You never know what you'll see in New Orleans

A live oak tree on Esplanade Avenue

One of your hosts is a licensed tour guide, but he doesn't like to brag about it.  He isn't shy about mentioning it, either.  It just is what it is.  

History isn't necessarily our schtick at La Belle Esplanade.  One of us has a master's degree in something that involves a lot of history.  The other one of us is an autodidact.  We'll let you guess which is which.   We know our history, we live in a historic neighborhood, in a house built in 1883, and we're licensed.  Our inn is full of antiques, but it isn't stuffy or like going to grandma's house.  We don't run a twee place.  Kitschy ticky-tacky isn't exactly our game, either.  There is a stuffed bear, left behind by a guest, but we use it as a chew toy for our pet alligator.  [Full disclosure: There is no pet alligator.]

A lot of history happened in our neighborhood, pretty much as it does everywhere else, but there aren't many signs or plaques to describe it.  We have a picture over the mantle in the lobby sitting room:  

Esplanade Avenue in days of old

It's a picture of a mule-drawn milk cart in our street, diagonally across the street from us.  Most people don't realize it, and not just because the world isn't black and white anymore.

The downtown side of the 2100 block of Esplanade Avenue

Though Mr. Okra drives by every few days, we've never seen a milk cart pulled by a mule.  That said, I was taking a nap this afternoon when I was awakened by the sound of a horse in front of our house.  I went outside.  A jockey was riding his horse up Esplanade Avenue.  You never know what you'll see here.

You'd think the Queen Anne mansion on the North Miro corner has turned into an overgrown lot.  It's a trick of the trees.  When you get close,  you can see that the house is still there.  It's been for sale for the longest time, but the sign isn't up right now.  I don't know if it was sold.

House on the corner of North Miro Street and Esplanade Avenue

About a hundred years ago, there weren't many trees in the neighborhood.  It's different now.  It's very shady on Esplanade Avenue.  There's even a tree in a tree:

Corner of Columbus and North Miro Streets

It's very picturesque.  It's historic and charming, but it's more than that.  It's New Orleans.  If you don't know what that means, you can.  We know a very nice bed and breakfast in the middle of Esplanade Avenue.

A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.