A Day in New Orleans

Amtrak poster for the train to New Orleans

People always ask us what it's like to live in New Orleans.  Do we ever get tired of it?  Does it ever become routine?  Boring?  Is it all really just made up to trick the tourists into thinking it's better than it really is?  I'll tell you the answer to these questions.  The answer is: Nope.

Here are some pictures to prove it:

Terranova's Super Market, New Orleans

I go to Terranova's to buy sausages that we serve at breakfast.  Four generations of grocers and expert sausage makers.  They make the sausages by hand.  I've seen it with my own eyes.

Buttermilk Drop Bakery, New Orleans

On Sundays, I go to the Buttermilk Drop on the corner of O'Reilly and North Dorgenois Streets to pick up buttermilk drops for breakfast.  If you think O'Reilly is an unlikely street name in a city with French roots, you don't know your history.  He was governor here under the Spanish.  If you think a buttermilk drop is just another variation of donut, well, you're mistaken there, too.  It's more a little fried cake.

The waiting room in my optometrist's office

Over the fireplace in my optometrist's office there is a picture of her predecessor, who founded the optometry practice, standing next to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King was nominated and accepted as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference right here in New Orleans, in Central City, in 1957.  There is a sign in front of the site where it all happened.  I can tell you how to get there.

My dentist has his office across the street from where my optometrist has hers.  I stopped in to confirm my next appointment and my dentist didn't have any patients.  He and I sat on his front porch discussing the neighborhood until it was time for his lunch hour.  That's what it's like to live in New Orleans.

Prytania Theater lobby, New Orleans

There are pictures of old movie stars hung throughout the lobby of the Prytania Theater, which is a single screen affair and a family operation.  Rene Brunet has operated movie houses in New Orleans his whole life.  He is in his 90s now.  He wrote a book if you are interested.  Naturally, we keep a copy in our lobby.

Hilbert's by Accident, New Orleans

Tulane Avenue used to be one of the busiest streets in New Orleans because it used to be the main way to get into town from Baton Rouge.  It's streetscape is a collection of old motels and shops of curious composition, like Hilbert's by Accident.  It's an auto body shop.  The front window:

Hilbert's by Accident, New Orleans

The sign:

Hilbert's by Accident, New Orleans

When my dentist and I were talking, he said, "Food, music and Mardi Gras.  That is what keeps New Orleanians together.  We hold these in common.  People in other places don't have that."  He has lived here all his life.  Nothing surprises him.  When I told Frau Schmitt what my dentist had told me, she said, "He's right."  Frau Schmitt is usually right about these things.

To wind up this photo show, allow me to present the House of Broel.

House of Broel, New Orelans

What's inside The House of Broel is the subject of another post, another day.  This is what it's like to live in New Orleans.  It is one magical thing after another.

Until next time,
A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.