Do people write love songs about New Orleans? Do they write sonnets? Hold a boom box over their heads to profess their love to this city?
Or do they just visit and return home full of gumbo, beads, bloody marys, and just a tinge of regret?
I spend twelve glorious days in New Orleans this Mardi Gras season and I came away feeling different. There’s something about this city that feels nostalgic. It goes much deeper than the colorful plastic beads and French Quarter fortune tellers… it’s a feeling that lingers in the air. It feels like all that once was in this city is still so close. It’s hard to describe. Maybe it’s the passing streetcars, the above ground tombs, and the always uneven cobblestone. Something seeps from the ground here, and it feels old and relevant.
New Orleans is special. It’s proud. It’s colorful. The city totally wants you to come for a visit, and come back to stay. What follows are the things I saw and the things I loved.
(If I were actually standing in the middle of the two center windows I’d be a much more successful blogger… I’m cool with imperfection.)
The nights in New Orleans can be positively bonkers. It’s the intersection of celebration and madness… people just explode into it with tequila shots and music in the streets. This picture sums up the happenings.
Nightlife pants are a total must in the French Quarter… as are flat, closed-toes shoes, a large bladder, good lipstick, and exposed shoulders if you’re feelin’ it.
The people watching is everything. A good bartender in New Orleans is equip with a certain kind of non-judgemental knowing. I think this dude had it.
Sometimes it’s really wonderful to step back and just take in the people sipping, chatting, laughing, and passing.
Sometimes people fall on the ground in front of you. Sometimes you catch a random dude peeing in the street. Sometimes a dude will run his hand through your hair FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON AND IT’S TOTALLY NOT OK. A lot is possible… so much is possible during New Orleans nights.
Days are filled with food.
Guy’s Po Boys in Uptown is the kind of place you go for awesome neighborhood sandwiches. If you go just before they close in the afternoon, you’ll be surrounded by kids in plaid school uniforms ordering sandwiches. The owner, Marvin seems to know all their names. There’s something good in that.
And there’s something totally major in his Smoked Sausage Po Boy. Dang, dude.
I had one of my favorite meals of the trip at Boucherie. This little restaurant is so charmed and absolutely delicious! This brisket po boy with horseradish cream and pickled red onions was gone in approximately 4 minutes. I’m a lady.
Seriously though… the fries? OUT OF CONTROL. And don’t even get me started on the Pimm’s Cup. I can’t deal.
The streets were packed with parades as we tried to make our way to Big Fisherman Seafood for crawfish. We walked many a block to sneak in before they closed for the night. We ordered eight pounds of crawfish, and I captured the girls next to us getting a crawfish eating tutorial from the fishwife.
Yea… fishwife is what a female fishmonger is called. Did you know this? I totally just learned something.
Walking for your crawfish. Dodging beads and rainstorms. The work makes the crawfish that much more delicious. Eating off butcher paper with a cold beer and a giant roll of paper towels also makes for good quality time.
Elbows on the table. Big easy laughs. Whole potatoes. Boiled corn. Heads of garlic. This might be as good as it gets. I mean that most sincerely.
Some nights you just want to stay indoors with wine and illegal amounts of creamy cheese and strong olives. St. James Cheese Company won’t judge you when you buy too much Brie. Thank you.
Dooky Chase is a New Orleans classic. When I say classic I mean that my parents visited New Orleans in 1991 (aka the stone age), lugged their GIANT video camera into the restaurant, and filmed themselves eating the same amazing plate of Red Beans and Rice that I ordered during my visit this month. My Dad was right… it’s AMAZING!
There’s something I noticed about New Orleans… they really have a thing for colored lightbulbs. Adding a little color to a dark situation can hide a multitude of sins (and possible cockroaches) (I’m sorry… that’s real). The Maple Leaf Bar is an old-school, bar-smelling bar with amazing and music…
they served bourbon neat, and in disposable plastic cups.
Can I live?
Next door to the Maple Leaf Bar is a restaurant called Jacque Imo’s where I would encourage you to please please please go and order a watermelon mojito and shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake. Whoa. Trust.
Maybe I’m wearing a Rainbow Bright wig from Fifi Mahoney’s. That wouldn’t be the worst thing that ever happened.
We can’t talk about Mardi Gras without talking about the parades. I know what you’re thinking… no I did not flash my lady parts to get beads. A) Most people at parades don’t actually do that. B) Stop letting episodes of Bad Girls Club New Orleans tell you what to think about Mardi Gras. C) Flying beads are hard enough to catch on their own, I can’t imagine catching them with my top over my head. D) I’m going to stop talking before this gets any worse.
Suffice it to say that the mood at Mardi Gras parades is very celebratory. Even the cops are sort of having a good time (on the inside).
The marching bands are the hardest working parade people. In many parades these dudes march for 10 miles.
!!!!!
Right!?
The kids of St. Aug grace almost every big parade. These dudes WERK! I love this kid’s half-hidden face.
Beads, color, and the discard.
Let’s talk about the gentlemen (using that word loosely) on the parade floats. After a few hours of being in the front lines of a parade you learn a few things. These dudes throw beads HARD. Making eye contact is essential. Being a cute girl, child on a ladder, or really aggressive dude helps in the acquisition of beads. Being a good catcher of things: also helpful. Taking a flying strand of hard plastic to the face HURTS! At a certain point, the quest for beads turns into a defense of your precious face. That’s real.
Ps. Sometimes these dudes look scary, are super drunk, and don’t actually seem that stoked about their bead-throwing lives. It must be a long ten miles.
Aaanyway…. I need a beignet. Cafe du Monde is supreme. Recipe to follow shortly.
Looking down is ornate.
Looking up is pretty serious too.
There are such special houses in this city! This pretty pink dream stood out to me. Sidenote: There was a super tall older gentleman washing his tiny, though very barky, dog in the backyard. I liked that.
I must have a crush on this building. I took a picture of it the last time I visited New Orleans.
The streets are clean and clear after Mardi Gras. Some minds look towards the Lent season. Tourists find their way home. Locals get back to work. Beads hang and remain.
I love it all.
(All shots in this post taken with my new Canon EOSm that I’ll tell you more about soon. Shots of Joy and Maple Leaf Bar taken by HC.) (That is all.)
Esther
Hi, this post is really useful and informative. Thanks for sharing. I like some places you mentioned, like the Cafe Du Monde and Guy’s Po Boys, the food there look amazing! My friend and I are planning trips to New Orleans, and wonder if you can provide some advises. How do you think this itinerary(https://www.43km.co/published_trips/a997aa7a-5dd6-4aa0-99a2-98a37ed253ea), is it good to follow the route? Thanks.
Emily
I’m visiting New Orleans for the first time in about a month exactly and this has me so excited to visit! Jotting down restaurants now…
Camille
Joy! I am quite impressed with how much of New Orleans you soaked in in such a short time span. Next time you’re here you need to pick up a burger – New Orleans in more recent years has blown up in the burger industry (and these burgers are here to stay).
Oh, and also stop by Creole Creamery if you haven’t already (near Magazine in Uptown). It’s a classic.
Camille Bremer
Marketing & Asian Studies, 2015
A. B. Freeman School of Business
Tulane University
lynn @ the actor's diet
xo to NOLA! I spent the last 2 X-mas’es there. I’d love to go back when it’s not as cold.
Liza P
JOY! I am a New Orleans girl and have MAD LOVE for my hometown. I’m so impressed with you! Fifi’s, The Maple Leaf, and St. Augustine marching band, to-go cups… you did very well!! I must say that the marching bands are my favorite part of the parade. So glad to see that you can see the magic in the city!
Sarah
Your Mardi Gras tips are so accurate- I go to Tulane, and have had my fair share of parades. And I love Boucherie and Jacque Imo’s! The Maple Leaf is great, and I’ve been meaning to go to St. James forever. I’m impressed at your good taste + knowledge! And if you haven’t seen one of the mardi gras bead trees you should- people throws TONS of beads onto them, especially on St. Charles. We have one on our campus that has beads on it year round!
ps- Love your site! I’ve used so many recipes over the years- always a hit.
Georgia
I grew up in New Orleans and recently moved away for the second time. Your post reminds me of why I will return for good one day!
joelle (on a pink typewriter)
I went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras last year, and totally got pelted in the face with beads during one of the parades haha. I love that city.. I used to go all the time when I found myself in the south frequently the last few years.
Anna Levin
Loved this post and made me so sad about the fact that, after 5 wonderful years living in New Orleans, we’ll be moving in June! We moved here in the summer of 2008 and, though it took a couple of years for it to happen to me, New Orleans definitely got under my skin.
Our baby girl will always be able to say she was born in New Orleans (in October, 2012!) and we definitely hope to bring her back to see the city on a (hopefully) yearly basis! She needs to know how amazing the city is since she can always claim it as her place of birth!
This post should be called “Ode to New Orleans” and it definitely does justice to this amazing city!
Foodnerd
as a former band member of the JFK high school marching band, I have to throw some shade at our nemeses St. Aug :-) our band always outwerked them in parades!
Jenny
This definitely makes me want to go visit this New Orleans!
addie | culicurious
Looks like you had such a good time and I’m so glad! I love when people come to New Orleans and have a great experience!
St. James is such an amazing cheese shop. I could eat every last morsel in there :)
janet
Born and raised in Nola all of my life…but i must say i had already moved away long before Katrina hit the city. But even after Katrina it was way to heart aching for me so i have never benn back not even to visit because i know that i will have to face some erased memories that visitors don’t have to face and that in itself have kept me away from my home in which i love….. but thanks to you and your wonderful page it have given me some hope again to go back and face all the washed away memories that i loved and held so deeply from a cild even to an adult…….all the pictures of some many places that i loved so much are wonderful to see again……. thanks for your blog and pictures which have bought the city to me and because of that I think iam ready to face my biggest fears of my city N.O.
thinks again for your blog that i stumbled across which have become theraputic for me….. God bless you for sharing with us!!!
Loulou in France
I was there for 12 days during the Mardi Gras season this year as well. I ate, I drank, I celebrated, I danced, and I ate some more. Not a single moment was wasted. :)
You have captured the spirit of New Orleans perfectly!
Julie
In my next life I want to be Joy the Baker.
i'm pam
i have to say in 1989 while in High School I got the chance to march in 2 Mardi Gras parades. We were told about 2 months prior to going we all needed to start going for walks around the track at school. This was to help us build up our stamina for the 15 miles (each) parades. So my friends and I walked and walked some more. When we finally got to New Orleans and waiting in the staging area the energy was electric. We walked next to floats, admired the customs and grabbed beads so we could decorate up our uniforms. When show time came it was amazing. Marching 15 miles didn’t feel like 15 miles and it was fun beyond words. The crowds were awesome and they would just bounce and dance with us. I will say I did feel sorry for the drum line who never stopped playing or tapping the cadences.
Marching the Mardi Gras parade was one of my most memorable experiences. I think look back on it some 24 years ago and not much can top it!
ro
I visited NOLA for the first time just last month. Your post makes me long to go back. I know I will…it’s the sort of place that never leaves you…and changes everything you thought you knew about life and how it should be lived. I loved it for everything it was and everything the people weren’t! Love love love New Orleans!
Heather
As a very proud Who-Dat, I was thrilled and touched to read your post. I always love to experience my hometown through someone else’s eyes, nose and taste buds. Thank you for showing your readers what an amazing, mysterious, friendly, crazy, delicious, city New Orleans is and will always be.
Richard Bienvenu
Wow! What great photos. You really captured the essence of the city. Being a New Orleanian I love living here and love seeing other people’s reaction to it.
I have a blog NotesOnNewOrleans.net and love writing about the city and it’s quirks.
And, by the way, I HAVE written a love song to New Orleans called “I Love New Orleans.” You can see and hear it here.
http://www.notesonneworleans.net/new-orleans-music/i-love-new-orleans-song-by-richard-bienvenu
christina
where did you stay?
Amy | Minimally Invasive
Aaaah, I miss Mardi Gras season so much! You captured the experience perfectly. And you don’t lie – marching in those parades is work! Our high school band earned our money for the year marching during the season, but we never had the fun the St. Aug guys did.
Becca - Cookie Jar Treats
My goodness. This was a fun post to read. I really want to go to New Orleans now. There are too many places to visit in one life time. It’s not fair :P
lee
I totally laughed when I read the section about beads (and how you do – or don’t – get them). The first year I went to a Mardi Gras parade, I ended up with a neck full (!) of beads…and people kept raising their eyebrows when they saw the pictures, like “Really?? We didn’t think you were that kind of girl.” (i.e. the type of girl to show my body to get some beads)
Ummm, yeah – not a required factor to get beads. Isn’t it funny (and kinda sad) to have that stereotype floating out there?
Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic
Really beautiful pictures. I can’t wait to go New Orleans, I’ve only heard wonderful things!
Elizabeth
Thank you for this, Joy! Great post to help me prep for my bff’s wedding in Nola St Patrick’s weekend. Already hydrating. Can’t wait to get knee-deep in some beignets and po’boys! P.S. If you liked New Orleans, you’d surely love Charleston. Come visit. Bring your appetite and stretch pants :)
Lisa the Kitten
That’s a GREAT time to be here and if you can break away from wedding hoohah – we have Mardi Gras-style parades for St. Patrick’s Day (not only with throwing of beads, but also cabbages and carrots for your Corned Beef St. Paddy’s Day dinner!)!!!
Erika
Joy, you are so cool! I love this post. I think my visit to NOLA overlapped with yours because I kept seeing your instaphotos while I was there. So glad you did this recap of your trip because I would love to hit up all those places when I return! I couldn’t agree more about 1) throwing of the beads (they HURT when they hit you!) 2) requiring closed toe shoes and 3) a large bladder. Hah. Learned the hard way!
Bonnie
I visited New Orleans several years ago — it was Aug. and 107 degrees, really — but I loved it. Seeing it again through your beautiful photos made me feel as if I were there again. Thank you!
dswross
Lovely recap of New Orleans. I have a long list of places I am dying to eat at while I’m there and you just added a couple more. Cafe du monde is definitely on the top of the list though
(Un)intentional Happenings
In debates of summer destinations. You are selling New Orleans.
Judy D.
Joy-LOVED your pix! They so capture the New Orleans spirit. And I, too, know that bldg. you have a crush on-I’m sure I have a photo taken in front of it myself. :-) Keep smiling.
Love you!
joythebaker
thanks judy!!!
Irene
Was sniggering all throughout this post. You are too funny. Love it all!
Bethany
Okay, this picture of you with the scarf–how do you tie it like that? Seriously, I look like a goober every time. I. don’t. understand. I’m being sincere! HOW?
joythebaker
ha! it’s a simple knot and wrap. you should youtube how to tie scarves. you’ll waste two hours of your life. it’s that serious.
judith
It is a magical place, it’s people are magical too. I miss going there to visit my relatives (all gone now). I can smell the water, the trees, the coffee and most of all the food from here!
Michelle DuPuis
They do. Write love songs that is. My favorite is “Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?” by Louis Armstrong. Look it up. You’ll find yourself singing it whenever you start feeling “homesick” (if you can feel homesick for a place you never lived). Know that you are not alone. ;-)
bakerkat
WOW That was great. I loved the pictures. New Orleans looks like a dream city.
Rebecca in STL
You’ve sold me! I’m ready to go to Mardi Gras next year!
Ladotyk
I’ve been lucky enough to travel to New Orleans several times for work (did you know there’s a NASA facility there too?) and I’ve fallen in love as well. I was all set to tell you, “You must visit Jacque Imo’s!!” when I saw that you already went. Thanks for the love letter to this beautiful city.
Mary
I agree that there is something truly special about New Orleans… I lived there for just over a year during grad school, but it dug itself a nice deep place in my heart. I’m glad you feel the magic of the city too!
Diane Roark
I lived 6 1/2 years on the Northshore of New Orleans. We would normally go on vacation during Mardi Grass like most of the locals but I DO MISS the food. I dream about creme brulee, white chocolate bread pudding, shrimp po-boys, BBQ shrimp, and on and on and on. We go back at least once a year just to eat all we can.
I have not had a chance to stop by your blog lately because I have been working on changing my blog theme/design. Please check out my new blog theme and let me know what you think. Blessings to you! Diane http://www.recipesforourdailybread.com/
Stephanie (Velez Delights)
Loved every single one of these pictures! I’ve always heard amazing things about New Orleans, and I think you captured its essence beautifully :)
Katie @ Blonde Ambition
so, so beautiful. i want to go to there.
Kaitlin
What a timely post.. I just booked tickets to New Orleans this morning! I will definitely be visiting some your favorite spots. Also, I am obsessed with your podcast.. I love to listen to it while cooking/hanging out in my kitchen, it srsly makes me laugh out loud. xo
Shasta
Great photography of New Orleans! I’ve never been, but it’s on my bucket list to do and I’ve made a mental note on the places you mentioned to eat at. I love food!
Lauren
This is amazing. Beautiful pictures! Can you please have your own travel program? And can I come along?
Monica
Cannot wait for the beignet recipe!
Rachel D
I feel you did a great job doing the city justice, as well as Mardi Gras!! I’ve been living in NOLA for 2.5 years now and LOVE this city so much! Thanks for putting a thoughtful and well versed post together, I wish (and totally tried through IG haha!) I had run into you while you were here! big love
Grubarazzi (@Grubarazzi)
Awesome photos!
Blathering
Love your photos of my city! And, of course, I’m pretty sure I recognize folks in your pictures since NOLA is a small town of a city.
Maddy
This post is making to so jealous! Looks like an amazing trip!
jenny
joy, if you love new orleans, then you will LOVE “out of the easy” by ruta sepetys, a young adult novel that was just published by penguin. check it out. I read it one setting and am now obsessed with getting myself to NOLA. hope you enjoy the book as much as I did. :)
Stefanie @ Sarcastic Cooking
I love your life!!!! Also, where did you get that hot technicolor phone case from? I am totally digging it.
Jesse
So glad you made it to cafe du monde, can’t wait for the recipe! xoxo
Johanna B
New Orleans is one of my favorite places in the world. You’re right – it feels old and seasoned. I had the fortune of spending over 40 years there. I wouldn’t change anything. Grew up near the streetcar tracks in uptown NO.
axelle the french cook
I’ll never go in New Orleans. So, thank you for sharing your trip… Some pictures make me think about the Princess and the frog ! :)
Abbe@This is How I Cook
There is definitely something special about New Orleans. Need to go back soon!
Emily D
So, even though I have basically no money right now, every once in a while I’ll go on apartment finder and look up prices in different cities to see if I even have a chance of living in that city in the (hopefully) near future. After reading this post I immediately looked up New Orleans. Thanks for sharing!
Magen
if you create a recipe for beignets that taste like Cafe du Monde, you will officially be queen of my universe. this makes me want to hop on a plane right now. there is just something intangible and unworthy of words about New Orleans.
Amy
I loved seeing this city through your eyes! It makes me want to go back. When I was there in October, LITERALLY the first interaction I had was a dude loudly exclaiming, “NICE BREASTS!” as I walked by. I mean. You’ve gotta love that sort of confident (and anatomically correct) compliment.
Liz D.
thanks for sharing about your trip, it was fun to see & hear about the city. i love, LOVE New Orleans. there is something about it, something in the air, the old buildings, and the people that such draws you in. i’m super inspired to go back now!
Marsha M. SOCAL
As soon as I leave New Orleans, I always try to figure out a way to get back there again. I am going to be there again the end of May, and can’t wait. Will go to Jacque Imo’s for sure, and always make a stop at Cafe Du Monde. You described this beautiful old city perfectly!
Liza in Ann Arbor
Absolutely stunning pictures of my favorite city in the US! Merci.
Denise
What a wonderful post ~ I lived in NOLA for many years and do not get to go back as often as I would like. Mardi Gras is an interesting experience, no that should not be missed at least once. You should go back for Jazz Fest in April/May. It has all the amazing food with lots of great music! Jazz Fest is the best time I ever had when I lived there and when I go back to visit (which I need to do soon). Thanks for the memories and I going to go home tonight and make some gumbo.
joythebaker
i went for jazz fest last year! it was incredible!
erin @hooleywithaz
you tell the best trip stories. i am working toward having this gift.
Raquel Somatra
This post made me long for New Orleans so much that my heart hurt.
I made sure it was my first stop during my honeymoon. The magic of this city is inescapable. Maybe it’s all the voodoo or bones or history, but when I’m there, I feel like I’m connecting with the edges of another fantasy world.
I always spent my time wandering the used book stores, eating pizza at Angeli’s, and bringing an offering to the grave Marie Laveau. I don’t experience the usual party stops but I feel the mystical energies all the same.
Thanks for sharing this, Joy.
Rachael B
Glad you didn’t have to show your tata’s to get some beads. If they were throwing beignets it might have been a different story… at least for me. No judgment right? lol
Seanna Lea
I’ve never been to New Orleans, but someone I know on Twitter went in the last month and when she was there they had a dog parade. It sounds like the most fun ever!
Sara {Home is Where the Cookies Are}
What a fun looking place! Why, of all things, am I stuck on the pickled onions. They looked delicious. Now I’m wondering just how many things it would be acceptable to top with them. . . .
Nicole Reilly
Joy,
I was born and raised in New Orleans and live now just north of the city. Thank you for sharing your beautiful words of my beloved home. We do have much negativity attached to us and I do appreciate your loving words. There IS something very magical here. There’s a feeling of the past in every step that you take. Your whole being can feel it. Its a spiritual experience of the soul. It’s as though you have been here before and are seeing it again. There’s comfort in the people, in the food, in the surroundings. You can feel the past in every step that you take.
I am happy that you had such a beautiful experience. I enjoy your blog tremendously. Next time that you are here, I would love “ta meetcha!”
Sarah
I have been to New Orleans twice and I really want to go back. Its such an unique city and I love the food.
Clara
I just read through this, coffee in hand, and am left with the best feeling to start my day. Makes me want to get away right now…. xx
Shannon
Awesome, just awesome post Joy!
Your pictures are always outstanding!
Jess
Thank you for a glimpse of N’Awlins this morning. I love the city. Our family goes every year for Thanksgiving. Our kids have grown up eating amazing food, questioning the attractiveness of penis necklaces and learning the history of this quirky, lively city. I recommend brunch at Elizabeth’s next time you visit! Oh I wish I was there now!
Malgosia
Joy, I love that picture of you standing in front of the un-centered house. You stand just like me with your legs crossed! Everyone used to make fun of me for that, but I know it’s awesome…
Lisa the Kitten
Great blog post! This communicates well many of the things about New Orleans that first grabbed my heart and soul when I first visited in the early 90’s . . . and wouldn’t let go until I finally moved here from California in 2007.
My husband and I both ride in Mardi Gras krewes (Nyx and Carrollton, respectively) and indeed if you were watching the Endymion parade – lots of those dudes ARE drunk and hurl beads AT you, not to you. I once caught a pack of beads full-on in my face and then when I was bending down in shock, I was tagged by another bag on the head – as we say down here, “Mardi Gras can be a full-contact sport” . . .
But as a krewe member and float rider, I can confirm that it’s 99 percent tons of fun to throw beads (that’s why we pay to do it and buy the beads we throw, after all)! My personal throwing philosophy is to throw to the older, less cute folks (like me) who aren’t little kids and blonde college babes, as that demographic does just fine getting stuff. I get more joy out of making the day for the folks hanging out in the back ’cause they can’t get through the forests of kid ladders and clots of drunkass co-eds to the front of the crowd. It’s the main reason I parade.
I’m glad you had a good visit – please come back soon!!!
P.S. – To the other readers/commenters here – please DO come visit New Orleans, we love to have guests!
Jack D
Lisa, I’m hoping to visit New Orleans in April as part of a longer, but struggling to find a place to stay/ working out where to stay. I’m spending 6 months in the USA creating a new body of photographic work. I’d love to hear from you, even if it’s just some sound local advice. J.
Lisa the Kitten
Hey, Jack! You can ping me on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/LisaWhoDatWilliford and I’ll be happy to help however I can! I’m always happy to encourage folks to become new New Orleanians!
Maggie
Wow, awesome post! Definitely just made up my mind on the next place to knock off my bucket list!
Pat
Thanks for the memories!
Aline
I visited New Orleans to, and I think you captured the spirit of the city, the culture (particularly) food perfectly! Thanks for the beautiful narrative style and pictures, as always– but this post particularly touched me!
Candice @ The Savory and The Beautiful
I would totally just go for the food. Did you feel safe though? I’ve heard stories of women be attacked or messed with a lot. It’s actually the main reason I haven’t made it out there yet :-/ I’m a whimp, i know.
Lisa the Kitten
Do you mean during Carnival? Or just generally?
Before I moved here, I visited for over 20 yeas – both as a couple and as a single female – and I’ve found New Orleans to be as safe as any other urban environment (and I’ve lived in Boston, L.A., S.F., Sacramento) . . . which means that it’s safe, but it IS also a city and there are certain areas/neighborhoods best not visited on your own. Not to mention, that there are indeed some criminals, mischief-makers and drunk asshats who aren’t good with personal boundaries. But by-and-large, those folks are not the rule – they’re the exception.
However, I do recommend that visitors not present an obvious target for mischief (like in any other city) – don’t wear cameras around your neck and fanny packs. Don’t wear beads at any other time of year that ISN’T during Carnival season (contrary to popular belief, not only do we not flash our “girls” for beads down here, we don’t wear them all year long). Look like you know where you are and you know where you’re going and you should do just fine!
lee
I agree with Lisa’s thoughts. I’ve visited New Orleans multiple times, sometimes in groups and sometimes on my own, and when I’ve been there on my own, I’ve relied on the same common-sense guidelines that I would use in any city.
You should definitely visit New Orleans!! You are right, the food alone is worth it – but so is the culture and the history and the music and…okay, I’ll stop there. =)
Vickie
awesome post – I love the photos & the way you tell the story of your trip :)
Marisa
Adding New Orleans on my list….thanks l love your pictures…..
Jessica B
I am totally sold. Bourbon, blues, beignets? Mardis Gras week 2014, I’m coming for you.
Averie @ Averie Cooks
I love this post…the images are amazing. The stories they tell and their clarity and your photography skills. Not always easy to get a ‘great shot’ amidst chaos….or after a few drinks :)
I love the pic of you alone, in front of that bldg. Great click.
The whole post & your storytelling is great, Joy!
Elisabeth
Aww I visited NOLA almost a year ago and absolutely loved it. Coming from Germany, this city somehow doesn’t have this typical ‘American feeling’ to it. It just has its very own atmosphere (and people, needless to say). I totally dig all the pretty houses and cobblestone streets, too.
And of course, I LOVE your blog as well as the podcast you do with Tracy. Reading about and listening to you two helps a little with lessening my longing for the States. Plus, it gives me reason to get my measuring cups out. :) Good night to you, good morning to me!
Holiday Baker Man
Looks like it was a great trip! Bead count?
sha
” I love this kid’s half-hidden face” made me laugh sooo hard! HAHAHA.
i love the orange top in the tutorial from the fishwife photo. omg, i want it.
beautiful pics, joy.. you don’t need to stand in the middle of two windows to be cool.
Eva
Loooovvvveeeeee this! And this dangerously makes me want to travel!
Elana
Absolutely LOVE all these shots; the color and the gray skies are just lovely. Makes me want to visit New Orleans…