Today is October 1st, and it’s our first full day with nothing planned. Well, nothing that required tickets and a time during the early daytime, we have the swamp tour for later on this afternoon. I did have a few things that I wanted to do while we were there and one was to take a ride on the St Charles street car. (Remember the old ditty: “3-6-9, the goose drank wine, the monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar line” ? No? Well, this kind of streetcar always reminds me of that.
The stop was directly out front of our hotel and every time we saw it go by it looked pretty crowded so we figured we’d hop on first thing and ride the complete circuit for some sightseeing before the crowds, as well as before it got hot. Well, hotter, it’s always hot here. The other streetcars in New Orleans are air-conditioned, but not this line so as to keep it authentic.
It’s the oldest, continuously operating streetcar in the world. That in itself is pretty amazing. It was built in 1835, so 188 years old! Canada is 156 years old….this streetcar was running for 32 years before Canada was “born”. Now that is amazing. No wonder it’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
Plus, a senior can ride for 40 cents if you have the correct change.. You can’t get a cheaper tour for a better price!
I had bought a Jazzy Pass at a CVS earlier in the week since we didn’t know when we would take a streetcar or if we would have change, and I always like to be prepared, so our rides were actually $1.25 each. Still a bargain! And the pass is good for 24 hours on all the streetcars, buses and the ferry. (None of which we utilized, but hey…we could have!) And of course I put the ticket in backwards, then upside down, and then in the wrong slot completely. How pathetic that I can’t even get on a streetcar! 😂
So we eventually hopped on the almost empty bus and off we went…bells a’clanging.
The complete route is 10km and you can get off and on wherever you want. It goes mainly throughout The Garden District which is where all the beautiful and interesting old houses are, as well as Loyola and Tulane universities and the Audubon Zoo. It takes about 45 minutes to do a circuit although you have to get off halfway though and get on the return one. Some of the tracks are on the actual roads, but most are on (what they call) the neutral zone, which we call the median. There are signs saying to keep your hands and head inside the windows, and believe me, make sure you do that! Some of the street lamps and street signs are literally an inch or two from the window. I can’t believe that more people (tourists in particular) don’t get an arm ripped off. Branches from trees come whipping right inside sometimes.
Here are a few of the interesting homes. Such a stunning area, and hard to believe that they are in the same city as the homes in the areas near the French Quarter. The “haves” and the “have nots”. Like every other city, I suppose.
We stayed on until it arrived at Canal Street and we jumped off and noticed we were right near, once again, Bourbon Street. 😉 We decided to wander though because it is truly a never ending kaleidoscope of sights, but this time we actually left Bourbon Street itself and walked up and down some of the other streets in the French Quarter. I wanted to see some of the beautiful and iconic wrought-iron balconies that the French Quarter is so renowned for. They did not disappoint! There is so much more to the French Quarter than just Bourbon Street. Quirky little shops and restaurants on every corner and side street.
I had picked up a few spices that I wanted to bring home (I might make some “🎶crawfish pie, jambalaya, file gumbo 🎶”someday. You never know….) I wasn’t enthused about carrying the bag around all day and onto the swamp tour boat (I just knew I’d forget it there) nor was I enthused about walking back to the hotel to drop it off, but that’s what we ended up doing, stoping for the unlikely combination of beignets & beer along the way.
There is an ongoing rivalry between Cafe Beignet and Cafe du Monde as to which has the better beignets. Cafe Beignet serves wine and beer as well as sandwiches and their beignets are much larger and denser than Cafe du Monde’s. You can also sit in the courtyard by the fountain and listen to a live jazz band. I loved it there, we went more than once during our Bourbon St strolls. Cafe du Mode, on the other hand, is the original home of beignets. It opened in 1862 and has been going strong ever since. It’s considered a “must do” while you are in New Orleans. We found it crowded, noisy, and absolutely chock full of younger people posing for their instagram pictures. Their beignets are a bit smaller, but lighter and fluffier and much more powdered sugar. It’s an experience to try to eat them neatly and I think some of the staff has been hired to simply sweep the floor. (It’s an outdoor/under a roof place) I think it has become more of a tourist attraction than an enjoyable place to have a snack. It seemed very hectic and rushed.
Anyhow, we sat there for a bit, then headed to hotel to drop off my spices, freshened up (which just means cooling down) and headed back out to the upper part of the French Quarter to the pick-up spot for the swamp tour.
This involved a longer walk up Canal Street to the pick-up point. It looked to be a 30 minute or so walk, but in actuality it was more like 15 minutes, and we ended up really early. Like two hours early! We had figured we’d have a bite to eat prior to the tour since it was from pick-up at 3:30 until return at about 7:30. However, the pick-up was in an area with nary a place to eat, nor even a place to sit. We decided to walk down a street nearby and see what was around. We came across a fancy but tiny looking place called “Arnoud’s” and when we went inside all the staff were dressed in black & white suits and the customers that I could see looked equally well-attired. This did not bode well for us in our casual clothes. I spoke to the elegant hostess:
Me: Oh. I’m thinking that you may have a dress code here? I don’t think we are appropriately dressed, we were just looking for somewhere for a quick, light bite.
She: Yes, we do have a dress code. However, if you don’t mind sitting by the bar, we can seat you there.
Me: Oh, that would be great. (Feeling slovenly and out of place)
I expected a dingy corner by the kitchen, but she gave us a lovely table by the bar and also gave us the best and friendliest service imaginable. Plus the bartender wasn’t busy and was thrilled to have someone to chat to. He was curious about what we had seen and where we were going, and when I mentioned I was excited about going to a cemetery later on he and Steven ended up exchanging horrible Dad Jokes about cemeteries and laughing boisterously.
I wasn’t very hungry so I ordered a Belgian Waffle from the appetizer menu, and it’s a good thing I wasn’t hungry because while it was delicious, it was also minuscule. Thus the “appetizer” part. 😂. He had a delicious bowl of seafood gumbo. I also had a cafe Au lait and our server treated us with little truffles as well for dessert.
People here are just so extraordinarily friendly. It’s incredible.
After we ate we headed back to the pick-up point and “people watched” as a stream of sad Saint’s fans were returning home from an apparent bad loss of their football game. I guess the bus/streetcar from the Superdome lets out just around the corner. Every single person we saw was dressed in jerseys and Saint’s gear, painted faces and coloured hair, lots of sparkle in their clothes, but none in their eyes. They take their Saint’s very seriously. It was a solemn procession.
Then our bus arrived and off we went for another adventure! I will talk about it in the next part.
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