![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
New Orleans trip, Day 3
Oct. 24th, 2024 04:20 pmI checked out of hotel 1 and into hotel 2! The con rate was really good, especially since the impending Taylor Swift concert caused a lot of prices to spike due to demand. I went from The French Quarter to the Warehouse Arts District, and spent a lot of time wandering there.
One thing that struck me about the city was the sharp contrast between extremely narrow and extremely wide spaces. In the French Quarter a lot of roads were one way and narrow even for that, the markets were so packed you couldn't get around another person in the aisle, narrow historic jazz clubs had pews close together instead of tables and those were packed, and the musicians were on a stage so small that if they weren't careful the trumpet player could bop the other musicians. But then Canal street has wide sidewalks, two sets of streetcar tracks, and each side of the road takes so long to walk across there are separate walk signals to the meridian and then to cross the other half. Large parts of the city have incredibly wide streets, the city park is massive and sprawling.
Some areas are so wide it's hard to navigate, some areas are so narrow and tight they are hard to navigate.
Also, lots of stairs with no elevator option. A lot of what I did would have been impossible with a wheelchair or walker, maybe even a cane.
I was surprised to realize this quirky statue was a Katrina Memorial. Seeing Katrina memorials and reminders was very surreal with Helene just having happened and Milton incoming.
Something that hadn't even been on my radar before going to the city was Vue Orleans. There is a viewing platform on top of the Four Seasons right by the river. They have a whole interactive section on ground level with history displays and short films, but since they close when it gets dark and your time is limited, it's heavily discounted if you go at sunset. And, the history there doesn't act like white people where the first in the region! The cemetery tour guides I had talked like the French and Spanish were the first people who lived in the area.
Most of what a tourists is going to do in the city is in a very small section of it. Even if you go out to City Park or other places, you don't see most of the city, it's bridges or how the river winds through it. Getting the overview and seeing how surrounded by water the city is was amazing. This was great and very much worth my time. I wish I'd done it first. It just gives a content to everything.
Also, I enjoyed trying to snipe pictures of street cars. Yeah, my lens didn't really have the reach, but 10/10 would sit there trying to shoot the street cars again.
Back at ground level:
Then it was time to check something off of my must-do list. The Double Dealer is a historic bar under The Orpheum Theater and it rated as a top cocktail bar in the city. It's not a hidden bar exactly, but it's far from any other bar and especially any nice bar.
That's it, that's the entrance. It's a side door away from the theater's main entrance. I don't know if I'd interpret that to mean 'there is a bar down these two long flights of stairs, come on down' if I didn't know.
In terms of it being a well preserved historic bar, full points, amazing. The lighting was great and the booths were draped in lush velvet with theater style curtains. The service was mid judging by typical bar standards, for 'top cocktail bar' standards it was downright confusing. The guy tending my side of the bar kept making free drinks, his artistic experiments, and giving them to a girl in a tight velvet dress. I understand how the world works. I've never gotten a free drink at a bar and never will. But he was giving very little attention to paying customers, we were clearly second class.
I tried two cocktails. I wasn't into the first, it was very sour and oddly thick.
Clover Club:
The second was far more my speed. Kentucky Maid:
I loved it but, ... okay coming from Portland I am very spoiled for cocktails and drinks in general. I don't know how to judge these, my baseline expectations might just be sky-high. I loved it, but it didn't feel 'top cocktail' bar level to me, and I was ordering off their menu of signature drinks. These should be the best they have to offer.
Still, despite everything, I'm glad I went because the location is so unique. I just wish I'd gotten up and switched seats to the other side of the bar and tried the other bartender.
In a few conversations, people asked me if I'd been to Frenchman Street, I was told that it was clearly my speed. I said I'd walked the whole French Quarter a few times so probably? While I was sitting at the bar, I looked at maps on my phone and realized that Frenchman Street was just outside what most maps considered the FQ, so I hadn't. My plan for the night was clear, I had to go where the locals were pointing me. It felt a bit strange to have moved into to Warehouse Arts Distract after days in the French Quarter only to go back into it and through it. I walked to Bourbon Street and the area I knew, then through a solidly residential area for about three quarters of a mile before I got Frenchman Street.
First thing I noticed was all the private security, then the sportscars and then the families with kids and designer handbags. I had a 'people look at me and think this is my speed??' moment. I don't want to really judge the area because I wasn't there long and it took me some time to find my groove with the areas of town I'd become familiar with, but yeah I was super not impressed. I forged ahead a bit, wanting to see more of it before just turning around and going back to my hotel. Yeah, it didn't improve. Maybe before the pandemic it was different, but it was a lot of very generic art and security guards. I came across an art gallery open late and I recognized the style of art... from stuff I'd seen growing up in Connecticut. This was very 'for clueless white tourists' and I have at least a third of a clue dammit. (For non-USians, Connecticut is super white and culturally very, very different. New Orleans gave us jazz. Studies about Connecticut gave rise to the terms WASP and Entitlement Complex. No, I am not kidding, I've read the studies that coined the terms.) When I got that 'local art' gallery I just turned heel. I was done. I wish I'd had time to give it another shot, but I was ready for bed. I was done with all the sports cars revving their engines because the narrow streets were practically gridlocked, so all they could do to show off was rev.
Also, a lot of the tourists in that part of the town were wearing shirts that said 'The Big Easy' on it, and... yeah, that's a nickname for the city but I think they don't why.
One thing that struck me about the city was the sharp contrast between extremely narrow and extremely wide spaces. In the French Quarter a lot of roads were one way and narrow even for that, the markets were so packed you couldn't get around another person in the aisle, narrow historic jazz clubs had pews close together instead of tables and those were packed, and the musicians were on a stage so small that if they weren't careful the trumpet player could bop the other musicians. But then Canal street has wide sidewalks, two sets of streetcar tracks, and each side of the road takes so long to walk across there are separate walk signals to the meridian and then to cross the other half. Large parts of the city have incredibly wide streets, the city park is massive and sprawling.
Some areas are so wide it's hard to navigate, some areas are so narrow and tight they are hard to navigate.
Also, lots of stairs with no elevator option. A lot of what I did would have been impossible with a wheelchair or walker, maybe even a cane.
I was surprised to realize this quirky statue was a Katrina Memorial. Seeing Katrina memorials and reminders was very surreal with Helene just having happened and Milton incoming.
Something that hadn't even been on my radar before going to the city was Vue Orleans. There is a viewing platform on top of the Four Seasons right by the river. They have a whole interactive section on ground level with history displays and short films, but since they close when it gets dark and your time is limited, it's heavily discounted if you go at sunset. And, the history there doesn't act like white people where the first in the region! The cemetery tour guides I had talked like the French and Spanish were the first people who lived in the area.
Most of what a tourists is going to do in the city is in a very small section of it. Even if you go out to City Park or other places, you don't see most of the city, it's bridges or how the river winds through it. Getting the overview and seeing how surrounded by water the city is was amazing. This was great and very much worth my time. I wish I'd done it first. It just gives a content to everything.
Also, I enjoyed trying to snipe pictures of street cars. Yeah, my lens didn't really have the reach, but 10/10 would sit there trying to shoot the street cars again.
Back at ground level:
Then it was time to check something off of my must-do list. The Double Dealer is a historic bar under The Orpheum Theater and it rated as a top cocktail bar in the city. It's not a hidden bar exactly, but it's far from any other bar and especially any nice bar.
That's it, that's the entrance. It's a side door away from the theater's main entrance. I don't know if I'd interpret that to mean 'there is a bar down these two long flights of stairs, come on down' if I didn't know.
In terms of it being a well preserved historic bar, full points, amazing. The lighting was great and the booths were draped in lush velvet with theater style curtains. The service was mid judging by typical bar standards, for 'top cocktail bar' standards it was downright confusing. The guy tending my side of the bar kept making free drinks, his artistic experiments, and giving them to a girl in a tight velvet dress. I understand how the world works. I've never gotten a free drink at a bar and never will. But he was giving very little attention to paying customers, we were clearly second class.
I tried two cocktails. I wasn't into the first, it was very sour and oddly thick.
Clover Club:
The second was far more my speed. Kentucky Maid:
I loved it but, ... okay coming from Portland I am very spoiled for cocktails and drinks in general. I don't know how to judge these, my baseline expectations might just be sky-high. I loved it, but it didn't feel 'top cocktail' bar level to me, and I was ordering off their menu of signature drinks. These should be the best they have to offer.
Still, despite everything, I'm glad I went because the location is so unique. I just wish I'd gotten up and switched seats to the other side of the bar and tried the other bartender.
In a few conversations, people asked me if I'd been to Frenchman Street, I was told that it was clearly my speed. I said I'd walked the whole French Quarter a few times so probably? While I was sitting at the bar, I looked at maps on my phone and realized that Frenchman Street was just outside what most maps considered the FQ, so I hadn't. My plan for the night was clear, I had to go where the locals were pointing me. It felt a bit strange to have moved into to Warehouse Arts Distract after days in the French Quarter only to go back into it and through it. I walked to Bourbon Street and the area I knew, then through a solidly residential area for about three quarters of a mile before I got Frenchman Street.
First thing I noticed was all the private security, then the sportscars and then the families with kids and designer handbags. I had a 'people look at me and think this is my speed??' moment. I don't want to really judge the area because I wasn't there long and it took me some time to find my groove with the areas of town I'd become familiar with, but yeah I was super not impressed. I forged ahead a bit, wanting to see more of it before just turning around and going back to my hotel. Yeah, it didn't improve. Maybe before the pandemic it was different, but it was a lot of very generic art and security guards. I came across an art gallery open late and I recognized the style of art... from stuff I'd seen growing up in Connecticut. This was very 'for clueless white tourists' and I have at least a third of a clue dammit. (For non-USians, Connecticut is super white and culturally very, very different. New Orleans gave us jazz. Studies about Connecticut gave rise to the terms WASP and Entitlement Complex. No, I am not kidding, I've read the studies that coined the terms.) When I got that 'local art' gallery I just turned heel. I was done. I wish I'd had time to give it another shot, but I was ready for bed. I was done with all the sports cars revving their engines because the narrow streets were practically gridlocked, so all they could do to show off was rev.
Also, a lot of the tourists in that part of the town were wearing shirts that said 'The Big Easy' on it, and... yeah, that's a nickname for the city but I think they don't why.
