Trip Report: September 22 to October 19, 2003
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
Fall Colors Coast to Coast - by Land and Sea
NEW ORLEANS -- WHAT TO DO BETWEEN TRAINS
October 13 through 16 2003, Monday through Thursday
If you take Amtrak through New Orleans, you'll probably be spending at least one night there on your own, since same-day connections are either chancy or just plain unavailable.
Although we're spending three nights here, we couldn't do all that this very tourist-friendly city has to offer.
JAZZY CABS. Our cab driver gets an A+. He loads our luggage into the trunk without being asked, turns on some jazz on the radio, and gives us a running commentary as we pass Canal Street, a Café Du Monde (one of seven), and Harrah's Casino on the way to our hotel, the Wyndham New Orleans at Canal Place, right next to the Riverwalk and the French Quarter. Cab drivers here work with the tourism people to learn about the many attractions New Orleans offers, so even though the fare is expensive at the $10 flat rate, we get more than just transportation.
We are fortunate to have friends here (daughter-in-law Lonnie's family) who are natives of Louisiana and are anxious to show us the sights. For travelers who are on are on their own, there are many different sightseeing companies that offer short riverboat cruises, swamp tours, city tours, and walking tours.
Our first day is spent with Charles and Denise exploring Antebellum plantations. Many owners must open their doors to paying tourists in order to meet expenses. One of them is absentee-owned by a wealthy Australian businessman, and is available for guided tours as well as bed-and-breakfast packages. His study is furnished with green velvet curtains with gold fringe the very image of the ones Scarlett O'Hara used to make her gown.
SOP UP YOUR PLATE. We enjoy a plantation lunch of red beans and rice, hot sausage, and the moistest, richest cornbread we've ever tasted. Charles advises us that a serious local custom is to use the cornbread to "sop up your plate" until it is clean!
As time passes there are fewer of these vintage plantation buildings still standing, as some have been destroyed by fire, weather, or the shifting course of the Mississippi River, which is now contained behind 40 foot high levees constructed by the Army Corp of Engineers.
Denise, who is Cajun herself, prepares a delicious Cajun meal for us at her house across the Mississippi, which is so close to the river that the tops of big ships are visible over the levee. New Orleans, because of the lowering of the water table, is sinking further below sea level than its current minus-10 feet. Thus foundations often need to be shored up.
Walking through the beautiful French Quarter the next day, we are able to view some historic hotels that many of our clients have enjoyed. We do the touristy breakfast at Brennan's, expensive, but otherwise unremarkable.
STREETCAR HEAVEN. Streetcar fans will enjoy this city. Ancient trolleys clang along St. Charles Avenue, beginning downtown at Canal Street, and traversing the beautiful Garden District. Frequent departures make them convenient for local schoolchildren as well as commuters and tourists. We pass the venerable Pontchartrain Hotel, Tulane and Loyola Universities, and many large historic homes in various styles. Where St. Charles Avenue reaches the Mississippi, we disembark to enjoy a bowl of corn-and-crawfish chowder on the second floor verandah deck of O'Henry's Café, overlooking the streetcar line. It doesn't get any better than this, trolley fans.
Rails have being laid along Canal Street, the western border of the French Quarter, to restore the streetcar service discontinued many years ago. The Times-Picayune reports that a successful test run has just been completed, and the Canal Street line will be fully operational by the first of 2004. This line will connect with the Riverwalk line which will take trolley riders right to the original Café DuMonde, where you can restore your energy with a plate of beignets (deep fried dough smothered in powdered sugar) and a cup of strong chicory café au lait. Thus charged, you can begin your walking tour of the French Quarter right in its heart, at Jackson Square, with its equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, facing the St. Louis Cathedral.
THE SHOTGUN HOUSE. "I'm packing up a shotgun come take a look!" says a friend of our hosts as we arrive to pick up Shari, Charles and Denise's daughter.
I am expecting to see a firearm, but politely accept the offer anyway. It turns out to be a Louisiana shotgun house, so named because it is only one room wide, and you could fire a gun from the front door through all of the rooms and right out the back door, without hitting anything. This unique floor plan involves walking through all the rooms (except the bathroom, which is partitioned off from the bedroom) until you reach the kitchen, at the back of the house. Constructed before the days of air conditioning, this arrangement kept the kitchen stove from overheating the rest of the house.
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