There's No Place Like New Orleans: 3 More Things I Love About the Big Easy

I'm back home in the Big Apple but my mind keeps wandering back to the Big Easy. Just a few days ago I was strolling along the Mississippi River and now I'm fighting my way onto the 6 train during rush hour. Go figure. 

So, with Kermit Ruffins playing in the background as I snack on a praline from Leah's, I've decided to take a mental holiday and look at some of the photos from my trip. Here are just three of the reasons why I'm a fan of NOLA.

Talking to Strangers: Please don't tell my mother, but I spend the majority of my vacations striking up conversations with strangers. I had some great exchanges with folks in New Orleans on topics ranging from Hurricane Katrina to Hubig's Pies. One conversation inspired me to hop a streetcar to the Treme neighborhood for lunch at a popular restaurant called Two Sisters (this is NOT the restaurant with the same name in the French Quarter).

 

This heaping plate of food may not be pretty but it was DELICIOUS!  If you want to try finger-licking, down-home cooking, hop the Canal Street streetcar and get off at Claiborne Avenue. This heaping plate of rice and peas, juicy neckbones, potato salad and cornbread was only $8.50! Two Sisters is open Monday-Saturday from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm. (Tel: 504-524-0056).

Another helpful stranger that I met was this handsome fireman. Oh my. Need I say more?

Music, Sweet Music: It makes sense that the birthplace of jazz  knows how to swing. Everywhere you go in New Orleans, you hear fantastic musicians playing their hearts out. These street musicians may not be famous but they have an abundance of talent.

History Everywhere You Turn: How can one small city be so rich in history? If you're an old soul like me, who prefers a crumbling mansion to a gleaming skyscraper, then you gotta love New Orleans.

    Congo Square, located inside Louis Armstrong Park, is where slaves and free people of color would gather on Sundays in the 19th century. The African dancing and drumming that occurred at the Congo led to the development of Jazz. (The park was closed during my visit so I could only gaze at the square from outside the gate.)

Sometimes I felt like I was back in Spain.


I love these romantic courtyards that pop up in the French Quarter


Playwright Tennessee Williams had an apartment here at 623 St. Peter's Street. They say this is where he worked on his masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire.

Thank you New Orleans - you are one beautiful, resilient, charming and unique city! Watch out, I'll be back in my little black dress.