Loose Leaf Notes

We got the historic horse and buggy tour of the French Quarter and learned that Bourbon Street is not named after liquor but after a famous French family. Our guide talked while reining her horse about the Creole and Cajun traditions, pecans and pralines (pecan candy) and how po boys were invented here.

She told us that one of the reasons New Orleans was dubbed The Big Easy was that during the times of slavery the African and Caribbean slaves had Sundays off, unlike anywhere else in the country. She also told us about John McDonough who purchased over 3,000 slaves, helped them develop trades and freed them. We passed one of the many schools he funded, the one that Richard Simmons and Lee Harvey Oswald went to it, she told us.

We passed one bar that used to be a blacksmith shop, another that cooks meals on Cadillac hubcaps, and still another, Johnny Whites, that is known for being the only bar that stayed open through Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

In Jackson Square she pointed out the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis King of France, the oldest Catholic cathedral in continual use in the United States. Later Joe and I made up for forgetting Easter by visiting the church, talking to the guide/historian there and maintaining a reverent spirit.

The Preservation Club features traditional jazz and is the club where Harry Connick Jr, had his first gig. Connick’s mother was a judge and his father was a district attorney of Orleans Parish.

This perfumery makes custom perfumes based on each person’s unique scent. Elizabeth Taylor had her own perfume made there and liked it enough to go on to create her own brand, White Diamonds.

We stopped at this Corn Fence Hotel and we learned a little about the making of wrought iron, which is all over the French Quarter.

This Voodoo shop had some interesting altars but the shopkeepers were explicit about no photographs and I didn’t want to make anyone there angry, so this outdoor display was all I got to represent that New Orleans tradition.

We passed the house where Tennessee Williams lived and wrote the play Streetcar Named Desire.  Our guide described yelling contests that go on during the New Orleans Literary Festival where contestants see who can shout “Stella!” the loudest.

She also pointed out the oldest licensed pharmacy in the U.S. It inspired the song Love Potion Number 9! Except for the fact that I can’t get the song out of my head now, it was the best spent $18/40minute tour of the trip. – More HERE.