Criminals and Pirates and Prostitutes, Oh My!

If you go to New Orleans, you must visit the cemeteries! They're old and beautiful, unique structures that carry a lot of history. Go with a tour guide and they'll let you in on a couple of secrets you'll be sure not to have known about beforehand.

Quick Tips:

Bring an umbrella and lots of cash (or budget what you have diligently). There are so many good restaurants and interesting stores that you'll have spent all your money before you know it.

Best Way To Get Around:

Everything is within walking distance. Buses and streetcars are both .25 for travel out of the Quarter and only .25 cents more if you need to transfer. There is no reason to rent a car unless you want to visit the bayou or a plantation.

The B&B was fantastic and about a ten- to fifteen-minute walk down Esplanade - a very nice residential area filled with old townhouses typical to the French quarter - to Decanteur, which is down by the river. It's a five-minute walk to Bourbon. The location is great - I went there alone (I'm a 22-year-old woman) and I felt perfectly safe walking back to the B&B at 11:30 at night.

As for the interior, it looks exactly like the pictures posted on their website. The Hilton it is not, but who wants to stay at a boring, uniform hotel when you're in New Orleans, a city known for its colorful architecture and quirky, unique charm?

Although I barely got to speak to Hugh, Mary was an absolute darling. They say they specialize in first-time travelers, and they mean it. After greeting me at the door and showing me to my room, she actually walked me down to Bourbon Street, gave me a street map, and pointed out some places of interest. They also sent me a ton of information before my visit. Now what other bed and breakfast do you know of that will go that far out of their way for guests?

Most days I ended up here at some time or another, usually in the morning before I'd start meandering around the French quarter or in the late evening after everything else had closed.

It's a great place to go to just people watch. There's almost always some kind of entertainment going on in the street next to the cafe. In the picture posted you might be able to make out a man playing the saxophone on the corner of the street.

Whether you have a frozen cafe au lait after a long hot day wandering around the quarter, or start your day off with a couple of beingnets and some chickory coffee, you need to go here at least once if for anything, just to say you did! It's been featured in so many books and movies that it's practically synonymous with the vieux carre.

Built in 1837, this is a prime example of Greek revival. As an American plantation it is a majestic structure like no other. This is just one of those places where it's imposible to take a bad picture. I remember while on the tour of the house, which harbours a plethora of romantic history only fit for a place like this, we gathered up on the second floor. As our tour guide went to open the French doors that led out to the balcony, she said to us, "Okay guys, get your camera ready, this is your kodak moment." Of course we all kind of chuckled, but when she finally did open the doors with a dramatic sweep, we all just collectively held our breath at the beauty of the oak-lined drive. The picture reminds me of a postcard. :)

Today, Oak Alley is best known for its stint as Louis' home in the book Interview with a Vampire, and it has appeared in many other movies and television shows over the years.

If you're a history buff, an avid Anne Rice fan, or you just want to escape reality for a couple of hours, I highly recommend visiting here.

This is one of the only still-standing Creole plantations left in the New Orleans area. It can be found in Vacherie.

What's interesting about this place is that its history is documented in a diary written by one of the many generations of women who owned the plantation.

The picture taken is a side view of the historical home. Note the bright colors, which have interesting significance.

Since colored paint was more costly, the brighter the hues you had, the wealthier you appeared.

St-Louis Cemetery no.1

This is one of the oldest cemeteries located in New Orleans, and you can certainly tell by the condition some of the tombs are in.

This is still a place you don't want to miss. It's in a rather shady part of town, so I don't recommend going here alone, but it's very easy to find a walking tour that stops here.

Here you'll find New Orleans' first African-American mayor, Ernst Morial, entombed next to the Glapion family tomb where Marie Laveau and her daughter are both reputedly buried.

Story goes that when they went to entomb the mayor, the path to the family crypt was not large enough, so they had to turn the coffin sideways. Apparently, mourners were able to hear the body thwump against the side of the coffin as the poor mayor's coffin was turned to fit through the narrow walkway. In recent years, the family crypt was rebuilt to face the opposite direction so that an instance like this would never occur again.

An interesting fact about Marie Laveau, a healer and prominent figure in her time: tombs in New Orleans are almost never filled to capacity, and Marie Laveau's tomb is no exception. In her benevolence, she would offer up space in her family crypt to those who could not afford burial space so that they could be buried on Christian ground.

For more pictures that capture the beauty of these old tombs, see my travelogue.

For more info on Marie Laveau and the rituals surrounding her tomb, see my general tips.

Marie Laveau's tomb:

There's a popular 'voodoo tradition' that if you pick up a discarded piece of brick from an old crypt, mark three X's on the tomb (Marie Laveau's), turn around three times and leave an offering, Marie Laveau's spirit will grant your wish.

Here's the thing: it's not true. Not only is this not a voodoo ritual, but it originated from a journalist who falsely claimed to know Marie Laveau. The myth was perpetuated by the groundskeeper, in a misguided attempt to keep the cemetery from falling to ruins. He would elaborate the ritual depending on how stupid or rich you looked and would suggest leaving, ahem...money as an offering. Later he would return to the tomb, collect the amount and put it into the upkeep of the grounds and crypts.

The origin of the three X's stems from the signatures found on the tombs and family crypts. In early times, most were built by very skilled freed slaves who could neither read nor write, therefore each would have their own distinct markings as to differentiate who created which final resting place.

It so happened that the craftsman who constructed Marie Laveau's tomb's signature was three X's, thus starting the legend.

A word to the wise. Do not buy into the myth. If you're caught defacing a crypt, you can get fined up to $1000 for a first-time offense.

If you go to New Orleans and are planning to take a haunted walking tour, go with this company. I had a blast. I started out with the ghost tour and had so much fun, I ended up taking the vampire tour the following night.

On the ghost tours, you'll hear tales of horror at the lalaurie mansion, the axe murderer who stalked his victims and then killed off the entire family and the woman who haunts the bar where you'll stop for a visit.

The picture here is at that very same bar which used to be a house of ill repute. The story goes that there was a prostitute working there who fell in love with a soldier. They were to be married but he wanted to go on one final mission beforehand so they could later live in financial comfort. The young woman was apprehensive so she made him promise to come back to her. When he finally was to arrive home, she put on her white dress and ran down to happily greet him, only to find that he had indeed returned, but he was dead in his coffin.

The young girl, distraught, locked herself in her room for weeks refusing to eat until finally, one day overwhelmed with her sorrow, she hung herself from the tree by the stables. It's said that she haunts the courtyard.

Take a look at the righthand side of the picture directly behind the plant, taken of that very tree; do you see what I see?

At Least Do This:
Go on the vampire tour and hear tales of the Count St-Germaine's reputed brief stay in New Orleans and learn about the filles de cassette or 'casket' girls of Ursuline Convent . What really lies on the third floor? And why does it remain off limits to anyone save high ranking members of the church? make sure you pick up a coupon before you take the tour. it'll save you some money. Alternative: I took a cemetary and voodoo tour with another company, and the tour guide wasn't half as good as the ones with this company. the guides were well informed, entertaining and very funny. if you're going to be a tourist for a couple of days, why not make yourself obvious and take one of the tours. it beats spending the entire time drinking on bourbon st.:P

During my first trip to New Orleans, I had all these plans to visit famous historical venues and museums. What was the only museum I ended up going to, you ask?

Yup. Sadly, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, which was surprisingly entertaining in a weird, campy kind of way.

Admission was a little expensive at 10 bucks a pop, but it's pretty big and it's right on Decanteur at the Jax Brewery (a place you want to avoid going into).

Here's a picture of an 'authentic' vampire hunter's kit found at the museum.

At Least Do This:
Get yourself a tacky 51-cent souvenir or pay to have your fortune read by a vending machine. You're dooomed! Dooooooomed!