Despite going to bed early, I managed to wake up at something close to the usual time. Still, I felt generally rested. I think having a real bed instead of the top bunk on a train did make for a better night’s sleep. It was definitely softer for my aging back!
I had sent a text yesterday to our friend Sherry. She lives in Shreveport, and while this is definitely the Paris of the northern parishes, she misses New Orleans a lot, a place where she spent many happy years. So I thought I would just let her know that I was thinking about her as we approached. She called right away. She happened to be coming to New Orleans to meet up with some friends and they were all heading over to Fair Hope, Alabama for what the British call a “hens party.” But she did want to stop by a see us on her way out of town. So we made arrangement to meet mid-morning.
Meanwhile, John has been having something approaching withdrawals from his healthy morning smoothies. So when we discovered that there was a local branch of what used to be just a local Southern California juice shop, John had to go to imbibe some antioxidants.
I had the peanut butter and chocolate shake, so no doubt I will oxidate while he does not.
We had just returned to our room when Sherry called to say that she and “the girls” were there. I happily went down to the lobby of the Ace Hotel to meet them. The Ace Hotel is in a genuinely historic building, but not much there is genuinely old. I looked around the cluttered room for a bit but did not see anybody.
At once I heard “John” stretched out over three syllables and I knew Sherry was there. We all hugged and she introduced me to her dear friends Alix and Diane. We ordered coffee and sat down and talked for something close to an hour. What a fascinating group of ladies! We could have talked for many hours more.
But before they had to push on, we had an agreeable young woman take some pictures of all of us.
After they left, it was about time for us to go, too. We change hotels today. We wanted to stay in a bed and breakfast in the Faubourg Marigny, but they did not have any space for us on Sunday night. So we reserved for just Monday and Tuesday. After turning in our room keys, we caught an Uber over to our new New Orleans home, the Marigny Manor House.
We were met there by our innkeepers, Brian and Alvin. They showed us around this beautiful antebellum house with great Victorian details.
There are some more modern features as well like this lovely deck.
After setting into our room, John and I took pictures of each other taking pictures.
We also looked out at the nearby houses, some of which are also bed and breakfasts.
We were ready for adventures now, so we spoke with our hosts, Alvin and Brian, about where to rent bikes and where to get a good lunch. They recommended a couple places in the Marigny for bikes and Fiorello’s in the Quarter for a fried chicken lunch. And off we went down Frenchmen Street.
We figured we would pick up lunch first, but somehow we stumbled across Michael’s Bicycles on our way. They offered us a good deal on two bikes for two days, so we were mobile for the rest of the day. John wanted to pose with his bike in front of one of his favorite jazz clubs, The Spotted Cat.
We rode down Esplanade and over Decatur to Fiorello’s, only to discover it was closed. We had an unexceptional lunch, enlivened only with a friendly waitress, at a restaurant near the French Market. From there were decided to explore some parts of the city we only driven through. On the map, it looked like it would be fun to go through Crescent Park. This was easier on the map than in person. Crescent Park is not much of a real park. It is obviously a former industrial or port area along the Mississippi separated by train tracks and a ten foot wall from the inland residential areas. You have to take an elevator and walk across a bridge of the tracks and then take another elevator down to reach it. I think it is aiming to be something like the High Line or the Hudson River bikeway. It is not quite that wonderful. On the other hand, it is so inaccessible that we had no trouble riding a full speed along the river. None of those High Line crowds….
We went through Bywater, an area people are touting as the next Marigny or Treme. It is not quite there yet although I can see the potential. We went back to Esplanade, which has some wonderful bike lanes, and headed north to City Park.
On the way, we stopped at one of the city’s famed cemeteries. Because of the high water table, nobody is buried underground in New Orleans. Instead, there cemeteries like like Gothic Revival versions of a Roman necropolis. They are cool.
It is probably disrespectful to both the living and the dead to ride a bike through a cemetery, but that did not stop us.
Those of more modest means have less elaborate final resting places,
and like everywhere else in New Orleans, one is reminded here as well that this is fundamentally a Catholic town.
City Park is quite a jewel. It is well-maintained and has a number of attractions in addition to trails for walking and jogging. Had we more time, we no doubt would have explored the city’s art museum there. But it was close to closing time and the weather was so lovely we had to be outside. Besides, where in Los Angeles can you enjoy vistas of Live Oak dripping with Spanish Moss?
John sat down on a table
while I laid down on the ground.
There is a small amusement park here, though it was not open for the day. We loved how the bright colors and lines of the ride blended with the surrounding trees.
We were set to leave when we stumbled on the Botanical Garden. There was less than 45 minutes until it closed and we debated whether it was worth paying six dollars each for such a short visit. We decided to splurge, and it was a good decision. This is not a large garden, but it is beautifully laid out and utterly charming.
There was a decent rose garden, though I am not sure that this is the best climate for roses. The Japanese garden was small but quite beautiful.
As John observed, the secret of a great Japanese garden is the ability to pay for a lot of maintenance!
Much of the work on the garden had been done during the depression, and there were bits of WPA-era art everywhere. John really loves this stuff.
And there were other things that seemed to mix a number of different eras.
But it was soon time to leave and we were ready to rest after several hours on our bikes. Along the way we went through Bayou Saint John, an utterly charming neighborhood.
In the evening, John made reservations at Bayona, one of the city’s most celebrated new restaurants. He ordered all the most famous stuff on the menu like the veal sweetbreads and the cream of garlic soup. I was not quite as adventurous, but I had a nice meal as well.
We have another day on the bikes tomorrow, and we plan to explore the Garden District and the antique shops.
