{"id":12376,"date":"2016-04-08T18:30:41","date_gmt":"2016-04-09T01:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=12376"},"modified":"2016-04-08T18:30:41","modified_gmt":"2016-04-09T01:30:41","slug":"new-orleans-oak-alley-louise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/new-orleans-oak-alley-louise\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW ORLEANS, OAK ALLEY & LOUISE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds-year-old lichen-laced oaks welcome you to the stately Oak Alley Plantation.<\/p>\n

\n

This a story of two cities that is one extraordinary city. New Orleans became my home for a year, thanks to the beneficence of the U.S. Navy and subsequent visits. It was a magic city, a foreign land unlike any other in the U.S., culturally, architecturally and botanically. When you live in \u201cN\u2019awlns,\u201d its\u2019 charisma lies in the varied neighborhoods and overlapping cultures that thrive there, writes our travel editor Al Auger. <\/b>(Travel, #Siliconeer, @Siliconeer, #NewOrleans, #BourbonSt, #FrenchQuarter, #StLouisCathedral)<\/p>\n

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Post-Katrina, the world has been introduced to the Lower Ninth Ward; the French Quarter needs no such preamble, known by most natives as the Vieux Carr\u00e9. Across the Mississippi River lies the virtually unknown village of Algiers. My wife and I lived on Prytania Street on the city-side edge of the renown Garden District. A block away is the iconic cemetery where Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper and friends tripped out on LSD. And, of course, nothing in the U.S. compares to Mardi Gras.<\/p>\n

All of the above has been chronicled thousands of times in every media venue available to mankind. So, let me take you on a virtual tour of my New Orleans, as a self-appointed citizen of this rare urban-village as it changed into a brand new metropolis.<\/p>\n

New Orleans in the mid-twentieth century was still the storied \u201curban- village,\u201d much like the same-time San Francisco Bay Area. A conurbation made up of practically untouched neighborhoods shoulder to shoulder each with its own spirit and soul. The storied Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans was a vital force of people that gave the world new music, an intrinsic art form, culture and attitude. The soul is its\u2019 deeply etched history that lies in the people who create and sustain the spirit. When you enter New Orleans, you are now part of a place you will find nowhere else.<\/p>\n

This is all and good when you are living in the city, no longer a visitor, but a short-term inhabitant. But, the human essentials take priority; again, it\u2019s the discovery of the \u201clittle\u201d things that make New Orleans so different such as the seemingly never-ending diversity of munching delights. Most days, for lunch I would escape the smothering bureaucracy of Naval procedures to the nearby Po\u2019 Boy kiosk. For thirty minutes I would submerge myself in the joy of local oysters or sausage and Louisiana Hot Sauce stuffed in a large bun smoothed by a longneck Jax beer.<\/p>\n

New Orleans has large blue collar working class that enjoy the sybaritic pleasures of exotic eating. While the French Quarter boasts expensive and famous restaurants such as Antoine\u2019s, the Court of Two Sisters, Brennan\u2019s and the like, the city is full of affordable sit down eateries serving much the same fare without the flair. All serving the basics, known the world over: gumbo, jambalaya, oysters and soft-shell crabs prepared so many ways you lose count. Two anchors of that gustatory populism were the strikingly beautiful Morrison\u2019s Buffet and the notorious Red Rooster.<\/p>\n

Morrison\u2019s was a huge cavern of art-laden tile with row upon row of choices from the best local favorites to all-American offerings. The Red Rooster was an exotic and dark pleasures. You enter a long hall lined to its end with slot machines (although gambling was illegal at the time). On one side was a sit-down restaurant famous for gourmet dining. On the other a large buffet room charted for the hoi polloi. The Red Rooster was a main target of the Senator Estes Kefauver Crime Committee\u2019s investigation into Mafia connections in the early 1950s.<\/p>\n

New Orleans is a city of icons reaching back to the days of pirates and Stonewall Jackson. This magic metropolis-cum-village was a walker\u2019s delight. St. Louis Cathedral overlooking Jackson Square is central to the city\u2019s large Catholic population. Across the square sits the fabled Caf\u00e9 Du Monde, famous for dark, rich coffee and puffy beignets blanketed with powder sugar.<\/p>\n

\"Saint
Saint Louis Cathedral overlooking Jackson Square.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The memories of that time is so deeply embedded it would take reams to chronicle them all. Some time later, back in civilian mufti, it was time to show my recent bride all this and more. Checking into the Hotel Monteleone is always a visual treat, from its charming lobby and the extensive services such as the roof pool, numerous watering holes, restaurants, etc. My choice of this remarkable 120-year-old family-owned hostelry was for many sybaritic reasons, but mainly for its location on the edge of the French Quarter. From its beginning in 1886 the Monteleone (the name of a small region of Serbia) has gone through evolution after evolution with it\u2019s complete destruction and rebuild in 1954 that is today\u2019s elegant experience. There is so much about the Monteleone it\u2019s best to suggest you to check out it\u2019s Website (see minutia) for descriptions and reviews.<\/p>\n

\"Exotic
Exotic French Quarter residences.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With my partner, Louise, at my side we overlooked the Manhattan-ized central city, a virtual tear forming as we viewed the forest of sky-scraping architecture blotting out the true New Orleans I came to love. But, the city still had the finest urban transportation system negating the need of a vehicle to tour my old life stations and, of course, the never-changing symbols of the historic French Quarter. We gorged on Turtle soup at the Court of Two Sisters and smoothly tripped a sunset dancing in the courtyard. One night of jazz at the Preservation Hall Jazz emporium and experiencing the walk-away drink windows.<\/p>\n

\"A
A trolley rolls along St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new occurrence for both of us was to rent a small car and head to St. James Parish and the historic plantation homes. One doesn\u2019t go plantation schlepping without a stop at the history-laced Oak Alley Plantation. Skirting the Mississippi River on the Great River Highway is worth the trip alone. The walk alone under the arch of hundreds-year-old oak trees to the stately plantation house is one never to be forgotten. If you have seen Gone With the Wind, you\u2019re anticipated values are set; you won\u2019t be disappointed. There doesn\u2019t seem to be a chair, a table or sofa that doesn\u2019t belong. The staff are all dressed in the fashions of the day.<\/p>\n

\"Strolling
Strolling down Bourbon Street in the famous French Quarter in New Orleans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three days left in New Orleans and every memory of those days so many years ago have been relived or remained for Louise. No matter the burden of giant buildings reaching for the sky and an oversize sports muffin, there\u2019s still the Po\u2019Boys and the enduring flavors of Cajun cooking , music everywhere, dancing at the Court of Two Sisters and lounging in the lingering ethereal pleasures of the Monteleone. A visit to this enchanted city is to be taken with repose; relax as you cruise what\u2019s around the next corner. Don\u2019t \u201csee\u201d what has enveloped you, absorb the milieu. And remember what your new N\u2019awlns friends told you: \u201cY\u2019all come back, Y\u2019heah?\u201d<\/p>\n

MINUTIA<\/p>\n

Hotel Monteleone<\/p>\n

214 Royal St.<\/p>\n

New Orleans, LA 70130<\/p>\n

866-338-4684<\/p>\n

www.hotelmonteleone.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oak Alley<\/p>\n

3645 Highway 18 (Great River Highway)<\/p>\n

Vacherie, LA 70090<\/p>\n

225.265.2151<\/p>\n

800.44ALLEY<\/p>\n

www.oakalleyplantation.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds-year-old lichen-laced oaks welcome you to the stately Oak Alley Plantation. This a story of two cities that is one extraordinary city. New Orleans became my home for a year, thanks to the beneficence of the U.S. Navy and subsequent visits. It was a magic city, a foreign land unlike any other in the U.S.,…<\/p>\n

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