111 Places in New Orleans that you must not miss

111 Places in New Orleans That You Must Not Miss

Michael Murphy and Sally Asher

emons: Verlag

Imprint

© Emons Verlag GmbH // 2016

All rights reserved

Text: Michael Murphy and Sally Asher

© Photographs: Sally Asher, except:

p.13, The Abita Mystery House © Derek Hibbs

Painting of Leah Chase on p. 23 reprinted with permission of the artist, Rise Delmar Ochsner

© Cover icon: shutterstock.com/OZaiachin

Design: Emons Verlag

Maps based on data by Openstreetmap, © Openstreet Map-participants, ODbL

ISBN 978-3-96041-229-8

eBook of the original print edition published by Emons Verlag

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Table of contents

Foreword

1_813 Royal Street | New Orleans

The house that saved NOLA

2_Abita Mystery House | New Orleans

Scratching the itch for kitsch

3_Aidan Gill for Men | New Orleans

An unapologetically male barbershop

4_Algiers Point | New Orleans

Over da river

5_Angelo Brocato | New Orleans

Leave the diet, take the cannoli

6_Antenna Gallery | New Orleans

A moveable feast of art

7_The Art of Dooky Chase | New Orleans

These walls can talk

8_Audubon Park Labyrinth | New Orleans

Walking a sacred path

9_Bacchanal | New Orleans

Just like it sounds (plus tiki torches)

10_The Batture | New Orleans

Waterfront (sometimes water-infused) property

11_The Bead Tree | New Orleans

Beads for needs

12_Bottom of the Cup | New Orleans

Top-of-the-heap psychic readings

13_Bourbon Orleans Hotel | New Orleans

Dancing with the dead

14_Boutique du Vampyre | New Orleans

One-stop shopping for all your vampire needs

15_Casa Borrega | New Orleans

A feast for the senses

16_Chainsaw Tree | New Orleans

An old oak’s rebirth

17_Checkpoint Charlie’s | New Orleans

Come for the band, leave with clean socks

18_City Park’s Live Oaks | New Orleans

A family of trees

19_Claiborne Corridor | New Orleans

Historic past with a possible future

20_The Cornstalk Hotel | New Orleans

A hotel with apparitional amenities

21_Crescent Park | New Orleans

Reinventing the waterfront

22_DBC | New Orleans

Drive-thru daiquiris

23_Dew Drop Jazz Hall | New Orleans

Worshipping in the house of jazz

24_Dive Bar Alley | New Orleans

The zone for twilight festivities

25_Dr. Bob Folk Art | New Orleans

Welcoming signs inviting you to get out

26_Eiffel Society | New Orleans

A piece of Paris in America’s most Parisian city

27_Elizabeth’s Restaurant | New Orleans

Where bacon is more than a side

28_Escape My Room | New Orleans

Group interaction to escape clustered internment

29_EvacuSpots | New Orleans

Getting the hell out of Dodge

30_F & F Botanica Spiritual Supply | New Orleans

Ritual-aid charmacy

31_Fats Domino’s House | New Orleans

Walking (or driving) to the Ninth Ward

32_Faulkner House Books | New Orleans

The best bookstore that won’t have any best sellers

33_Fifi Mahony’s | New Orleans

Wig paradise

34_Frenchmen Art Market | New Orleans

A slip of art in a sea of music

35_Freret Street Boxing Gym | New Orleans

Fashionable fisticuffs

36_Gator Run | New Orleans

Keeping it cool at the zoo

37_The Germaine Cazenave Wells Mardi Gras Museum | New Orleans

Oysters Rockefeller with a side of sequins

38_Greg’s Antiques | New Orleans

A different kind of sticker shock

39_Hansen’s Sno-Bliz | New Orleans

New Orleans’ way to beat the heat

40_Hare Krishna Temple | New Orleans

Culinary consciousness

41_The Healing Center | New Orleans

The mall for people who hate malls

42_Holt Cemetery | New Orleans

The unknown grave for the well-known Father of Jazz

43_Hong Kong Food Market | New Orleans

A ridiculous name for a remarkable emporium

44_House of Broel | New Orleans

Dresses, dollhouses, and frog legs

45_House of Dance & Feathers | New Orleans

Street cred in a shed

46_Ignatius J. Reilly Statue | New Orleans

Watching for signs of bad taste

47_James H. Cohen & Sons | New Orleans

Buying a piece of history

48_Jazz Brunch at Atchafalaya | New Orleans

DIY Bloody Marys

49_The Jazz Collection | New Orleans

A brass menagerie

50_Josie Arlington’s Tomb | New Orleans

The lady burnishes

51_Kayaking on the Bayou | New Orleans

Commuting with nature

52_Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge | New Orleans

Bar of the Emperor of the Universe

53_Killer Poboys | New Orleans

The richest po’boys

54_Lafcadio Hearn’s House | New Orleans

The inventor of New Orleans slept here

55_Lakefront Airport | New Orleans

An Art Deco museum masquerading as an airport

56_The LaLaurie Mansion | New Orleans

The house of unspeakable horrors

57_Langlois Culinary Crossroads | New Orleans

If you can’t stand the humidity, get into the kitchen

58_Le Musée de f.p.c. | New Orleans

The untold history of free people of color

59_Le Pavillon Hotel | New Orleans

Come for the ghosts, stay for the PB&J

60_Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré | New Orleans

The little theater with the longest run

61_Little Gem Saloon | New Orleans

A new jazz club with a 100-year history

62_Louis Armstrong Park | New Orleans

300 years of rhythm

63_Magnolia Bridge | New Orleans

A bridge over befuddled waters

64_Magnolia Lane Plantation | New Orleans

Steeped in history and hauntings

65_Marigny Opera House | New Orleans

Ballet slippers and Beyoncé’s sister

66_Meyer the Hatter | New Orleans

Where old hat is a compliment

67_Milton Latter Library | New Orleans

A luxury library for leisurely learning

68_Miss Claudia’s | New Orleans

Stylish home of ain’t there no mo’

69_Modern Gargoyles | New Orleans

Things are looking up

70_Musée Conti Wax Museum | New Orleans

Wax on, wax off, wax hanging on by a thread

71_Museum of Death | New Orleans

Morbid menagerie

72_Musicians’ Village | New Orleans

Restoring the groove

73_New Canal Lighthouse | New Orleans

Illuminating exhibits

74_The New Movement Theater | New Orleans

Hoping to have the last laugh

75_New Orleans Street Gallery | New Orleans

Art for fresh start’s sake

76_NOLA Brewery | New Orleans

Homegrown hops with some funk

77_Norma Wallace House | New Orleans

The best little whorehouse with class

78_One Eyed Jacks | New Orleans

A club with a twist (and some turns)

79_Our Mother of Perpetual Help | New Orleans

Home to priests, a vampire novelist, and a ghost rider

80_Pagoda Café | New Orleans

Coffee and a bike tune-up

81_Piazza d’Italia | New Orleans

Mister Moore’s neighborhood

82_Pontalba Buildings | New Orleans

Apartments fit for a baroness

83_The Prayer Room at St. Louis Cathedral | New Orleans

Who dat say Henriette can’t be no saint?

84_Prytania Theatre | New Orleans

Where the owner is as entertaining as the films

85_The Rebirth Statue | New Orleans

The game changer for an entire city

86_Ricca’s Architectural Sales | New Orleans

Salvaging the history of New Orleans

87_Riverfront Monuments | New Orleans

Honoring old men, nude men, and men we’d like to forget

88_Roman Candy Cart | New Orleans

Strolling sweets

89_The Roosevelt Hotel | New Orleans

A luxury hotel with a legendary history

90_Rosalie Alley | New Orleans

Walk softly and carry a big Zulian stick

91_Royal Street Musicians | New Orleans

Street crescendo

92_Sacred Grinds | New Orleans

Graves and green tea

93_Sam the Banana Man’s House | New Orleans

Home of presidents and presidential overthrows

94_The School of Burlesque | New Orleans

Pay attention to draw attention

95_Southern Food and Beverage Museum | New Orleans

Where to explore cuisine of consequence

96_Spanish Stables | New Orleans

The truth is out there … on a plaque

97_St. Expedite | New Orleans

When you need a miracle—STAT

98_St. Roch Grotto | New Orleans

A chapel with heart … and feet, and brains

99_St. Roch Market | New Orleans

A food court for foodies

100_Steamboat Houses | New Orleans

One man’s home is his cruise ship

101_Street Tiles |

History at your feet

102_Studio Inferno | New Orleans

High art across the tracks

103_The Tattoo Museum | New Orleans

A permanent display for permanent ink

104_Tomb of the Unknown Slave | New Orleans

A touchingly undistinguished monument

105_The Umbrella Girl | New Orleans

Existential graffiti

106_Ursuline Convent | New Orleans

Storied ground for the sacred and profane

107_Villalobos Rescue Center | New Orleans

Dogs with a cause

108_Whitney Plantation | New Orleans

America’s first slave museum

109_Yvonne LaFleur | New Orleans

Elegance without pretense

110_Zephyr Field | New Orleans

Field of dreams—and a pool

111_Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club | New Orleans

Cuckoo for coconuts

Gallery

Maps

Foreword

New Orleans is as far as you can get from America and still be in it. The historic French and Spanish buildings, plus antebellum homes mixed with shotgun houses, make New Orleans look like nowhere else. Jazz, born in New Orleans, is joined by Cajun, zydeco, brass band, blues, and bounce, making the city sound like no other. Visitors come to the Big Easy on a mission to sample unique Cajun and Creole foods. And New Orleans’ history—with plaçage, coartación, and Voodoo, plus aboveground burials and cocktails in to-go cups—makes the city seem like a rebellious teenager, willfully trying not to fit in.

Unlike most urban hubs, New Orleans is less about consumption and more about experiences. You need to jump in and participate. There’s always a festival or parade happening someplace. Jazz Fest and Essence each draws half a million people. There are three parades every Easter and three vampire balls on Halloween. There are one-of-a-kind events such as Red Dress Run, in which men and women sport red dresses for a mini-marathon sponsored by Hash House Harriers, a drinking group with a running problem. If you’re lucky enough to be in town following another’s misfortune, second-line funeral parades have been called New Orleans’ quintessential art form. Then, there’s the madness of Mardi Gras. During weeks of festivities, classic parades like Zulu and Muses are joined by the Krewe of Barkus, a dog parade, and ‘tit Rex, where participants pull tiny doll-house-sized floats strapped to their bicycles. 

The following profiles highlight lesser-known spots, favoring the grotto in St. Roch Cemetery over Marie Laveau’s grave, and the backyard House of Dance and Feathers museum rather than the World War II Museum. But the truth is that New Orleans is best experienced by wandering around and bumping into things. 111 Places should not be used as a bucket list, but as a starting point. The goal is to make you an informed flaneur.

New Orleans

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1_813 Royal Street

The house that saved NOLA

In the heart of the French Quarter, the bungalow-style house at 813 Royal Street barely captures anyone’s attention. The address is not mentioned in any guidebook. Yet, it may well be the most important building in New Orleans.

By the 1920s, the Vieux Carré, or French Quarter, was a deteriorated neighborhood, practically a slum, which many in the city wished to demolish. Elizabeth Werlein was a transplanted Michigander who enthusiastically embraced the French Quarter, even in its faded splendor. Since moving to New Orleans, she’d been an active society member, a leader in the suffrage movement, an organizer of the Philharmonic Society, and the public relations director of the movie theater chain Saenger.

Info

Address 813 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70116 | Tip The jurisdiction of the VCC is bounded by Esplanade Ave, N Rampart St, Iberville St, and Decatur St. This is why you will see modern façades (such as Peaches Records and H & M) on the river side of Decatur and on Canal St.

All of her other accomplishments were to be dwarfed the day she happened to walk by 813 Royal. She saw that a historic building had been torn down and replaced by a California-style house. Appalled, she immediately sprang into action to preserve what remained of the Quarter.

There was already the Vieux Carré Commission (VCC) in 1925, which was an advisory council to protect the neighborhood’s history, but it had no teeth and lacked legal power. After years of perseverance, Elizabeth finally convinced the Louisiana Legislature in 1936 to pass a constitutional amendment giving the VCC the authority to block alterations to the centuries-old architecture of the district. In 1939, Elizabeth also bullied the city into granting the commission the power to approve all demolition permits.

She was a one-woman non-wrecking crew, urging property owners to restore their buildings, battling architects when they attempted to replace classic wrought-iron with another material, and inspiring the city’s most influential citizens to join the cause to preserve the Vieux Carré. In short, Elizabeth Werlein’s activism literally saved the French Quarter—and, in turn, New Orleans—from being just another city.

Nearby

Boutique du Vampyre (0.025 mi)

Bourbon Orleans Hotel (0.056 mi)

The Cornstalk Hotel (0.068 mi)

Faulkner House Books (0.087 mi)

To the online map

To the beginning of the chapter

New Orleans

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2_Abita Mystery House

Scratching the itch for kitsch

Back

For most of the most famous roadside attractions, you get to look at whatever the sight is—the 10 Cadillacs at Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, Lucy the Elephant in New Jersey, or the life-sized statues of the Cabazon Dinosaurs in California—and then you’ve done the thing (note: don’t waste your time pulling over to find out what The Thing is in Arizona—it’s not worth the one buck admission fee). However, once you’ve entered the Abita Mystery House through a vintage 1930s Standard Oil gas station, your adventure is just beginning.

Located less than an hour’s drive from central New Orleans, Abita has a sprawling number of separate buildings, each with its own thematic exhibits of most anything you’ve imagined in your roadside dreams—or nightmares. You can gaze at the collections of combs and old license plates; play several arcade machines, including one made entirely from popsicle sticks; or use push buttons to animate miniature dioramas of a jazz funeral, a tiny plantation, and a roadside mart called Pinky’s What All Store with a little banner that reads We Got It All.

Info

Address 22275 LA-36, Abita Springs, LA 70420, +1 985.892.2624, www.abitamysteryhouse.com | Hours Daily 10am–5pm| Tip As long as you’re out near Abita Springs, stop off at Abita Beer’s Tasting Room for a tour (166 Barbee Rd, Covington, LA 70433). Established in 1986, Abita Brewing Company is the oldest and largest craft brewery in the Southeast and one of the oldest in the United States. They are far and away the most popular local beer, producing more than 150,000 barrels a year.

Out back there’s a silver Airstream trailer that was allegedly hit by a flying saucer and a house covered in thousands of fragments of tiles, pottery, mirrors, and glass called the House of Shards. Inside there’s an assortment of weirdness ranging from a vintage bicycle collection to a one-of-a-kind abomination of nature: Bufford the Bassigator, a 22-foot-long half alligator, half fish.

This shrine to tacky taste is the creation of John Preble. The teacher and artist was 50 years old when he finally put a lifetime of odd keepsakes on display for all to see.

Abita Mystery House is also known as the UCM Museum, standing for Unusual Collections and Mini-town, but we suspect Preble intended the name to be pronounced you-see-em-mu-se-um.

Nearby

Dew Drop Jazz Hall (8.538 mi)

Lakefront Airport (30.435 mi)

New Canal Lighthouse (31.398 mi)

DBC (33.287 mi)

To the online map

To the beginning of the chapter

New Orleans

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3_Aidan Gill for Men

An unapologetically male barbershop

Back

Don’t be surprised by the rows of meticulously arranged grooming products and accouterments when you walk into one of Aidan Gill’s two barbershops in New Orleans, which are, to quote owner Gill, unapologetically male. In the 1960s, Dublin native Gill noticed the steady disappearance of barbershops in favor of coed salons and became determined to save the centuries-old trade. He opened his first barbershop in New Orleans in 1990 and is the unequivocal leader of the barbershop resurgence.

His Magazine Street store is a testament to his passion. All of the chairs are vintage Koken or Koch. His mirrors, cabinets,