New Orleans Living

The Benachi House

One of the nice things about staying on the 2200 block of Esplanade Avenue is that it is a part of the living New Orleans.  When visitors walk through our neighborhood, they experience a real city street, albeit an enchanted one, not a shop-lined, Disney-inspired Neverland.  People are friendly to fellow pedestrians because they are friendly to everyone, not because they are trying to coax a dollar out of your wallet.

I took a walk up to the Fair Grounds yesterday to see how long it will take to walk to Jazz Fest from La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.  It takes 8.5 minutes if you don't dawdle. 

I took some pictures along Bayou Road, the street that crosses Esplanade Avenue in the 2200 block and creates Gayarre Park in the neutral ground.  The Benachi House is diagonally across the park from our New Orleans bed and breakfast inn, behind the statue of Clio.  The Benachi House was restored by the same gentleman who first restored 2216 and 2222 Esplanade Avenue.

Across the street from the Benachi House

Next door to the Benachi House

I haven't included all the pictures, only the ones I find interesting.  Maybe next post I'll include some more.  Bayou Road, the oldest road in the city and which only runs three convoluted blocks lakeside from the 2200 block of Esplanade Avenue, is full of things I enjoy studying.  

Coco Hut, Bayou Road, New Orleans, LA

When I was taking a picture of Coco Hut, a Caribbean Restaurant, the proprietress came out.  "Are you from the city?" she asked.  I said I wasn't,  "Are you from the surveyors who are going to repave the street?" she asked.  I said I didn't even know Bayou Road is scheduled to be repaved, though I know Esplanade Avenue is.  "Yeah, the city is doing a big project on this square to pretty it up even more.  Not that it needs it," she said.

This part of Bayou Road is one of the very few New Orleans streets still paved in brick.  The only other one I can think of is Felicity Street, Uptown.

"Wait a minute," the Coco Hut Lady said.  "If you know that Esplanade is being repaved, you must not be a tourist." I have lived here two years.  "And you've never had lunch here?" she asked.  I always order the jerk chicken with a tamarind soda.  "Oh, that's you," she said.  "That chicken will put hair on your chest."  As we shook hands goodbye I replied that the jury is still out on that claim.

Domino Sound Record Shack, Bayou Road, New Orleans, LA

I haven't had a record player or cassette deck for more years than I care to remember.  I have never been in the Domino Sound Record Shack.  I have, however, been in the business next door.

Community Book Center, Bayou Road, New Orleans, LA

It is always nice to have a bookstore in your neighborhood.  It is a mark of civilization, much like a record store.  As the mural up top indicates, this shop specializes in African and African-American literature as well as handicrafts and gifts.  There is a very deep selection and this omnivorous reader always finds something to purchase.

St. Rose of Lima, pray for us

In the center of this mix is the former St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church.  Our plumber, who grew up in the parish, pronounces it "Saint Rose of LIE-ma."  We both agree that the statue of Clio in Gayarre Park is pronounced "KL-EYE-oh."  When in New Orleans, speak like New Orleanians do.  The St. Rose of Lima Parish was consolidated post-Katrina with Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church at the Bayou St. John end of Esplanade Avenue, across from St. Louis Cemetery #3.  

The church was recently sold by the Archdiocese of New Orleans to the Bayou Treme Center for Arts and Education.  More proof that New Orleanians are investing in this vibrant New Orleans neighborhood's future.  The city, in fact, has committed $700,000.00 for street scape improvements on this stretch of Bayou Road.

Broadview Crawfish House, North Broad Street, New Orleans, LA

One last stop before Bayou Road becomes Gentilly Road at the intersection with North Broad Street, the Broadview Seafood Market and Crawfish House around the downtown corner.  Not only do we regularly visit this neighborhood icon for a few pounds of boiled crawfish, so do our guests.  We only ask that guests enjoy this messy food on the balcony or in the garden and, that they leave the shells outside for us to pick up during our morning cleaning.

Some of La Belle Esplanade's back yard

There is more to New Orleans than what is found in a tourist brochure.  There is a whole living city, arranged one street at a time, one block at a time, one person in love at a time.  Walk it or bike it, New Orleans is full of pleasant surprises.  Please forgive me for placing another shameless link to our website: whaleheadking.com.  

A votre sante.