The first time that Chrissy and I traveled together, about six months before we got married, was on a trip to New Orleans. I felt like it was the first time that I'd truly seen the city as a tourist. She and I have come here every couple of years, usually in winter once it's cooled off. The last few times we've come, it's been between Christmas and New Years. And some of those times it's been downright cold. (New Orleans cold, so like in the 40's but with very high humidity, so it cuts right to the bone.) Being here in October for the first time in well over 30 years has been quite wonderful. The weather has been a consistent 75–80 degrees in the afternoon with uncharacteristically low humidity and always a nice breeze. It's been perfect.
Another first for this trip is how long we're here. Usually I visit New Orleans for three days, four tops, but as retired people this time we were able to stay longer. We're here for two weeks. With that being the case we really didn't want to spend that much time in party central, the French Quarter. So we rented a place uptown in the Garden District off Magazine street. We're staying in half of a duplex with the property owner living next door. It's been a great location. There are so many great restaurants nearby. There's a piece of wall art here in our temporary home that is made up of the names of about 15 classic New Orleans dishes. I've made a point to try to make sure that I eat all of them before we go. So far, I've got three left, but one of them is sitting on the table behind my laptop.
We even found that the local Cuban salsa dancers have a Casino de Rueda meetup every week at a place that's a 20 minute walk from here. It's an eight minute walk to the Saint Charles street car, and from there you can easily get to the CDB (the central business district, which is right next to the French Quarter) or go the other way to get to Audubon Park where the Zoo and the Botanical Garden are. It's a little farther to get to City Park, but an easy connection to take the St Charles street car to Canal Street and from there hop on the Canal Street street car which takes you all the way there. City Park is huge. That's where the fine art museum is, but they also have a wonderful outdoor sculpture park and a much more relaxed Cafe du Monde!
The only downside to the street cars is that they can be somewhat inconsistent. They should run 10–12 minutes apart, but there are often delays which throw that schedule out of the window. So, come with some patience to the Big Easy.
Walking around this part of the city, uptown, we get to see the creatively decorated houses, the welcoming porches with towering columns, and the taller than usual single story houses with extra airspace. Every time I come back here new bits of nostalgia creep in.