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Published: September 13th 2010
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Known as "shotgun doors" where the doors are lined up all the way through the house to facilitate a breeze coming through. Last night I arrived late after my previous travails with Greyhound. I was so tired that I decided to finish this blog and get a good night's sleep for the first time in many days. The trouble was myveins were so pumped with excitement I just couldn't do it. No matter that I hadn't slept in days or that I has just been through my own harrowing "Greyhound Experience"......(a great idea for a comedy skit by the way). As a result, I probably got a solid 2 hours out of 5 hours in bed. I had decided the previous evening to get up and photograph the Mississippi River at sunrise down by boardwalk at the end of Canal Street in New Orleans (at one terminus of the streetcar that runs up and down Canal Street). So I woke up around 4:30am and by 5:00am was wandering down dark, noisy, potentially dangerous (groups/gangs of young men drinking to loud music on street corners), and lusty (street walkers everywhere) pathways of Canal Street to wait for my sunrise. My hostel "India House" is on the far side of Canal Street close to the cemetery in a residential neighborhood so it is quite a
hike to the river and you have to walk past a few seedy neighborhoods to get there. The hostel is more like a deluxe residential apartment with many people living communally (full kitchen, barbecue pit, swimming pool, free wireless, laundry room, and so on....all for twenty bucks a night!!!)
You might ask why I like to photograph the sunrise so much and get up at an ungodly hour when most of us are still sleeping (except those that have to work that day). One reason is that I am a morning person and I have most of my energy at that time of day so it stands to reason my photographs would be better during those hours. Additionally, I like to photograph something few are up early enough to see (or appreciate if they do because they are too busy getting ready for work.) I know photographing sunrises isn't something particularly original in itself, but I do believe it is something I authentically aspire to capture in many of my morning walks. It is more about me than sunrises!!! (I also like walking for exercise and the morning in New Orleans is one of the few cool enough times
of day to do so without the heat and humidity being just too unbearable).
There is a "free" ferry that crosses over to Algiers (yes just like the former French colony) which is on the "other bank" of the Mississippi from the heart of the city. I thought it would be a nice place to capture the city and some of the light. But I took some photographs from both sides. The Mississippi was once the heart of trade entering into early settlements of the US like Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago and other cities before the railroads came. There is a staggering line of docks probably dating back to quite early in American history that you can see clearly from Algiers abutting the city. I walked along the levies that surround the island to capture some pictures and returned to the ferry.
There I had my first lengthy personal encounter in New Orleans, Juan. I had been standing overlooking the picturesque (but actually smelly and dirty river) in order to catch a breeze and let the sweat I had accumulated dissipitate a little. He asked if I was working off a hangover. He lives on the island and
The local brew
Many flavors but this Raspberry wheat rocks!! has spent most of his life there without living. I gathered he worked a lot and didn't see the city the same way as I do as he grumbled about tourists. (But for the most part he was very positive and funny). Nonetheless, it was a lively conversation and I managed to get his email. I am still working on getting photographs of the people I meet but have been able to feel comfortable asking the question,"can I take your photograph." Like the spiritual, personal and psychological journey that this trip is for me, asking this question and getting photographs along these lines will be a goal for me before I finish. (It is often just as difficult or more so with those that you know than with complete strangers.) I don't know if I will speak to Juan again, I emailed him and it was a motivating aspect of my day. (He was African American and not Hispanic).
Around 10am, I walked over the the French quarter for a bike tour hosted by Jeff (a transplanted local from Brooklyn) who specializes in introducing all his customers to New Orleans history writ large while handholding them through individual neighborhhoods
and local cultures. This guy knows everything from local architecture, local jazz scene and spots( jazz is quite special here), cocktails, and lcal lingo such as "Lagnaippe" (meaning "a little extra").....such as "Bartender please make that ramon fizz with a little Lagnaippe" means to load it up with alcohol. (pronounced like LAN-YUP!!) The tour is $45 but includes bikes. It is really really fun....but hot in this heat. I now know where to go tonight and he introduced me to a bar where I had a "sazerac" (according to Jeff America's oldest cocktail). It sucked and tasted like cough syrup but oh well!! The local beer and mint julep were incredible along with my seafood gumbo, red beans and rice, rabbit and sausage gumbo and fried chicken. The food here is second to none!! In addition, I met and talked at length to a stunning blond grad student doing her MBA at Ole Miss and in town to party for the football game they played in New Orleans last night. Unfortunately, she was headed home and back to class so I missed out on a chance for a later date tonight.........Again I got no photos, phone numbers, etc. Being more
The sazarac
Not my favorite drink but a New Orleans original assertive when I make such a positive contact is another goal for my travels. She was a hottie with a brain.....damn!!!!
I left the bar AND THE GIRL sooner than I might have because I intended to do a tour of a local rum distillery. Unfortunately, the one day it is closed is Sunday and I didn't realize that until after I left. It was just as well because I returned to take a nap and do some laundry in preparations for the 6am bus I will take to Austin, TX tomorrow.
I have already fallen in love with New Orleans today but tonight I am hitting the town, having some fun and hopefully meeting some cool people!!! Good food, some adventurous cocktails and a mild sleep will top off this city I have fallen in love with today. The heat and importance of local "cultures" here reminds (in some ways) of places I love in Southeast Asia. New Orleans is in many ways an antithetical American city........the intentional (mis)pronunciation of words here would require an entirely new blog. Sorry for the length here, but I hope y'all enjoy the pictures..................Manana Austin!!!!! Sorry for the length.
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bob b
non-member comment
N. O.
Thanks for keeping us so well informed--I too am right there with you, though I wasn't happy going through those dangerous streets with you during the pre-dawn time. I wouldn't even trust the police there; those corrupt characters might arrest you on any trumped up charge. How great to be young like you rather than old fuddy-duddy grandpa like me. I am very happy with the photos and the writing, though, especially the sentence that goes with the New Orleans at dawn shot: "The blurring of the lights here is like the blurring of conventional morality that plays along the streets." Love Bob