Where: New Orleans, Louisiana
When: May 9, 2011
With: Dave
While the French Quarter may be the place to be when coming to New Orleans, that was not always the case. Back when the city was first founded, the wealthy immigrants and carpet baggers flocked to another section of the city that has now become known as the Garden District. While it may not have the same renown as the Creole neighborhood down the block, the old, large mansions that have been around for 100+ years still claim some of the wealthiest residents of the city of New Orleans.
We took a fun and easy streetcar southwest from the French Quarter where we were staying towards this ritzy neighborhood. This area was beautiful. The streets became wide with large oak trees creating overhead arches and Spanish moss dripping down. The pastel stucco of the French Quarter was replaced with large wraparound porches and mansions that looked more like the old South.
We booked ourselves on a walking tour of the area, the best way to navigate and identify the who's who of old and current New Orleans society. Our guide took us through the back neighborhoods of this beautiful area and pointed out some of the most notable homes along the way, including where Sandra Bullock, Nicholas Cage, the Manning family, and Anne Rice have lived.
When: May 9, 2011
With: Dave
While the French Quarter may be the place to be when coming to New Orleans, that was not always the case. Back when the city was first founded, the wealthy immigrants and carpet baggers flocked to another section of the city that has now become known as the Garden District. While it may not have the same renown as the Creole neighborhood down the block, the old, large mansions that have been around for 100+ years still claim some of the wealthiest residents of the city of New Orleans.
We took a fun and easy streetcar southwest from the French Quarter where we were staying towards this ritzy neighborhood. This area was beautiful. The streets became wide with large oak trees creating overhead arches and Spanish moss dripping down. The pastel stucco of the French Quarter was replaced with large wraparound porches and mansions that looked more like the old South.
We booked ourselves on a walking tour of the area, the best way to navigate and identify the who's who of old and current New Orleans society. Our guide took us through the back neighborhoods of this beautiful area and pointed out some of the most notable homes along the way, including where Sandra Bullock, Nicholas Cage, the Manning family, and Anne Rice have lived.
The Joseph Carroll house, built in 1869, is where Mark Twain stayed for awhile.
Even the iron work fences meant to keep us peons off the property were beautifully intricate and ornate.
Some of the homes looked distinctly Victorian.
While others had an Italian flair.
One of the other must-do's of the Garden District is to head to one of their cemeteries. Creepy, yes, but also fascinating. As we all learned too well during Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is below sea level, making it impossible to bury the dead underground. Therefore, the cemeteries are a collection of beautifully ornate above-ground tombs housing the many famous residents of the city.
Even the walls outside the cemeteries have a beautiful, but eery, charm.
The most famous cemetery in the Garden District is Lafayette No. 1. This is the oldest municipal cemetery in the city of New Orleans. The Garden District was once the town of Lafayette before it was annexed into the greater city of New Orleans, hence the cemetery name.
The cemetery was laid out and planned in 1823 and made to resemble a city park, with lots of trees and wide alleys to allow for funeral processions. That, coupled with the beautifully ornate tombs, and it is hard to remember it's a cemetery.
While several famous New Orleans residents are buried here, the cemetery has gained the most recent fame from the fiction of Anne Rice, who used this cemetery down the street from her home as the backdrop for many of her novels, particularly as a resting place for her vampires.
We had a lovely day in the Garden District, pretending to bump elbows with the rich and famous of New Orleans. While I prefer the energy of the French Quarter, this beautiful neighborhood provided a great side trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment