Since I had some problems with my server yesterday, I didn’t get the post up until after 11:00. I noticed the email versions of the post didn’t go out yesterday and the late posting might be the reason – or it may be a glitch with Feedburner. I don’t know. But hey, if you only rely on receiving a copy of the post in your email, you’re sort of on the wrong track anyway.
I’ve said this before. 99% of the time, I post every day. So if you don’t get an email, it’s so easy to just come to the blog via your browser and see if there’s a post up. Don’t just rely on the email. If you do, you’ll sometimes miss a post, because I have no control over servers or Feedburner.
End of (loving) lecture.
We had the best dinner last night; a mixture of Puerto Rican and Brazilian food and I’m still thinking about it. Our waiter was from Puerto Rico and he’s busy raising money for Puerto Rican hurricane relief. What an amazing young man he is. He’s doing everything he can for his native country. His family still does not have electricity and may not have it for months. Are you listening, Washington, DC?
Yesterday, I climbed on the St. Charles streetcar (what fun!) and traveled to the Garden District and Lafayette Cemetery. Love the drivers, who are charming and call you “Dawlin'” and are so helpful.
First stop was the famous Lafayette Cemetery. It’s stunningly beautiful. Most of you probably know this, but because of the low sea level to below sea level here, everyone is buried above ground. (I also read something that said the above ground burial is a Catholic tradition – so who knows?) It’s a truly moving and powerful place to visit. I’ll simply post the photos below.
I only hope that Don has a smidgen of free time, so I can bring him here. He’s really working long hours.
I then walked many of the streets of the Garden District. Took lots of house pictures and I’ll share them with you tomorrow. But here’s a sneak peek:
And my favorite little cottage. Can I move in?
Please?
A beautiful day, with the humidity gone and a slight breeze. Couldn’t have been better.
Happy Wednesday.
Claudia , I thank you for sharing your experiences and your photos of lovely New Orleans. I’m enjoying your blog every day even if I don’t comment. Thanks for taking me along on the trip through your eyes.
Susan L
You don’t need to comment, Susan. Just enjoy!
I do check your blog every day.
I know my comments are few and far between at times but I have been dealing with breast cancer. So you just never know. I will say this, I am putting New Orleans on my bucket list. Thank you Claudia for your devotion to your blog. You are #1 on my reading list.
Monica, the most important thing to attend to is your health. Please take care. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Thank you for being here and don’t worry about commenting.
to monica …
will pray for you as you fight that battle. wishing you strength, peace …
kathy in iowa
Nawlins, where everybody calls you Dawlin. Such a treat to see it again through your eyes, Claudia. Aren’t the cemeteries the best? I still don’t quite know how to feel about the way that the dead are buried in those quaint little crypt/houses. A tour guide once described how they are family owned and “new residents” are added directly on top of the older ones, leaving bones to mix and crumble together over time. Now there is something to ponder, if you are so inclined. And the plants that grow between the bricks, he called them “Funeral Ferns”.
I wondered about the ferns. I saw them everywhere. Thanks for giving me the name for them!
glad you are having so much fun, claudia!
i appreciate your words and photos about one of my most favorite places – and you taking vacation time to post for us! now go get yourself some more beignets! :)
kathy in iowa
I will! I see why it’s one of your favorite places, Kathy. It is fast becoming one of mine, as well!
I haven’t been to New Orleans in years. It is a city unto itself, isn’t it? I love all the history (including the ‘haunts’) that are part of the culture. Do you follow Ron’s blog (The Uptown Acorn)? He lives there and is just a riot…a teacher that loves his cocktails!
Hope you have a great time there, Claudia! xo Diana
No, I don’t know of his blog, Diana, but I’ll check it out. Thank you!
What a fun day. I use to love riding the street car to downtown when I lived in the Garden District. The homes are so amazing and I too would just love to move into one of those cottages. The cemeteries are works of art and so interesting. It sounds like a really good day. I hope Don gets a little down time to explore a bit more. There is so much great food in that city I envy you! Can’t wait for more photos!
The food is incredible although if I wasn’t a vegetarian, I would have a lot more options!
New Orleans…or Nawlins has jumped to the top of ‘my places to go’ list. And that cottage….oh my, yes! Course all the old architecture is fantastic. Between the food, the architecture, and the cute bookstores….I need to go there. Have another fun day! ;)
It is wonderful, Donnamae. I had no idea how wonderful it was until I got here. I’ve fallen in love with the city.
Love the pictures! Is that a little gate in front of the door of the “cottage” you like so much? The cemetery is so fascinating. A former resident of the tiny town where I grew up in WI is buried down there – historian Stephen Ambrose, who taught for many years at the University of NO. I was lucky enough meet him once to tell him how much I enjoyed his books (he was in my dad’s Boy Scout troop when I was a very little girl) and heard after he’d died that he was buried “above ground.” Sounded very exotic and quite different from the walls of “vaults” around here. It appears you and NO go together quite well!
Yes, it’s a gate. Isn’t it charming? I know of Stephen Ambrose – he is beloved here. Thanks, Kay!
Claudia, I am so glad you and Don are having a great time!! I love the streetcars!! The 922 streetcar is the one in the movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”. My goal is to try and catch that one on my visit!! The food in New Orleans is wonderful also !! Enjoy the Garden District!! Its just beautiful!! I am enjoying your visit so much!! Thanks for the lovely pictures!!
You are most welcome, Francine! Glad you’re enjoying them.
Your photos are wonderful. Do you use a camera or are they from your phone? Some of them are frame worthy. Or would make lovely posters.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Some are from my phone but the cemetery photos were from my big girl camera. Depends on where I am and how important the shots are to me.
So glad you hopped on the St. Charles streetcar. Enjoy yourself, but be careful in the cemeteries – not the best places to explore on your own. . Galveston is at sea level and has historically had a large Catholic population, but burials are in the ground. There are some mausoleums built by well-to-do families. What a shame you and Don can’t do much exploring together, but you can always go back.
Oh, it was fine. There were a lot of people there, as well as a guided tour and it was mid-day. I’m a tough city girl, remember?
We do plan on coming back, because, though I love exploring on my own, it’s much more fun when Don is with me!
Am loving your blog even more with you in “Nawlins” – it’s really like a little online travelogue a la those shorts they used to show at the movies when my parents were young. I remember them telling me about them when I was a kid. Cartoons, news reels, sometimes a short travelogue or documentary – and then the feature! Getting an education in a movie theater. And the best popcorn! – my Dad would usually add. Love those Garden District houses too – can’t wait to see more. Hope you’re having another fun day in the Big Easy [wonder how it got that name]. PS – I check online for your blog everyday, Claudia – I read it there actually because didn’t you once say it was “better” viewed there? But I also get the e-mail just in case [sometimes I do read it long after getting the e-mail if having a particularly busy day]. Peace! ⭐️
#Resist
I remember those shorts! They were neat.
It is better to view the blog directly. (And it helps my ad income!)
The Big Easy came from the name of a 1900 Dance Hall, according to my little book.
Love the street cars. Growing up in San Francisco, we rode the street cars all the time. Love the architecture….what beautiful homes you’re photographing and sharing with us. Enjoy the time solo and with Don.
I am. I’m tired today, so I’m taking an afternoon break. Only one more day and then I have to fly home on Friday.
Thank You Claudia for this terrific and moving tour. Those houses are gorgeous. I am Catholic and never heard of burials above ground. I was touched by that photo of The Society For The Relief Of Destitute Orphans. My late father was orphaned at the age of seven and a half. He and some of his siblings were put in an orphanage.
Marilyn
If you look at bit more closely you’ll see the word ‘boys’ after Orphans. So it was for orphan boys. I found it very moving.
So loving your New Orleans photographs as I lived there in the early 60’s as an 8 year old for 2 years – reliving my early memories. My parents took me to the French Quarter for my birthday dinner.
How lovely!
I found the crypt for the orphan boys quite touching too Claudia…the funeral ferns are a nice addition also…I was so sad to hear that New Orleans lost one of it’s greatest legends yesterday with the passing of Fats Domino…What a great man he was…R.I.P. Fats….Love the cottage you found…can hardly wait to see what you show us tomorrow!
I think the funeral ferns just naturally grow there. You can see them emerging in the seams of the stones, etc.