Swamps and Bayou Tour (New Orleans)

While in New Orleans, we decided to take a 90-minute Swamps and Bayous boat tour, launching from the small town of Jean Lafitte, about 25 miles south of the city. Located on Bayou Barataria, Jean Lafitte is named after the French privateer and pirate who, along with his brother Pierre, ran a successful smuggling operation in this area (in addition to their more above-board business ventures). The tour took us through the heart of Southern Louisiana's swamplands into privately owned bayous, and gave us a glimpse into the past. Our Cajun guide is a bayou native, his family going back several generations, and he navigated the waterways with an easy sense of familiarity. All along the ride we were treated to fascinating plant life, including gorgeous trees draped with majestic Spanish moss and semi-submerged cypress trees with roots that look like stumps growing up out of the water. Many creatures make their home here, but most impressively were the many alligators. Our tour guide seemed able to recognize each one individually, knew where they congregated, and used his unique alligator call to beckon them up and out of the water. Of course, it didn't hurt that he had treats for them, and this, it was clear, they had come to expect. This was an interesting and pleasant way to spend an afternoon and get a peek at another side of New Orleans.

Lafayette Cemetery New Orleans

New Orleans is home to many notable cemeteries, but Lafayette No.1 was the only one we had time to visit. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, Lafayette is the oldest of the seven municipal, city-operated cemeteries in New Orleans and is non-segregated and non-denominational. The above ground tombs in Lafayette are typical of all the cemeteries in New Orleans due to the high water table. If you dig down too deep to bury the deceased underground, the burial plot would soon fill with water and caskets would float away. 

There are immigrants from over 25 different countries and natives of 26 states interred here. But perhaps the most famous residents of Lafayette Cemetery are fictional. The tomb for the Mayfair witches, created by Anne Rice, in The Witching Hour, fits a combination of the Lafayette and Jefferson fireman tombs. Rice also staged a jazz funeral where she rode in a glass enclosed coffin down the aisle of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 to introduce her book Memnoch the Devil. The vampire Lestat’s tomb, made from Styrofoam for the movie, Interview with a Vampire, was possibly modeled from the cast iron tomb. Many other movies have been filmed in the cemetery, including Double Jeopardy in 1999 and Dracula 2000 in 2000.

New Orleans Architecture

Here are some samples of the amazing architecture from different areas of New Orleans including the Garden District, Esplanade Drive, Oak Alley Plantation, and the French Quarter. Many of the homes in the Garden District belong to well known authors, actors, and others among the rich and famous, but for the most part, the plantations have been turned into museums, with docent led tours where tourists can learn much about the history of New Orleans. Some of the older neighborhoods still have homes with architecture from a bygone era, and many have been restored to retain the regional look and feel.

New Orleans (The French Quarter)

For one reason or another, despite having been through the state of Louisiana a few times, it wasn't until May 2015 that we finally made it to New Orleans. From what I hear, waiting as long as we did after Hurricane Katrina, which hit in 2005, was probably a good idea. Much of the devastation has been repaired, although from what many say, New Orleans might never be the same as it was before disaster visited the city. Well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, cross-cultural and multilingual heritage, and famous for its cuisine, music, and annual celebrations and festivals, the city is often referred to as the "most unique" in the United States.  With so much to see and do, the one week we spent there only gave us a peek of all it has to offer. One of the most captivating (and famous) areas in New Orleans is The French Quarter (known locally as "the Quarter" or Vieux Carré), with numerous hotels, bars, and nightclubs as well as eclectic cottages and apartments. This neighborhood is vibrant and colorful, never sleeps, is filled with the smells of regional cooking, the sound of music floating out of half-closed doors, and something catches your eye everywhere you turn. Notable tourist attractions in the Quarter include the flamboyant Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the French Market, and Café du Monde, just to name a few. The pictures below are from the French Quarter. (More to follow in posts on The Garden District, Plantation Houses, and a Swamp Tour we took.)