these marks.
The decorative spears atop these painted wrought iron fence posts are reminiscent of the fleur-de-lis that is so ubiquitous around here.
How lovely were these covered steps in St. Roch?
We visited a local, self-sustaning “farm” as the kids called it. This was painted on the wall of a shed.
A tribute to the November 2015 attacks?
The suburbanite in me can’t resist capturing the bubbly letters tagged on urban walls.
Seen in St. Roch. I opted not to get a closer look at what was inside this lovely yard decoration.
Marks on the sidewalk.
… cemetery tour…
When tourists visit NOLA, they often pay for a cemetery tour. We were lucky enough to have author, NOLA cultural expert, and my friend, Laura’s husband, C.W. Canon give us a personal tour.
Entrance to the shrine of Saint Roch.
Graves, mausoleums, and burial vaults fill the space at St. Roch’s Cemetery.
Plaque at St. Roch’s Cemetery.
There were several instances of silk flowers in planters by various graves. I’m not really sure why – except that they’d obviously last longer than real blooms.
In addition to above ground graves, there are burial vaults bordering St. Roch’s Cemetery.
Headstones, old and new, adorned the above ground graves like bedroom headboards.
Seeing this stamp, I couldn’t help but giggle, thinking of Raod Runner cartoons.
Pondering the connection between life and death.
Mausoleums, old and new, interspersed with burial plots.
First Doctor Who meme of the day.
The sculpture atop this headstone was particularly moving in juxtaposition to the beautiful, sunny day.
…lunch (red beans and rice) at the Adelman-Cannon home (a recipe post to be added… eventually)…
After walking through St. Roch to the Marginy, we stopped to have lunch at my friend, Laura’s home. We got to visit (from a distance ecause he was guarding his hen) her backyard rooster.
Tile marker in the Faubourg (more urban than suburban, from my point of view) where Laura lives.
…and a trip through the French Market, by way of various shops.
I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool. Doctor Who meme #2 of the day.
This store has a ton of odd antique stuff.
Are you my mommy? 3rd Doctor Who meme of the day. Had to snap this one quickly, because that mask was stanky!
Open (yet shaded) market in NOLA. It’s HUGE!
The Girl needed a souvenir from the French Market.
After all of that, we had one more stop to make.
Major tourist destination with lines over a block long (pretty much always), and with good reason. The coffee and beignets are to die for. As we walked up to the cafe, we happened to be about to part ways with Laura and her family, so we asked if she had any tips. She said that when she goes, she just walks in and finds a table. There’s no sign saying not to, so we did it like a native, and grabbed a table as soon as it was wiped down (those beignets are coated with powered sugar that gets quite sticky when it mixes with coffee and whatnot on the tables). Not gonna deny it – we did feel a little badass about it.
The Girl, who usually knows to hold off until I put my camera down, couldn’t wait to make a grab for those yummy beignets.
After having our fill of coffee (hot chocolate for The Girl) and beignets, we took a leisurely stroll back to our hotel, and I collected a few “items” along the way: water meter covers…
I became obsessed with photographing these covers all over NOLA. People used to steal these because they were so beautiful, so newer covers aren’t so ornate.
Water meter cover set in brick.
Water access set in stony concrete.
…and crawl space vent screens…
NOLA buildings do not have basements. They do have raised floors that provide a crawl space that is either open or enclosed and screened to allow air to circulate below the homes. This helps cool and manage humidity in the home. In the French Quarter, many screens are beautifully decorative. I collected images of these in addition to my water covers.
This broken vent screen has a little surprise growing inside.
… more of which you’ll see in the day 5 post. I swear. It’ll get done eventually.
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