Another New Orleans Experiment Goes Awry

You can do this at home, too.

While looking at an old lithograph in an auction gallery on St. Charles Avenue, I got the idea that I could hang frog legs on the bannisters of the balconies in front of our house.  I don't know why the gentleman in the print was doing it, perhaps he was drying them for jerky.  My first thought was that he was a kind of Creole Benjamin Franklin.  

If you follow my line of thinking, the lightning would hit the decorative cast iron banister and this would set the frog's legs twitching, thus proving the existence of electricity!  I've included a diagram to demonstrate the principle:

The current in the needle causes the frog muscles to abduct like a ballerina's

Here's a picture of the balcony I have in mind for recreating this experiment:

It's the Clio Suite balcony

Needless to say, Frau Schmitt didn't follow my line of thinking, or rather, she followed it just fine and advised against it.  She pointed out the tall oak trees in front of our house are more likely to attract lightning than our banisters.  "And it's a good thing, too." she added.  She had some other things to say about my idea.  She is usually right about these things so I moved on to another project.

A new website you might be interested in

There's a new website you might be interested in.  It's called Find Everything Historic.  It's very interesting.  If you do happen to be interested, and I've piqued your interest just by repeating variations of the word interesting six times in this paragraph, look at this hotel in West Baden Springs, Indiana.  If you think that place is a showstopper, check out the what they've got in Louisiana.

It was a very good year

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, the resumption of our exhibit-by-exhibit tour of the New Orleans Wax Museum.  It's back by popular demand.  

I can tell you the story of the Casket Girls, a part of New Orleans lore that goes back to right after the colony's founding.  It's a tangled tale, however and since a picture tells a thousand words, let's just look at the display.  Remember, it's dark in the wax museum and I didn't use a flash.

A historical recreation

It's not often that you see a drunken pirate and a laughing nun standing next to each other.  

Everyone had a good time

I'm not saying it's impossible.  In fact, I have seen a laughing nun and a drunken pirate within spitting distance of each other.  The first time was during Mardi Gras, of course.  The second time was on the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar.  Both times, they were both laughing.  New Orleans is that kind of a city.

I had other things to talk about, but time is getting away from us.  I have to go to Tujagues tonight for a meeting of the Tour Guide Association.  Frau Schmitt and I went to Tujagues for Thanksgiving, so I'm not as excited as I normally would be.  It's always good there, even with their recent renovations.  It's the second-oldest restaurant in New Orleans, probably in all of Louisiana.  

À votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.