A LITTLE TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by backyardnotes in Birding, Travel

Tags

bead art, beetles, birds, butterflies, Halloween, moths, New Orlean, New Orleans

THIS IS OUR FAVORITE CITY IN THE U.S. The groundskeeper was attending a conference and it happened to be over the Halloween weekend, so I tagged along.

We had never visited during Halloween. Lots of homes decorated for the occasion throughout the city. Some simply, others quite elaborately. This one is in the Garden District.

This one was at the corner of Chartres & Barracks, next to our hotel.

On Saturday night and Halloween night costumed revelers roamed the French Quarter, particularly on crazy Bourbon St. and along Frenchmen St. in theFaubourg-Marigny area. Unfortunately just as Halloween closed out and the clock turned over into Tuesday there was a shooting on Bourbon St.; one person killed and seven wounded. Scary.

As seen above, everyone is welcome on Bourbon Street. My guess is that not too many souls were saved this night.

On Monday, I met some friends in the Garden District where we walked Magazine Street; lots of upscale and junk shops, eateries, antiques stores, and assorted art. We discovered this very interesting the artist Stephán Wanger, in his studio. He creates New Orleans themed works of art with discarded Mardi Gras beads. This photo is a small section of a very large painting. He begins with an underpainting then covers it with beads. Very impressive.

Once the conference ended we took a day trip, south to Grand Isle to do a little birding. We saw 19 species of birds. Most notable were the Black Skimmers, Tri-colored Heron, and Reddish Egrets. The following day we drove to the Atchafalaya NWR hoping to see more bird species. Slimmer pickings here. New to us were the Carolina Wren and Eastern Phoebe.

We also saw some other ‘wildlife’, like this butterfly who was resting in leaf litter right next to…

this small snake!

Underfoot throughout the forest trail were tiny wild strawberries unlike any I’ve seen. I have not been able to identify this fragaria. According to the USDA plant database map there are no wild strawberries in Louisiana. They are about the size of a shirt button!

On our last day in New Orleans we visited the Audubon Insectarium. One room was dedicated to beetles, butterflies, and moths, arranged in arresting displays.

Beetles, moths and butterflies.

We always try to find something new to see and explore on each visit and this was new and interesting. We heard some great music on Frenchmen Street, at Vaso, and at the Balcony Music Club on Decatur Street. We ate some great food at Emeril’s on Julia & Tchoupitoulas and at Slyvain, a new restaurant on Chartres Street. We had wonderfully warm weather, saw and did a few new things, a few old standbys, and were ready to come home on Saturday.

SPRING IN NEW ORLEANS

21 Sunday Mar 2010

Posted by backyardnotes in Travel

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beach, New Orleans

THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING, BLUE SKIES AND SUNSHINE. WHAT COULD BE BETTER? Well, spending it in New Orleans is pretty good. Last night it rained and today is beautiful, just a little cool and very breezy. We have not been here since January 2005 so it will be interesting to see what has changed since Katrina.

Yesterday after leaving Mobile, Alabama we went south to Dauphin Island, a tiny, sandy, dot in the Gulf of Mexico. A long, thin strand of highway bridges the gulf between mainland and the island. The main portion of the island is not more than a mile or more across, while the west end is about a 3 mile long, narrow spit of sand, maybe a quarter of a mile wide. I understand the attraction to beaches and wanting a place at the beach, but out here with exposure to hurricanes, this is crazy.

There were a couple hundred or so of these houses. My favorite one is below. The sand is very white and not a lot of dune grass to hold it in place.

At the east end of the island is Fort Gaines, established in 1821 for the defense of Mobile Bay. I found this Tradescantia (hirsutiflora, I think) growing in the sand. I have two varieties of tradescantia growing in my garden. It is a slow spreader.

After our return to the mainland, we drove west to New Orleans arriving about 4:30. Checked into our favorite, The Hotel Richelieu. We have been staying here since our first trip in 1990. And dinner at Coop’s Place for gumbo and rabbit and sausage Jambalaya.

Looking west from the balcony of the Richelieu

Tomorrow Tom’s conference begins and I am on my own. New Orleans is the one place where I actually like to shop and window shop. There has always been such a variety of shops and merchandise to look at, from antiques and fancy silver ware to cool and quirky art and jewelry. Not to mention the flea market at the French Market, a collection of STUFF of all kinds: souvenirs, crappy jewelry, knock-off bags, mardi gras junk and more junk. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

One of the biggest decisions each day is where to eat. There are so many great restaurants here, from cheap to expense account joints.