Walking Through the Garden

Day 214

Unsure how to tackle touring New Orleans, we decided to book a two day pass on the Hop-On-Hop-Off city tour bus that runs from the Garden District over to the French Quarter. Once on the bus, we planned to do a full circle of the route to get the lay of the land. The staff at our campground recommended to park in the Garden District as there is always plenty of parking, and grab the bus from there. 

On our way to the Garden district, we came to the conclusion there must be lots of French ancestry still in the area, they drive just as bad a Quebecers! We arrived in the Garden district in one piece and were able to park fairly close to the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus stop. After a short wait, the bus arrived and we were off on our tour. The tour bus was one of those double decker busses with the upper floor open to the elements, preferable to ride on warm days, today was cold and unfortunately for us, the only seating available was upstairs… 🥶 

We huddled down in our seats to keep warm and enjoy the commentary from the tour guide as the bus slowly worked its way through the districts. The commentary was interesting and certainly educated me on the festival season. What do most people know of New Orleans… Mardi Gras. I always believed Mardi Gras was a weekend event, and it is, to an extent. Here is what I now learned; Mardi Gras is the finale to the festival season, the festival season typically lasts between fifty and sixty days with each day slowly building up in parade size. On any given day during the festival season, there is normally three to four parades and/or events happening around the city. 

The tour was approximately ninety minutes before doing the full loop back to where we boarded the bus. With this brief introduction to NOLA (what they call New Orleans) we had a pretty good idea what we wanted to see throughout the week. There was an added bonus with the purchase of the two day pass, with this purchase you received two walking tours, one in the Garden District, and one in the French Quarter. Since we were back in the Garden District, we decided to start with the tour here. The start of the tour was located one stop further up from where we parked the truck, so we passed this stop and headed for the next. 

The walking tour started at the top of every hour and we had twenty minutes to burn. Thankfully there was a Starbucks across the street where we were able to get a hot beverage and warm up from the cold ride. Our tour guide showed up just before 1:00, and we were off to explore the Garden District. 

Two trolly lines run through New Orleans, the red and green.

The trolleys are now historically protected. 

Out tour bus for the day. It was cold up top! 

Even on a cold day the place seemed busy. 

Jackson Square, the heart of NOLA 

The Commanders Palace Restaurant is the go to restaurant for the locals of New Orleans. Unfortunately the food is so good, there is a year long waiting list to get in. Chef Emerald Lagasse learned the his trade here.  

It’s easy to identify the parade routes from the large amount of beads hanging in the trees. 

Sandra Bullocks home. It’s said that she rarely visits and is currently letting Mathew McConaughey live there. 

Crape Myrtle tree. 

Oak trees in Nola are all protected. You can not even cut one down if it’s on your own property without city approval. The grass out front is called monkey grass by the locals. 

The oaks are favoured because of their ability to withstand the hurricanes that frequent the area. All over the city, the sidewalks are destroyed from the roots. If a tree on your property destroys the city sidewalk, they will not repair it. If an oak tree on the city’s property damages your property or walkway they will not repair it and you are not allowed to damage the tree, their solution… build a ramp over it. 

Since all of NOLA is on a mud and clay foundation and a high water table. There is no solid foundation,  and everything shifts over time, including the buildings.the photo does not do it justice but the sidewalk goes up and down. 

Sink hole that may get repaired some day.

This tree is covered in beads. Our tour guide gave the distinct impression that the festival beads are becoming an environmental problem in the city. During the festival season a large amount of these cheap plastic beads make it into the city sewers and rivers. 

Some homes in the Garden District still have the stepping stones form the 1800s that were used by the home owners to step over the sewer trench that the chamber pots were dumped in to get into the carriages. 

The Garden District has the strictest building codes in the city. All housing in the district must meet original specifications for when the original house was built. That includes building materials, any modern material substitutes must be approved by the city. paint and decor must be original, including any iron fencing or railings on the house. This house above replaced the original house back in the 50s before the modern building codes took effect. Under these new codes, no upgrades or renovations will be permitted to this house. The only way this house can be renovated or upgraded is by having it replaced with an exact replica of the original house this building replaced from the 1800s.