The next morning the ladies were prepping matching shirts for Myra’s birthday. Here is Myra doing some custom tailoring! Note the “50” on her tiara.
John decided to play a little dress up as well. Looking good buddy!
Here are the outfits. Looking good ladies!
We all got on a very crowded street car and headed to the Garden District for a walking tour. We all met at Lafayette Cemetery #1, the most famous cemetery in New Orleans.
The cemetery, founded in 1833, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Unfortunately it’s currently closed for repairs, and has apparently been for quite awhile, so the only views are from the gates.
If the various families don’t take care of the tombs there is a local volunteer group that will jump in and ensure they don’t fall into total disrepair, which was not clearly evident from some of these tombs appearances.
After leaving the cemetery our guide led us down the street to the “Benjamin Button” house. Built in 1832, this house was used as the main house in the Brad Pitt movie of the same name. Many scenes from the film take place on the porch and steps in front of the home. We’ve seen it once, so we’ll have to watch it again at some point. I remember it being quite strange.
The next house was the Walter Robinson House, built by a wealthy banker from Virginia. This building was the first in New Orleans to have indoor plumbing, thanks to a roof design that collected rain water. It’s hard to imagine living without indoor plumbing.
The mansion has been featured in several movies, including Jason Statham’s “The Mechanic” in 2011. I saw the original from 1972 with Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent. I had no idea they remade it. Why? The original was perfect…Charles at his finest!
Up next was the beautifully intricate cast iron work of the Carroll-Crawford house. Joseph Carroll built this house in 1869, and was known for throwing extravagant and often raunchy parties with important guests, such as Mark Twain.
The cast iron was imported from Italy, and was considered the most expensive in the Garden District…until a neighbor bought the same cast iron work, but added features not found here. Love the details!
The next house is the Pritchard house, built in 1858. With it’s four columns it is one of the few great examples of Greek revival in the Garden District. Our guide said that Walt Disney toured the area before he built Disneyland, and it is said he copied the design of this house for The Haunted Mansion. Disney sure seems to have gotten around!
Here is another shot from the direct front of the house. Note the color of the ceilings on both the lower and upper porches, which is known as “haint blue”. This color is said to ward off evil spirits, a tradition brought to the south by the Gullah people , descendants of enslaved people from west and central Africa. Nearly every home on the Garden District has this haint blue paint on the porch ceilings.
The last notable house is called the “Cornstalk Fence” house, also know as Colonel Short’s Villa. Built in 1859, merchant Robert Short built this house and included a decorative wrought iron cornstalk fence that encircles the property. It is said he ordered the lavish custom fence for his wife, who was missing the cornfields of her native Iowa. This is before people bought yachts and RV’s to impress the neighbors.
Here is a close up of the cornstalk fence. Pretty cool artwork!
On our last night we had dinner at Arnaud’s Jazz Bistro, where a jazz band plays throughout dinner, going from table to table. While the service and atmosphere was great, the food was unfortunately mediocre at best. I can’t recommend this place, despite it’s historic nature. Sad.
We then walked down Bourbon Street toward Frenchman Street, where we planned to hit another jazz bar. Here are the ladies with their birthday boas all lit up.
The birthday girl with her birthday boy (William’s birthday is two days before Myra’s). Note the money pinned to her top…this is a New Orleans tradition for your birthday.
As we were approaching our intended jazz bar we ran across an impromptu street performance. It was wild! This is one of those things that makes New Orleans so special.
We finally made into “Blue Nile”, and the music wasn’t quite what I had hoped for. Cool bar though, and they had Abita Amber, my favorite local beer, so I survived.
We of course left earlier than everybody else, and took a streetcar back. One last bit of New Orleans before we departed the next day. Here is the younger ones still hanging at Blue Nile, with William once again showing off his selfie skills.
The next morning we picked up our rental car, said our goodbyes, and headed off to Biloxi, Mississippi. Great time with the group in New Orleans, and outside of Arnaud’s the restaurants were excellent! I’m looking forward to planning William’s 55th….just let me know where you want to go buddy!