Golf in New Orleans

An accidental movie

 I wanted to take a picture with my phone but it switched to video.  I hate when that happens.  Above, that's a video of the grass at my feet.  Fascinating, isn't it?  Welcome to New Orleans.

Abandoned snack bar in City Park, New Orleans

There used to be two golf courses in City Park.  Then there was Katrina, and you know what that did to most of the city.  Nowadays, one golf course has been restored and is open for business.  It has a driving range, too.

The abandoned golf course is in the middle of City Park, between Mirabeau Street and Fillmore Street, I think.  It's hard to tell what the landmarks are when you're in there.  It's a ghost course, filled with winding sidewalks that lead nowhere, past abandoned little buildings and alongside overgrown lagoons.  People say there are alligators up there, though I've never seen one.  People also say there are coyotes, but I haven't seen any of those either.  It's a fascinating place.

An abandoned rest room in City Park, New Orleans

If you are only going to stay for two or three nights in New Orleans, we're probably not going to recommend visiting the abandoned golf course in City Park.  Why?  Because there is just so much else to see.  When you get home, people aren't going to ask you if you went to the abandoned golf course.  They're going to ask if you went to Cafe du Monde or to Bourbon Street.  You should see these things, but please be aware that New Orleans is more than the tourist attractions in the French Quarter.  It's a living city.

Sometimes I like to say it's a living museum.  Everything is old here, even when it's new.  Everything is unique.  There is no place in America like New Orleans.  Dare I say there is no place in the world like this wonderful city we call home?  Okay.  I'll say it.

Both Frau Schmitt and I have visited many places all over the globe.  We've lived in a few of them, too.  New Orleans is like nowhere else.  We love it here.  If we didn't, we wouldn't live here. We'd be somewhere more romantic.  Unfortunately, there isn't any other city more romantic.  Not Paris.  Not Venice.  Not Rio de Janeiro.  Not New Haven, Conn.  Not Des Moines, Iowa.  Take your pick of places.  New Orleans beats them with unfettered and infectious and resilient sheer joie de vivre.   

A dog in City Park, New Orleans

Some people walk their dogs in the abandoned golf course in City Park because hardly anyone goes there.  When you have to go to Cafe du Monde or Bourbon Street, who wants to wander around an abandoned golf course?  Some people do.  Mostly it's people who live here.  It's peaceful up there.

I recently got an email that half of the abandoned golf course is going to be restored, retrofitted, and returned to commerce so that people can putt and score birdies in the "West Golf Course."  I have an idea of where they mean because nobody refers to the compass in New Orleans, so I'm only guessing.  I'm guessing that the repair work is going to be done on the Uptown side of the abandoned golf course.  We usually stick to the Downtown side when we walk the dog or just want to stroll around alone with our thoughts.  

I mentioned the restoration plans to Frau Schmitt, and also to Dorothy, who is the weekday bartender at the Parkview Tavern, and to Marsha, who is very involved in the tour guide business.  They all expressed regret that the abandoned golf course is going to join the list of things in New Orleans that ain't dere no more.  Of course, avid golfers have been thinking that the original links ain't dere no more, so it's the circle of life in a big vibrant city.   

If you want to stay for a longish while in New Orleans, in a real neighborhood out of the tourist bubble, and you want to learn what it's like to live here...I have an idea where you might want to stay.

A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.