When I first visited New Orleans, I was a teenager traveling with my grandmother. “N’awlins” was an elegant world of antebellum homes, brunches eaten in courtyards under canopies of purple wisteria, afternoon naps on four-poster mahogany beds and sherry served in parlors promptly at 3 p.m.
On numerous later visits I came to see friends, who included a lawyer whose specialty was defending French Quarter entertainers, mostly strippers and transvestites. As a joke she had a T-shirt printed which on the front said “Busted?” and on the back, “Call Dot.”
The burning question usually was whether the defendants had stepped over the line of decency, which in New Orleans is lightly drawn.
I came to know the genteel side of the city and the shady side: I knew all the stops of the St. Charles Streetcar in the Garden District, and I knew which French Quarter clubs had one foot ‘way over the line.
New Orleans is a place to be savored, from legendary restaurants such as Brennan’s (famous for its extravagant and expensive breakfasts), Antoine’s (oysters Rockefeller was invented here) and K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen (be prepared to stand in line for the gumbos) to the jazz and blues clubs.
There are places and attractions that exist only in New Orleans and shouldn’t be missed under any circumstances.
One is the Cafe du Monde. Even at 3 a.m. in winter when the temperature is below freezing, the outdoor cafe is often standing-room only. On the southeast corner of Jackson Square, the cafe serves cafe au lait, beignets (doughnuts covered with powdered sugar) and hot chocolate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
While I sipped coffee one early sunny morning, a man played “Amazing Grace” on a saxophone under the green and white awnings out front.
At Rita’s Restaurant, at Chartre and St. Philip Streets, you can order the best crawfish pie in New Orleans. I ate lunch there-black-eyed peas and rice, smoked sausage and cornbread. All for $4.95. My! Oh my!
Over on the wharf in front of Jackson Square a man played “Muddy Waters” on a guitar. Behind him, riverboats churned the Mississippi. It was enough to make a heart shift to a blues beat.
For a proper introduction to this 275-year-old city, most people take a 45-minute tour by mule and carriage. Visitors see the 17th and 18th Century streets and buildings the way they did two centuries ago. Every trip is different because the tour depends mostly on the interests of the guide.
Harry, for example, pointed out the old marble courthouse used in the filming of the movie “JFK” and the parking lot where scenes in Elvis’ “King Creole” were filmed. More substantial history wasn’t Harry’s forte.
But visitors easily can discover the history of the city on their own. The best place to start a walking tour of the French Quarter is Jackson Square, the town square of the original French colony. It is still the heart of the French Quarter.
The commanding towers of the St. Louis Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, overlook the square from the north. The church has a clock in the central spire that has marked the time for centuries.
The Cabildo and Presbytere, next to the cathedral, are the city’s most important history museums. The Louisiana Purchase was signed in 1803 at the Cabildo. The Presbytere has exhibitions on Louisiana history. A half-dozen blocks east of the square is the French Market, which has been at the same spot for two centuries. Sugar cane, bananas, garlic, crabs and catfish are sold in covered stalls next to the wharf.
And, of course, there’s music.
Bourbon Street is worth a visit even if your evening goal isn’t drinking yourself into oblivion at Pat O’Brien’s, the most famous tourist stop (just off Bourbon on St. Peter Street), and the place where hurricanes, the official tourist drink, were invented.
The music of Bourbon Street’s jazz and rock bands blends into a throbbing cacophony that makes a perfect soundtrack for the strip joints and T-shirt shops. Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo seems perfectly at home.
My vote for the club with the best music goes to Tipitina’s, home of New Orleans’ second most famous band-the Wild Tchoupitoulas. The city’s most famous sons are the Neville Brothers, who often play here. The club, which starred in the movie “The Big Easy,” is not in the French Quarter but is worth a trip uptown.
Royal Street is the Quarter’s main street. A streetcar named Desire ran on Royal from the late 19th Century to the 1950s. The street, with its 18th Century buildings and ornate geranium-filled wrought-iron balconies, may be the loveliest street in the Quarter. There are enough antiques shops and galleries to fill an afternoon.
There are many more places to see in New Orleans, and visitors should make a point of picking up the Where: New Orleans magazine and New Orleans Historical Guide, available at hotels.
Before you strike out on foot, be sure to put your money in a safe place-in a pocket under your coat or whatever. And don’t walk down dark empty streets. Stay on crowded streets.
As I walked around the French Quarter, I tried not to think about what happened to John Routh, the former University of Miami Hurricanes’ mascot.
Before the Sugar Bowl last January, he was on Bourbon Street, singing a Miami fight song with two cheerleaders, when he was shot.
A stray bullet, fired from tenements as far away as 1 1/2 miles, entered the top of his right cheek. The slug, which was recovered, came from an AK-47 or a 9 mm. He was lucky. He got seven stitches and made it to the game.
While Routh was being treated at the hospital, two Miami fans also were being patched up after random gunshots.
With this in mind, I tended to walk on sidewalks under balconies. But even 10 years ago I walked down the dark streets of the French Quarter looking over my shoulder every 60 seconds.
But my enjoyment of the city remains unfazed.
All streets in New Orleans’ central business district have curb ramps. For detailed information on access call Consumer Inquiries at 504-566-5068.
NEW ORLEANS BY STREETCAR, CARRIAGE, BOAT
Streetcars and carriages: You can board the St. Charles Streetcar at Canal and Carondelet Streets. The fare is $1 a person each way. It goes past some of the city’s most beautiful antebellum homes, Audubon Park and Zoo and Tulane and Loyola Universities. The red Riverfront Streetcars travel a two-mile route along the wharves. Fare is $1.25 one way. A one-day pass is $4. A transfer to other lines costs 10 cents. Carriages are available on the southern side of Jackson Square. The fare for adults is $8, children under 12, $4.
Riverboats: The Creole Queen offers jazz dinner cruises: adults, $39, children, $18, and plantation and battlefield cruises, adults, $13, children, $6. The Cajun Queen has combined Aquarium of the Americas and cruise tickets (it docks behind the aquarium), adults, $17, students $9. For both cruises call 504-524-0814. The steamboat Natchez offers two-hour cruises twice a day. Call 504-586-8777.
More information: The Greater New Orleans Tourist and Convention Commission, 1520 Sugar Bowl Drive, New Orleans, La. 70112; 504-566-5011.
