Saturday in NOLA

Posted: January 11th, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: new orleans, travel | No Comments »

Today: Swamp Tour (my first ride on an airboat!), Lakeside Shopping Centre (yawn), and a bit of nightlife (yeah). 

For nightlife there are two distinct places: glitzy, touristy Bourbon Street and the alternative, hipster Frenchmen Street. Both have live music venues (I don’t think I have ever been in a city where there is so much of live music everywhere in the streets). The difference is that Bourbon Street in the French Quarter is bigger and louder with more people (tourists), but Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigny area has better music and more distinctive places to go to (such as d.b.a, Apple Barrel, and a really nice gay boosktore). Both areas are definitely worth checking out. 

New Orleans cannot really be described, it has to be experienced. It is quite unlike any other place I have been to, and I have only scratched the surface of this magnificent, but also deeply dramatic city. Katrina is still in people’s hearts and minds here and I get the feeling that the city and its inhabitants are in the early stages of healing and restoring. There is the spirit and potential, but with the emerging economic problems and growing crime rates, the New Orleans that once existed might never re-emerge. I hope it will, as there is so much spirit, character and culture here worth saving.

P.S. NOLA means New Orleans, Louisiana. It is also referred to as the Big Easy or The Crescent City.



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