Thank you for this article. It’s a nice salve as I reluctantly have returned to Atlanta after a month in my native New Orleans. But my heart remains there.
Waking to the sound of the streetcar in the morning, hearing “Bourbon Street Parade” when turning on WWOZ on the car radio, talking to whomever is next to you in the grocery store line when you run in to get some cold brew coffee, or settling down with a Sazarac at an Uptown bistro in the evening are just intoxicating to me (especially the latter, of course).
While I was home I heard about your “be safe” comment and it occurred to me that it was as much a reflection on how nurturing we are to each other as it was a concern for the city’s crime. I say “be safe” to my children wherever they are. I say “be safe” to folks in New Orleans as easily as I call them “Sugar” and “Baby” down there — and less so elsewhere.
(As for your tweet about biting a king-cake baby, there’s a two word explanation: “rookie mistake.”)
Good luck on your future travels. And, Sugar, stay safe.
9
Your reporter saw "a nonprofit" "trying to spread the empowering message of twerking." Huh?
Jazz Johnson, who teaches the kids in a class called Twerk Party, tells the reporter that the kids in public school "are failing and all they keep doing is drilling them and giving them tests,” she said. Right. They're black kids so its important to teach them to twerk because all that "drilling" and "testing" is a waste? That attitude is bad enough but the author repeats it without any shame?? Twerking is "empowering"? Has everyone lost their minds? If NOLA needs more art programs, can't they be something less demeaning and more useful? Would white kids in the suburbs need to be taught to twerk instead of taking photography, painting, graphics, web design, etc.??
14
I think it is fantastic that she started her year long trip in New Orleans. It is my favorite city in the world and I have been to a few. She must take her father for a visit! Like Tennessee Williams said and I paraphrase-there are only 3 cities in America - San Francisco , New York , and New Orleans.
6
I love the accompanying illustration! It really captures the haunting and mysterious essence of NoLa. Caught my eye and compelled me to savor the article. Nice job to the illustrator, Lily Padula, for catching my eye!
2
Congratulations on the new job! Can already tell from this first article that you're a great choice. -Wonderful mix of journo-cred, common sense and wonderment. Hope to follow your travels in print and practice
4
Ms. Yuan seems to think that her readers care about her trials and tribulations to the exclusion of New Orleans. I bailed out at the fourth paragraph.
12
I was looking forward to reading Jade Yuan's article on New Orleans but found it devoid of useful information other than the fact that she partied while she was there. We just spent a week there and would have talked about the WWII museum which was enlightening. If she is going to write another 51 articles, her editor better make sure that it provides something of use for the readers.
21
Looking forward to all of your adventures, Jada! New Orleans sounded great :)
Jada Yuan: Read through this piece. Not a lot of I. Yet the cold, the heat, the blaring sounds, garish colors of the Olympics - all come through.
Use it as a template.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/sports/olympics/pyeongchang-south-kor...
6
Wonderful article, will be following the 51 to go!
1
love your comments on NOLA, especially o. The Backstreet Museum. Met Sylvester Francis 20 years ago at Jazz Fest, and was escorted to multiple Black Mardi Gras Indian parades and social and pleasure club parades by Sylvester's friends. great place, new Orleans.
3
This is so beautifully written!!! I visited New Orleans late in life and immediately fell in love with the city. This article reminded me why
— if I needed reminding — and brought back a floodgate of wonderful memories, especially of the people. Can’t wait to read about the next leg of Jada’s journey.
1
If this is a sample of what's in store, I'm really looking forward to the next installment!
1
Just went through all the comments. My wife and I will be in NO during the week of 4/16. I've already written down the suggestions, and will ignore the grumps and know-it-alls, especially the one from, of all places tacky - Miami. Lastly, good luck, Jada. Ignore the jerks.
5
While in the Quarter, stand in line and eat at Daisy Dukes on Chartres. The best crawfish etouffee in town.
2
No one cares what rich elitie twits think about global culture.
Author has tiresome habit of emphasizing blacks and women. Can't we just give all that a rest for a while?
Author doesn't have a clue. Shallow, often melodramatic article. I may live in MS but was raised and attended college in the mid-west, so spare me the predictable comments.
9
good luck Jada and great start to your new job! best wishes
2
Great piece of writing
1
Well you nailed it. I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, some 60 miles east of New Orleans, and we all share the city, along with our love of it’s New Orleans Saints. New Orleans is at once heartwarming and, from a distance, a bastion of too much crime. I can not justify the city’s open heart set against a Louisiana backdrop of unlimited handgun ownership. On a Sunday morning walk to the Superdome for a recent Saints game, I ran into the outgoing mayor, Mitch Landrieu, outfitted in a topcoat embroidered “DA MAYA”. I viewed around him, no police presence. Now that’s a city that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Be safe, Miss Jada, and warm travels.
5
I touristed circa 1956, and at 11 or 12 didn't like the chicory coffee, but loved seeing the unloading of banana boats. Will never forget the roast beef Po boy sandwich. Fishing was about trout perhaps near the oil derricks. The bridge over Lake Ponchetrain was longer than should be allowed, and the Gulf gasoline station was perhaps a monopoly. The grave yards are above ground.
1
"New Orleans has a notorious violent crime rate, one that predominantly affects black men, but that sometimes spills over to tourists and residents." Actually, our residents include black men. We care that they are victims of violent crime. It's just that when a tourist is a victim, there tends to be greater media attention. by "residents", I guess you mean white or affluent people since you make race and class distinctions throughout your article.
33
I should add that I think the writer was trying to be sensitive, by some of the places she visited or mentions (i.e. Seal's Class Act), she definitely is off the tourist path and promoting the fuller culture of the city. Regarding the Whitney Plantation, I think the term "Museum to honor and educate on the lives of enslaved people," (which it is) would sound much better than "slavery-themed" which sounds like a restaurant concept (which it was, in the 90s, by the way, housed in the former slave-exchange). I hope that her writing will progress; New Orleans in particular is in a sensitive place as much of its history is strongly related to the slave trade, much of its culture is based on black and Caribbean tradition, and the current Mayor led the way to remove civil war statues a year ago, for which he will probably receive threats and harrassment for the rest of his life, despite much progress in the city under his tenure. It's a very fun, very special, and very complicated place. I hope all visitors will seek out and embrace all of that. This piece is a good start, I think.
8
That IS quite an insulting way to talk about the crime. It is in very large part thanks to the black residents of New Orleans, both historically and in the present, that it remains the unique, famous, and beloved place that it is.
2
New Orleans is a Third World sorta place, so heavy on crime that the locals actually march for MORE police officers. Add the legions of drunken frat boys throwing up on their shoes and tortured race and class relations and you get the true mess that New Orleans has become. Did this columnist actually go to the city?
5
Heavy crime, drunken frat boys throwing up, tortured race/class relations - so it's big-city America in a nutshell then.
6
I'm eager to read the next 51 submissions!
Great start with NOLA.
You didn't bounce with Big Freedia but that's okay, you still had a good time. Great writeup of a great city. Looking forward to the upcoming trips.
1
Amazing gig you've landed Jada. Loved the opening but felt like you may be trying a bit too hard. Just relax and let your voice flow.
5
Congratulations! You are off to a great start, and I'm looking forward to reading your articles throughout the year.
1
Lovely writing. I look forward to 51 more and hope there's an additional one when you visit New Orleans again-with your dad!
1
Visited Nawlins as a grad student, and then with my wife years later. Before Katrina. It was okay back then. But it wasn't *so* great that I would ever have considering going back. Nawlins probably wouldn't make my list of 52 places.
2
You have made me miss my heart city. Time to book my next trip back "home".
New Orleans is pure magic. There is no other city or experience like it.
2
RE: Among residents’ other regular complaints are the roads, which often seem to be more pothole than concrete,
The writer probably means "...often seem to be more pothole than paving, " New Orleans has mostly asphalt and brick streets.
6
Good start. Treme's Petit Jazz Museum is better than Backstreet Cultural and not far away so you can visit both if they're open. Parkway po-boys will make you a convert. I spent 6 days and nights in NO recently and never felt unsafe. RTA and blue bikes made it easy to get around.
9
I was skeptical when I read of her task. Seems forced and why make anyone do that anyway? But after viewing her application video and reading her first blog entry, I fell hard for Jada and her writing. Wishing you all the luck, fun, adventure in the world, and lots of interesting misadventures, too!
2
" the slavery-themed Whitney Plantation Museum," huh??? it was a slave plantation where slaves were forced to harvest sugar...not sure that "slavery-themed" quite describes that...
19
It's the first plantation tour here that doesn't whitewash the issues of the Civil War and slavery. It shows many things from the slaves' perspectives, not the owners or White Supremacist society. Hence, the (admittedly) awkward term "slavery-themed".
3
The “Telling” is what matters.
Those who claim to know better, ... please retreat and try and reset your compass. Just visualizing the venues Jada describes, the imagined face of the 90 something, wishing all a “good day”, ... trumps the questionable and worrisome statistics of naysayers.
3
Wonderful piece not just about New Orleans but the people of New Orleans. You rarely find a travel piece where the author takes so much time and effort to find and talk to locals, rather than just listing places to eat and see. As for the critics - try being dropped into a place you don't really know and given a few days to come up with a story that captures something both interesting and that feels authentic, not just the tourist brochure sales job. The personal perspective Jada provides is absolutely perfect. As a lifelong traveler I know it is the ONLY angle - unless you live in a place for 20 years, with a nod to Somerset Maugham, any story you tell about a "foreign" place is a personal one. And even then, it will always be from your point of view. She took me along on her trip to New Orleans with this article - and that's the whole point of travel writing.
8
What a delightful piece of writing. I’ve been to NOLA several times but feel I’ve missed the essence. I will return to experience again and include many of the places she mentioned. Bravo!
3
I loved reading this - the 'close to the ground' quality; focus on the arts and women; looking forward to more...I am very envious, by the way....
6
I’m one of the 13,000. All my friends and colleagues know that I wanted your new job. And I just read your first piece at my desk. My secretary walked in.
“I just read the first dispatch from the woman who got my dream job with The New York Times,” I said.
“Oh yeah? Was it any good?” She was giving me the chance to say that I would have done better.
“Actually, she did a pretty great job.”
Keep up the good work! I’m very eager to follow along.
5
New Orleans is a Third-World City. A sanctuary city. One of the most dangerous in North America. It's truly unique and often termed the most European city in North America. Most cities think they are special, but really aren't. Having said that, the mayor of New Orleans is a joke. The police department is overwhelmed. There are beatings and murders daily. We once knew where to go in the city to stay out of trouble, but that no longer applies. And do not fool yourself into believing that your hometown city is dangerous too, and you are street smart enough to avoid anything New Orleans can impose upon you. Those types leave the city injured or accompanied with an obituary.
7
"Most European"?
I much more often hear it referred to as the northernmost city of the Caribbean.
But maybe the folks who say "most European", like a lot of tourists, didn't get outside the FQ. :/
3
I've been twice. This is poppycock.
5
I think it is “most European” (or most un-American) in that productivity is WAY down the priority list for native New Orleanians. We’re much more interested in gathering with friends, lingering over meals, beginning the weekend on Thursday evening, valuing the old (especially architecturally), and anticipating the next festival than seeing how many hours we can spend at the office. That’s not typical American culture!
2
Great piece. Enjoy the rest of the journey
1
Let’s see: thirteen years after Katrina, still obsessing over it, bad streets, having to boil water, high crime, parades all the time (and the accompanying traffic jams). What she didn’t know: worse schools, constant power outages, trash everywhere, the reek of urine on Bourbon Street. Apparently, she not only doesn’t like poboys, she doesn’t eat or know anything about any other indigenous food, about the Sazerac bar, important historical or cultural institutions. She could have written this column by staying home and watching Tremé. I hate when outsiders presume to write about New Orleans. Pitiful.
12
Actually the schools have improved, some with a 100% graduation rate. There are not that many power outages nor is trash everywhere and Bourbon street has always reeked of vomit and urine, even in good times.
People aren't obsessing over Katrina, you just don't know how incredibly destructive that storm was. Sabotage by the feds didn't help very much.
18
I've lived here for 5 months, and it's difficult to exaggerate how much natives relay that Katrina marked a major fulcrum in the city's history - one of the biggest ever. It's hard not to recognize it, because it changed so much - for (arguably) better and (arguably) worse.
1
Thank you for confirming this/ I'm born and raised in Louisiana, and know how special it used to be. I went numerous times in the 1970's (I was much younger, which you really have to be to fully enjoy it.
Well done, Jada! You captured the essence of New Orleans without making your article a laundry list of places to see. Thank you for sharing your keen observations. Wishing you well on your year of adventure! Terrific photos too. I loved the story of your father as well. Bon Voyage!
5
Omg. Sorry for so few comments but it’s Mardi Gras here. This is the best city. So much to offer for visitors. But, hey, don’t come when it’s so hot. Best months are October and April. But anytime between September and May. Food and fun is number one
5
Congrats to Jada as she embarks on the journey of a lifetime. (So jealous, I am!) Since these articles will document her journey, I support her first person writing perspective and the use of "I", which other comments have criticized. Jada's take on my beloved New Orleans was an enjoyable read. But as a stickler for getting names right -- I must point out that the destination for great live music is Frenchmen Street, not Frenchman Street. Please update, thanks !
5
Beautiful piece. Such a great start to the coming year.
5
Lately I've been receiving invitations to join up with Uber or Lyft to 'make extra money'. I used to live and work in New Orleans and I live 25 miles away now. I even worked for an ambulance company which allowed me to see parts of the city few white people would willingly venture. Back then I seldom felt threatened and went on calls in some of the most violent areas of the city, but nowadays there is a deadly malignancy spreading even into the once relatively safe touristy areas like the French Quarter or Garden District. The killers no longer respect those traditional unofficial boundaries. To be an Uber driver today in New Orleans is a good way to tempt fate and get yourself murdered. The murder rate varies from year to year but generally it is three times worse than Chicago. The crime is not as predictable as it once was, in Chicago it is still predictable. But New Orleans from its very early days has always been an unusually violent city. People who depend on tourism just don't want to scare away business and they didn't have to offer the advice to'be safe'.
7
As a New Orleans Native who moved away, I love your take on my hometown and you made me miss it all the more. Glad you had a great time and I look forward to reading about the rest of the cities you visit! Bonne chance!
6
It will be great fun reading Jada's columns for the next year. The New Orleans piece is a sure winner!
4
As a native new Orleanian, I'm dismayed that the author completely missed the essence of the city. She is a tourist and is writing as a tourist. She obviously doesn't understand that like Paris, New Orleans is a city made up of villages. There's Mid-City, Lakeview, Uptown, the Irish channel and the Ninth ward to name a few. No matter where life takes you you are always a part of that "village." As if the people of New Orleans are habitués of Bourbon Street and its bars. As if we all dance the night through until there are holes in our sneakers. The author misses completely the influence of the Catholic Church on the city and it parish schools. She glides over the surface of the city's history, its cuisine, its cultural heritage. I'm sickened by her shallowness.
31
thats a little extreme! maybe just tell us a little bit about what you feel she missed instead of the bashing on her first post?? oy
3
"She is a tourist and is writing as a tourist." I don't think she claimed to be anything else and as far as I know it is not a criminal offence. Perhaps you will be happier if no tourists come at all.
4
Ms. Yuan's first peace seems to be a good start as it has no too difficult word for me. Many travel logs in English are often full of strage words even English speaking peopoe would not understand. I, as a rejected applicant, was a little bit worried about the possible lack of experience or insight. She fairly talks a lot about history, which is a good sign. Best wishes to Ms. Yuan.
3
Jada,
Great piece. We are impressed. You have come a long ways from the little girl we knew in Los Alamos. Your parents must be proud of your accomplishments.
Grant & Jody Heiken
4
Loved reading your first piece, Jada!! I look forward to the rest. Congratulations!!
4
Good first post, avoiding the usual travel writer avoidance of the downsides, while relating the upsides. Looking forward to more.
2
Nice article about one of my favorite places. Congratulations on such a strong start. Boy am I jealous!
1
Thank you for sharing of your experiences in New Orleans. It is absolutely wonderful to read.
3
Just looked through the comedy list of 52 Places - unsurprisingly almost 20% of this world sightseeing tour is just the US! It's a sad day when such a respected paper has such limited knowledge of how big and diverse a place the world is.
6
I have little of value to offer, just wanted to say, loved your report from New Orleans, you're off to a great start, looking forward to the next 51!
Let us know when you stop pinching yourself to make sure this is real, can't imagine anything cooler than hitting 52 great places on the NYT dime.
6
Thanks for pointing out the friendlness. However, New Orleans is a city of slow public transportation- way to get to work by those who cannot afford or do not have access to cars. Surprised that article mentioned very recent private cab services- not embraced by long-time locals. In a place where local folks stayed settled by their “ Mama’s “...new habits come hard... including affording and using privatized car companies .
I do not think this a local tradition. I hope not. We need better affordable public transportation for all.
10
Spent several days of my honeymoon in NOLA over 60 years ago, and it was magical. Been back several times for trade shows, and always had fun.
But visited a month ago during the snow week ... that'll cool your ardor - but we still found le bon temps rollee.
Walked the Garden District and did a swamp tour with a guide that reminded me of Robichaux mysteries - every day got better and better.
2
Well done! That was an excellent first dispatch.
5
Great job. I really like her voice. Can't wait to see what happens next. Makes me want to visit. Isn't that the point? Ignore the haters.
8
I appreciate the effort the NYT and the author are putting into this year long project. That said, the editors should consider dispatches without the author's photos or sending a professional photographer to follow up. The writing would benefit without the distraction and and the reader would benefit from from a more deliberate effort by a professional photographer.
6
Boy, some people will complain about anything.
4
Oh, look at all the armchair critics. Jealous that they weren't chosen and critiquing her writing style in attempt to prove that they could have done so much a better if only they had gotten the job. Well guess what...you didn't. She did. It is meant to be a piece on HER experiences in each place. Not a general travel guide. She is sharing her story. And I thought her first one was lovely. Safe travels on your incredible journey Jada! I for one AM jealous and can't wait to live vicariously through your experiences.
54
We just returned 2 weeks ago and have been visiting almost annually for about 15 years, between my husband and myself. I want to recommend Gabrielles, a new/old restaurant that was destroyed by flooding from Katrina and recently reopened, serving delicious food in a Mid-City neighborhood on Orleans Ave. Also, the National World War II Museum, which taught me about Higgins boats and landing craft (think Dunkirk!), is a must see!
7
Not Dunkirk, Normandy.
4
I was thinking of the current movie, Dunkirk, but you are right.
1
Great photos. Mediocre text. Laissez les bontemps rouler!
8
I love New Orleans and the article was all right but it sounded like an ad for Uber. Uber was mentioned over and over.
25
A great report. It's made me wonder why I missed so much when I was in New Orleans several years ago. Your writing is vivid and funny, and I'm looking forward to being an armchair traveler on the rest of your journey.
4
So much use of "I". Some of the best travelogues find ways to present your perspective without the "I".
Easy to be a Monday morning QB but hopefully you will find ways to immerse us in the place without the "I".
6
Come on, people! This piece is charming. I was in New Orleans a long time ago but do not know it well. Maybe I will be just as churlish as some of you when Jada Yuan writes of places I know. But, I hope not. This is one person's take and, as such, just a point of departure for the rest of us.
6
It would be great if you could just post a list of the 52 places. The slide show takes an awfully long time to load.
14
Yes, I tried a few times and there is something wrong...
We go to New Orleans 5 or 6 times a year. Wonderful food. It can be very touristy, however. Lot's to do and see other than Bourbon St. Deplorable streets and public education. Crime an issue only in areas where a visitor wouldn't or shouldn't go. Traditionally corrupt city government.
Third world charm at its best. Enjoy but be alert.
2
Yesterday, after a cruise at Port of NOLA, I had a slight tiff with a woman police officer while trying to figure out where to park in order to retrieve my wife and luggage. By the time I left, she (The officer not my wife of 44 years) and I hugged. I LOVE NEW ORLEANS!
8
I was in New Orleans for one week, far too short a time, while visiting my son who was working in a fancy restaurant, Tujague's, founded in 1856. Delicious food, great wine, and wonderful service. And a dedicated staff. I took the streetcar on Charles Street, walked along Bourbon Street, and of course, had some beignets. Haute cuisine. I love the Big Easy.
6
We love Tujaque's! My dad dined there when he lived in NOLA in the '50s. NOLA was the midpoint of his sales territory, and he had an apartment at 828 Bourbon. He loved telling how the corporate powers were shocked when he put in a request for business cards with that address! When he took Mom and me to NOLA, Tujague's was one of his old haunts to which he had to introduce us. I have taken friends there over the years in his memory.
3
I must confess to feelings of vexation when I discovered the background of your top choice out of 13,000 applicants! First, Jada Yuan is an insider. Second, she's homebred -- having worked at the magazine since since college. Third, she's an Ivy grad. Why open up the floodgates to the possibility of hiring someone with a fresh and unique perspective only to end up with someone down the hall? Did 12,999 candidates essentially waste their time?
Not to mention, I wasn't blown away by the story, which has gotten a total of 44 comments, so far. By the way, I visited New Orleans in August, and nobody there calls it the Big Easy.
I'm disappointed that you missed the opportunity to give an outstanding outside talent a voice at the Times.
51
She was at New York magazine, not NYT Mag.
14
This is true, no one in Louisiana calls New Orleans "The Big Easy". But everyone else does, so I expect someone writing a tourist column to do so.
8
Yes, I agree. It might have been better to have 5 different writers, each going to 10 different places, to offer a different view point. Ms. Yuan is similar to myself in some ways -- Chinese-American, female -- but in other ways, it's more of the same-old, same-old. It's always about the Ivies and about someone who already comes from a well-situated family. Believe me, I have friends from these backgrounds and enjoy them but they've never had the same frontline view on poverty, immigration, etc. I had growing up.
Why not pick someone who didn't/ couldn't afford to go to college, did not come from an educated family, etc.? If they can write and are original, they should be offer the position.
7
This Air BnB journalism really makes me miss Daisann McLane. I suggest Miss Yuan read some of her old travel pieces. She had a gift for capturing the flavor of a place from a personal perspective without making herself the center of the story. There are some interesting details here, but it's hard to get past the gushing tone and ill-advised attempts at sweeping observations.
28
*Roadfood*! -- it was revolutionary when it came out in 1977. Now, seeking out the quirky local joints is routine, but it was a revelation at the time. I wonder whether the current edition (2017) is worth getting. Unlike Yelp, Chowhound, Tripadvisor, etc., you get a consistent editorial viewpoint, and don't have to digest dozens of postings from people whose taste you don't know.
1
Jada, make sure to take your daddy to Nola sooner rather than later and take him zydeco dancing!
5
The Whitney Plantation is not an art museum. At all. I'm appalled that the site of a former plantation (you know, where slaves were kept against their will) was mentioned in the same sentence as a wig shop in terms of cool places to visit. Do better, Ms. Yuan, in either your research or your writing.
10
Isn't a plantation worth visiting for the history? Some certainly do better than others in portraying all the history of the place, including slave quarters and buildings such as outdoor kitchens. The houses may be architecturally significant or otherwise particularly interesting for some visitors. And the grounds are usually beautiful, too. Why ignore all of that?
2
Oh it’s definitely worth visiting; I’ve been to the Whitney, as well as to other plantations, multiple times. My comment was regarding the misrepresentation of the Whitney as a “slavery-themed” museum.
The Whitney Plantation is the first here to show things from the slaves' perspectives - instead of the usual plantation editorial angle of whitewashing the issues of slavery and the Civil War, focusing just on the owners' and White Supremacist society.
"In contrast to New York, every person I said hello to on the street not only said hello back, but also stopped and wanted to talk for a while"
Really? Is your 52 place tour going to start like that? Bashing New York — which clearly, you know little about despite having worked as a staff writer at NY Magazine— in order to draw a point about your current locale?
The writing can use a tad more Joseph Mitchell, and a tad less “The Amazing Race”.
17
I grew up in Louisiana and moved to Boston way back in the '60s when I married. Ms. Yuan is absolutely correct about street etiquette differences. I spent an entire year wondering why crazy people (as in "voices in their heads") kept accosting me as I walked down the street. Finally I realized that unlike Louisiana, no one on the street looked full in the face at any stranger they passed. No eye contact at all. I was brought up to see that behavior as rude. But I practice it now! Unless I visit home; then I resume acknowledging that other humans are occupying the same street as me. Ms. Yuan was not "bashing" NY. She was stating a fact ... at least in the Northeast.
14
That's a fair point, but I was responding to a slight difference in the general "public" isolation — going about one's day or business within one's own head or thoughts — most commuters or pedestrians purvey, and an act of common courtesy such the interaction Ms. Yuan was alluding to: "Every person she said Hello to".... I only know Boston as a visitor, but would assume that conventions there and with NYC or just about any other urban area in the country are similar: As a native New Yorker, if someone says "hello" to me, I'll very happily respond with a friendly "hello" too. I can't speak for all my millions of cohabitants, but I feel they'd act in kind.
A tour of New Orleans during Mardi Gras with no mention of Mardi Gras? Negligent!
7
She did mention Krewe du Vieux (of which I'm a member) and our parade, which is the first sizable one of the Mardi Gras season, which is more than just the one day of Fat Tuesday. Carnival season down here lasts from Jan. 6 (Twelfth Night/Epiphany) until whenever Mardi Gras Day is - usually several weeks. It would be a much longer article to mention all of Mardi Gras.
1
Great review, Jada--BUT YOU HAVE TO GIVE PO BOY SANDWICHES ANOTHER CHANCE!
As a 12-year resident of the Crescent City, I will always carry this beautiful place in my heart, and even though we moved to Central NY a couple of years before Katrina, my wife and I will still be celebrating Mardi Gras tomorrow, as we always do, each year.
Now, a few more words about the greatest sandwich in the world:
I recommend the Oyster Po Boy (dressed, of course) at Domilise's (uptown). The Shrimp and Oyster Po Boys at Parkway Bakery on Bayou St. John are exceptionally good. And the Veal Parran Po Boy at Parran's on Veteran's Blvd. in Metairie is also not to be missed.
I DARE YOU to try these amazing sandwiches on your next visit, and still tell me they're your "least favorite local delicacy."
Laissez les bon temps rouler (let the good times roll)! And Happy Mardi Gras to all!
11
New Orleans is not just for the young who dance holes in their sneakers. We honeymooned there 44 years ago and go back frequently. Music, food, art, strolling, biking, Prospect 4, more music, more food, grand drinks . . . go and enjoy a leisurely week of culture and history and fun. For those who stay away because of the reputation for drunken, sleazy frat boy antics of Mardi Gras, there is more to the city. Go to New Orleans and discover a city like no other in the US.
6
I'm jealous! Very, very jealous!
2
New Orleans is a toilet, not as a result of the poor people who live there, but as the result of an obscenely corrupt state (makes New York look honest), a police department made up of thugs, and a myriad of other failures too numerous to list.
Drink to excess, party on, throw up, and leave.
7
Nicely written opus one, but it's weird that this article doesn't include the pictures from the homepage (at least not in an easily accessed form). Also, no explanatory captions on the few photos here, other than a generic "scenes from New Orleans." And no map or other indicators of where the places mentioned are situated in the greater area. Here's hoping the following pieces in the series will be more reader-friendly and interactive.
14
Oh lucky you!
Love the article, miss New Orleans; :) :(
1
Ok, it has a crime problem and it may sink into the muck, but there is no other place in the world like it. It's not "Southern", it's "New Orleans" with its own accent, food and way of life. If you don't like it, then there's something wrong with you not N.O.
6
As a native New Orleanian, I found truth and faithfulness in this snapshot as well as plain old good writing. I'm looking forward now to reading about places I don't know. Well done!
8
I'm looking forward to following Jada's trip. When I was 45 I threw everything I owned in storage and took a "world trip" for 9 months traveling through numerous continents and countries. With a backpack on my back, attempting to do it "on a budget"; camping in Southern Hem continents when able, zimmers, etc, an Amazing experience. The best experiences were the people...always. If you remember that you're not in control, things change and can roll with it all, you'll do great. Enjoy.
3
Fantastic! I love your article Jada! You really captured the tone and spirit of a place. Beautifully balanced, peppered as it was with real things to see and places to go and individuals we could actually hear speak. Nice work. Can't wait to keep up with your series.
2
Was not surprised to see many comments ripping apart Jada's accounts of Nola. It's a complex place and if you are expecting some sort of critical insight, then read some of the many books that chronicle the history's rich history. Lastly, I for one am thrilled that ride sharing apps are taking root in the city. As someone who lived there for a few years, taking cabs anywhere was such a pain if you weren't in or near the French Quarter. Good luck, Jada, with your adventures and keep up the good work. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
7
Good point about ride sharing, Runaway. The lack of sufficient cab service, even during non-event quiet periods, restricted spontaneity for me. So with each trip, I had to plan activities around a certain neighborhood, unless I had a car.
4
People, please! It's "laissez les bon temps rouler." One does not make the adjective "bon" plural to match the noun in French.
Nor in English, either, come to think of it. You are saying "Let the goods time roll."
Peace.
4
Oh what great timing! I've been anxiously awaiting your first piece after seeing the 52 Places writer announcement. I am heading to NOLA this weekend for a 48 hour whirlwind trip with my husband. It'll be my second time there, and now I am even more excited
2
Restaurants: Arnaud, Commanders', Tujaques. Ride the St. Charles streetcar "uptown --go to St. Louis Cathedral and read "Intimate Enemies" about the woman who built the Pontalba apartments Her name was Micaela Almonter Pontalba--the MAP monogram on the lacy wrought ironwork of the balconies.
3
My wife and I love the city of NOLA and we get down there every chance we can. Despite the nay-sayers, I think that any article needs to discuss the "tourist traps" and shouldn't dissuade people from visiting those areas. Most people who visit an area ARE tourists and I think benefit from seeing Bourbon St to get a sense of what the city is about - like it or not, mardi Gras and Bourbon St are inextricably part of what makes NOLA. I don't advocate spending the entire time there because the city has so much more to offer. My own advice is to avoid cars altogether (except at night perhaps) and rent a bike to see the city. You get to see much more when you're on a bike and the opportunity to stop for a beverage at a hidden spot more than offsets the "burden" of exercising your legs. Such a great city, can't wait to get back.
3
Bourbon Street is NOT New Orleans, not by a long shot. It will never give anyone a "sense of what the city is about". It will give you a sense of what drunken frat boys are about.
7
Jada! I love it. I love where you started and what you wrote. New Orleans is a dream - and like you - I keep going down there to discover more of it. THANKS!
3
Delightful! I heard that you can visit the entire world just by visiting New Orleans.
2
You have got to be kidding.
After decades of wanting to visit New Orleans, I finally got there last summer.
It was absolutely miserable, not well maintained, with a sewer smell throughout many quarters.
I wouldn't recommend anyone visiting there any time in the near future.
4
Go enough times and you learn that summer is not the time to be in NOLA.
9
Duh, never go to NOLA in the summer...
8
If you embrace the sultriness and avoid the touristy, stinky parts of the Quarter, the height of summer is a great time to really slow down and enjoy the pace of the city. Find a nice place to stay and enjoy the lost art of porch- or balcony-sitting. Hang out at uncrowded cafes and linger over long lunches and dinners. The night air is scented with jasmine and sweet olive if you're relaxing on a lush patio with a glass of wine instead of walking down Bourbon Street with a giant plastic cup.
Accommodations are also much cheaper in summer, and you can enjoy special prices and less frantic service at some of the best restaurants.
2
I love New Orleans, I love the music and the food and the history and the people. I think i like it so much because it in a way reminds me of where I currently live, South Florida, which also has a huge mix of cultures and races and religions.
3
Well said, Sammy from a fellow Miamian. I think we can deal with the heat in NOLA better than most. Love the culture mix, too.
2
Great article! I will refer back to it and many of the comments as well when I make my fourth trip to New Orleans next year. Good info here. The Uber and Lyft drivers are wonderful there and usually generous with info. No truer words for a traveller: Try to do everything and you’ll wind up missing the most magical parts of being far from home." My husband and I travel full-time in an Airstream trailer - two years on the road now - and we embrace the philosophy that "We can always come back." We are travelers first, sightseers second. Safe travels.
1
Spend some time with that trailer in other parts of Louisiana, too. You'll find warm and friendly people from the northwestern part of the state, which most people equate with Texas attitudes (I like to think we've got the best of both worlds), to the northeastern part, to the oldest town in the Louisiana Purchase, little beauty Natchitoches, to Acadiana, and the true cajun country. We're always glad to have visitors.
2
Always fun to read about my home town, and the views expressed b the NYTimes reporter on the music, food and people today. I look forward to her perceptions of the next 51 cities. We were so fortunate to live in the heart of the Quarter, in the Pontalba buildings, with a balcony overlooking Jackson Square and with the tinny sound of the chimes at St Louis Cathedral across from us.The French Market was around the corner, on Decatur, together with Tujaque's restaurant, one of the best known in a city famous for its restaurants. I would recommend people ride the St. Charles streetcar "uptown" to get a feeling for the architecture of this great old city, and read "Intimate Enemies" (by Vila) for the earlly history of the Crescent City.
2
New Orleans was home to me for several months in 2014 and 2016 and somehow I missed the NOLA feeling in this article.
Frenchmen St. has more music in 3 blocks than my whole mid-size west coat city. The rain is spectacular. It's almost impossible to get a bad meal. It's a great city for walking and or biking (athough bike routes are rare, it's flat). The streetcars are overrated but fun. In the French Quarter you're not allowed to alter even a drain pipe by city ordinance so the architecture is original. If you don't stroll through the homes in the Garden District, you're missing a lovely way to spend an afternoon. The WWII museum truly is world class if you like that sort of thing. City Park is amazing - fabulous tennis courts, great little art museum and beautiful free sculpture garden and 50% bigger than NYC's Central Park. Plus Audubon Park, plus the Universities, plus plus plus. And of course, there's Bourbon St.
Yes, the crime rate is a sin but they are trying to do something about it, at least in tourist-y areas, which is worth mentioning.
Yes, the people are friendly and not in a hurry, but that's how people usually are on a holiday, and very definitely are in the South, generally speaking.
When the 2016 Jazz Festival was eventually rained out (spectacularly!), nobody grumbled, they moved on to something else that was more fun. That's the true NOLA spirit. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
14
PS - I forgot to mention that the bartenders know how to mix cocktails - not as common a skill as one might hope elsewhere. Helpful hint: Parking is hard to find in the French Quarter and the regulations are confusing - leave your car elsewhere.
5
You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that there are many more bike routes and dedicated bike lanes. so many other things you mentioned are fabulous sights to see, too.
Thank you for the lovely comment about our city!
Just a couple of gentle corrections - 1) not all of Jazz Fest in '16 was rained out, just sizable portions of a couple of days. But you're right, we don't let minor stuff like that harsh our mellow; 2) it's "Laissez le Bon Temps Rouler" - Bon, meaning good, is always singular.
My parents met in New Orleans. On their first date they went to one of the above ground cemeteries. He boosted her up to peer into a crumbling crypt where she saw in the dim light the sparkle of a diamond ring still on the bony finger of the long decayed corpse. It was very romantic. They were married for 59 years.
At least the author mentioned Ann Rice who wrote a well researched and historically accurate novel that has nothing to do with vampires, but is about the free people of color in New Orleans before the Civil War, something Spike Lee didn't know about when he made his opportunistic agitation propaganda "documentary" about hurricane Katrina. The French quarter, of mostly Spanish architecture, (there was a fire) is the site of the original settlement chosen by Bienville because it was on high ground. During Katrina the Quarter didn't flood.
New Orleans has perked up a lot since Katrina. There is an optimism in the air beside the effluvia of pickled dipsomaniac one encounters on Bourbon street.
Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, the first time since 1945 that it has occurred on February 13. Once upon a time, in my memory, Mardi Gras was when even the criminals set aside their anger and partied. For many years the police reported that no one was murdered on Mardi Gras day and violent crime was reduced.
One shouldn't forget the WW2 museum, said to be quite remarkable, but I haven't seen it. I did remark about it though.
2
Great post, Aristotle! Just one tiny thing - it's Anne Rice (not Ann).
Lovely painting at the top of this piece! Complex, evocative and beautifully rendered, leading you nicely to the piece below.
1
Great writing, looking forward to the next 51! Thank you.
1
Check out WWNO - NPR station in New Orleans. Laine Kaplan-Levenson does a show called Tripod. It's a series about the 300th anniversary of New Orleans. Excellent show.
5
That I find is the problem buying my shoes from Zappos on line. I miss so many life changing experiences.
3
As a New Orleans resident, this article was disappointing at best. This can either be due to the impossible task of discovering a city in as little time as you have, or the far more likely reason that you missed so many of the nuances that truly envelop the city. There is no way to step foot in this city without being immediately awash with the racial and systemic inequalities that plague it. You had a beautiful chance to approach this city in an accountable way and it just missed the mark. Your quotations of locals' vernacular provide no charm for me but an exoticization of people of color. This point only further brought home by your reduction of the historic and radical Whitney Plantation to merely "slavery-themed."
What a boring, tired read. This is your first assignment, what will it look like to think deeper about the places you visit? What would it sound like to think about the histories of the places you visit and imbue that into your work?
39
I commented the same thing and actually wrote a letter expressing my disgust regarding her incorrect classification of a plantation as a slavery-themed art museum. I'm glad I'm not the only one who missed that part.
15
Nice piece but NOLA is a lot more nuanced than the article suggests. It's not just about a vivid nightlife. For example there was probably more going on in the conversation between the white professor and his black former employee than the author realizes. It's a complicated town.
16
The "52 Places" feature was impossible to read. The graphics and user experience were so confusing I just gave up.
3
As a former Louisiana resident, you can't talk about New Orleans and not talk about the food.
4
I love this! What a refreshing travel writer you are, Jada! Looking forward to traveling with you vicariously over the next year.
1
I appreciate the NYT moderating the front page moving graphic for this piece, ie a slowly changing photograph rather than the scatterbrained flashing graphic that some bunch of designers here have been trying to push lately. But the question remains: Why put moving graphics on the front page at all? What juvenile visual ethic is the fad here? Can you not choose one powerful image and have confidence you are doing the right thing? Do you simply think that more is better? It's not, it's annoying, it's unprofessional. I challenge some adult involved in the design process to insist on a "stop" button. Then watch your stats, everyone will use it immediately, nobody likes a flashing sign in their face when they are trying to read.
9
Why is there a woman with a dot in the forehead being depicted as part of "Halloween or scare" scene. People should be aware that Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, etc, especially their women, wear dots on their forehead as something part of their culture, spirituality, traditions or religion. Why would you consider that as something associated with voodoo or Halloween". That was racism, and outright ignorance of other cultures and customs. Who is organizing this festival?
2
I travel a lot in my work and we go to special places for large meeting and New Orleans is the favorite of the European Company I work for.
Several years ago while working for a very large company, the division I was working for was sold to another large company in NYC. I love NYC and they made me a very good offer but the people I would be working for were alcoholics and after meeting with them, I met with the personnel director and I asked him what kind of "parachute" I would get if I turned down their offer. The financial rewards were significant as I was an officer of the company being sold. I told him I would be turning down their offer and what would I need to do to make this happen.
I have done well financially and with those benefits I could do what I loved - travel. Made a list of third world countries I wanted to see. Arranging visas and getting all manner of inoculations took some planning. I got an open around the world plane ticket which could be easily modified and I planned to travel for 3 or 4 months with no reservations.
I traveled for over 18 months, staying in tents and on occasion very posh hotels. Did a lot of scuba diving and saw some fantastic sites. The local people were all friendly and would offer suggested places to see and eat. There are some absolutely fascinating places to see and experience. Don't get stuck in tour groups - travel and stay with the locals.
How does you offset the carbon released as a world traveler?
2
Unless you've never flown anywhere yourself and are not planning to do so in the future, you don't have the right to question other people's choice.
Congrats to Jada Yuan. Sneakers? I brought a pair to Paris last week. They were hopeless against slushy snow. Having spotted a old portrait of a nobleman whose title was Ponchartrain, have no excuse not to go on to New Orleans.
In the old town of Panamá, it's pointed out that the balconies are in the style of New Orleans.
2
Wonderful way to start travelling the world, in one of the few towns in the USA that is also not of the USA! One question: seeing as 'race' does not matter in New Orleans, was there a reason for continually specifying who was 'black' or 'white'?
40
Beautifully written, very evocative. Love the coda about your dad and I both understand and appreciate his immigrant hustle. God willing he will join you on your next visit to the Big Easy.
7
Oh Ms Yuan! Great first piece! I live in Brooklyn, but I went to New Orleans to get a liver transplant at the wonderful Ochsner Medical Center.
I lived there for two months, and despite being ill for the first part, and recuperating for the second part, I fell in love with that city!
Thanks for the great article. I'm saving it as a travel guide for my trip back.
7
Oschner is the top center for liver transplants in the U.S. (there's even a big banner to this effect in one of our airport concourses here) . . . but as one of our mottoes is "The Liver is Evil and It Must Be Punished" - that should be no surprise.
Great intro to New Orleans and great intro to You, Jada. I lived in Baton Rouge for 10 years and made many visits to NOLA. I think you caught the spirit of the city. Never mind the haters - they need to realize that you can only convey so much in a 1000 words, and you nailed it. Looking forward to reading your next article.
8
nicely written. Editing suggestion--instead of bolding impressionistic statements such as "New Orleans is a feeling" or "The city's true currency," boldface content for a subsection that would help the casual reader know where to dip in for certain kinds of information.
7
I know what it means to miss New Orleans, not just during Carnival Season - every day. Grand to visit, but living in Orleans Parish nourishes one's soul every day.
3
NO and surrounding southern Louisiana are islands of Caribbean culture, along with south Florida. So, in the US, it's a unique place.
6
I love this city.
3
If and when you return to New Orleans I recommend reading Lawrence N. Powell's "The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans" beforehand. A little more background understanding of the city might lift (not lyft) your journalism above your fluffy tourist's focus.
23
Re your "fluffy tourist's focus" admonishment - a bit harsh given she never claimed to be a native nor a long term resident. Not quite sure how many days she spent in New Orleans but there was enough "meat" in her article to entice me and yes, I too will go there as a tourist, thanks all the same.
4
[[A little more background understanding of the city might lift (not lyft) your journalism above your fluffy tourist's focus.]]
She's actually a tourist, soooooo...
OK y'all -I'm sorry for being unduly harsh. (But you must read the book before you go. You will thank me.)
As a New Orleans native, I have to ask WHERE you ate your maligned po-boy, because if you didn't go to Domilise's, you didn't have one.
21
Domilise's is an easy pass for me. Even the half and half isn't anything special. Small over fried oysters. It's story is better than it's food. There are far better options. Parkway (roast beef or shrimp, Guy's (fried/grilled shrimp or pork chop, Katie's (Cochon de Last), Mr. Bubbles (Vietnamese), the brisket at Tujaques, and more!
3
If your dad loves Zydeco, take him to southwestern Louisiana, to the Lafayette vicinity. Take him to the Festivals Acadiens et Creoles. Take him to Whiskey River Landing on a Sunday. Take him to El Sid-O's. Take him to Slim's Y-Ki-Ki. Take him to Zydeco breakfast at Cafe des Amis.
16
Cafe des Amis! Stopped one night there on my way through and had a blast.
2
Thanks for the article. New Orleans as a city, has a very special vibe. Yes, it is muggy and has crime, but it also has love and soul.
11
Thank you for this! My daughter has lived there for eight years now (met her husband a couple days after arriving...) and this uptight New England resident loves that city with all my heart. It is unlike any other- with joy and pain, decay and beauty, and incredible warmth. Love the image of your shoes. And how delightful (if exhausting) to visit so much of this amazing world. To me, there is something transcendent about that first night in a foreign place, falling asleep to the sound of the local language drift up from the street.
18
Anne, a lovely response, so well-written. Seems to me that you would/might have made a better writer for the 52 Places series than this new person. The young men who have been doing the Frugal Traveler in recent years would have been great, too.
1
Thank you so much, Ms. Yuan. I was born & raised in Louisiana. The first time I went to Mardi Gras (in New Orleans) was in 1972. I was 18 years old, & went with older sister & her husband. We had a blast; It was like nothing I had ever seen before.
In 1974, I went with 4 close friends: I was 20, 3 were 22, and 1 was 15; he had long, straight blond hair all the way to his waist.
We drove there on Friday before Fat Tuesday, which is the best day to go (you catch the last 5 days) & stayed in a friend's apartment (sleeping on the floor) in the Garden District on St. Charles place (a really nice area). Since I had been before, I knew the ropes better than anyone else, especially places to eat & drink, & places to avoid; like Pat O' Brian's restaurant (famous for selling a huge drink called a "Hurricane". That afternoon, We saw a stunning, gorgeous woman walking down the street, and must have stared at her for 30 seconds, coming and going. That was when I realized "she" was a "he". It was fabulous!
We ate at "Buster's", where you could get a delicious plate of red beans and rice for 35 cents (sausage was $1 more). Also Acme House, where fresh, raw oysters were 10 cents each.
Unfortunately, (which later turned into good fortune), we were kicked out of the apt. We met some girls the same age as us, & stayed with them.
We saw The Meters (a legendary band) playing on a Bourbon St. balcony (they opened for The Rolling Stones).
In 4 days, we slept a 8 hours (alcohol; no drugs).
9
Never in all my time in New Orleans during the past 50+ years have I heard a citizen of the city refer to it as the Big Easy.
But, it's a good article about one of the finest cities in the world.
19
I was born and raised there, and I've definitely heard it -- and am surprised that you have not. Not to doubt your experience, but critiques of this sort based on claimed authority as to what people do or don't do, I've come to learn, should be taken with a grain of salt -- and they usually add little to the conversation, anyway.
6
I agree, and "The Crescent City" as well; especially from native Louisiana residents. One name almost never heard at all anymore is "The City That Care Forgot".
2
Chill, cher. No claim to authority on my part, and more a comment than a critique. Read the second paragraph.
I didn't grow up in New Orleans, but I've spent a considerable chunk of the subsequent 50 years there and the only time I've heard the term used is when people were talking about the fact that they didn't use it. I'll ask around tomorrow when I return for Mardi Gras day.
My suggestion to you would have been to take real cabs not ubers as much as possible. the drivers are rich with stories and recs and have been decimated by ride hail apps.
57
Agreed. One of the coolest and most interesting people I've ever met was a cab driver/jazz musician last year in NO. Every time I'm there I take a real cab. It adds so much more to the experience. I've met Katrina survivors, folks with Creole accents so think I could barely understand them, real salt of the earth types. Why on earth would you want an Uber there??
5
Uber and Lyft are one of the best things to ever happen to New Orleans. Drivers who pick me and my family up are courteous and friendly. Clean cars. The black cabs in Nola used to be filthy and it was not uncommon to have to ask the cab drivers to turn the AC on and have them refuse. I will never ever take a black cab in Nola again.
2
The local cab drivers are the best, but I always seems to get drivers who are new to the city since the storm. During the day I always take the bus -- that is a great way to meet some interesting New Orleanians, although the transit system isn't as good as it used to be.
2
So little about such an amazing city. The photos are better than the article. Where did you eat three times a day. What else did you see. Did you visit any other museums. Did you run into music in the streets of the Quarter.
61
Beautiful! This makes me want to go back so badly. My only visit was much too short, but still, the magic and joy of the city was so clear. I went with several women and one of them started an impromptu dance party at 3am - dozens of dancers - when she started busting a move to a man roller skating by, boom box blasting, through the previously calm nighttime street. Our country as a whole isn’t so good at being publicly open, publicly playful - I wish everyone could visit New Orleans and carry even a sparkle of that magic back home; we would all be better for it.
10
"Miss Jada", I loved your loving the city I grew up in, and had to stop and LOL on what you wrote about that man who "just made 50"! (They also "make groceries" there.)
Miss so much that crazy, loving city, and agree with comments about getting out to other parts of the city, like the Lakefront area (sit on the seawall), Gentilly (where I came of age), Mid-City and its dives, River Road, and the wonderful City Park and Carrollton area. Forget Metairie (sorry).
Safe travels and look forward to more of your reporting!
12
What a disappointing read. I must say, as a former New Orleans resident, I find this article patronizing and a cliched account of this complex city. I was looking forward to hearing a different view point about this place that is so often portrayed in a negative light. Sadly, this is the same old rehash of a party place with poor roads, poor people - peppered with the writer's uninteresting personal revelations. As a person who has traveled to nearly 80 countries for both work and educational enrichment, I must strongly suggest in the future to not get the majority of your reporting from Uber and Lyft rides - two services that have decimated local economies and professional drivers' lives. It's early 2018 - I can only hope for a more worldly outlook in your future travel articles - otherwise it will be a long road ahead.
129
could not agree with the sentiments in the post more--she is out of touch
27
You hit the nail on the head... patronizing. I was cringing the entire article.
28
Gosh it’s fun to be in NOLA as a tourist around Carnival time, especially if you’re on a corporate expense account.
The reality for folks who live there where the principal ethic is
let the good times roll is a little different.
If the town is a “feeling” here are a few that full time residents experience: bad public schools, bad potholed streets, bad city water even when you don’t have to boil it, bad cops, bad judges, bad district attorney, unsafe neighborhoods, night and day, citywide.
In the twenty years my family and I lived there we thought the most appropriate moniker was: “New Orleans, it’s not the heat but the stupidity.”
Party on.
26
The Big Sleazy!
3
Yes, how dare she be a tourist and get paid to write about it!
2
I have been to New Orleans numerous times, starting back in 1972. I'm glad that you find it fun and exhilarating. I do not. As someone who doesn't "party" or dance in the streets, perhaps I'm missing something. My overall sense is of unrelenting heat, waiting hours to be served my meals, crime and decay.
9
Sad. Better for you to stay home and let the rest of us who can appreciate it enjoy the beauty, culture, music, food, architecture and wonderful people of this unique city filled with joy.
2
New Orleans is one of the most dangerous, crime ridden cities in the US, thanks to that "spirit of forgiveness".
11
you're going to visit and write about 52 places in 52 weeks? it makes a great headline, but it's a fool's errand. by the time you get there it's time to leave. it's not journalism - just another form of "listicles" that are all the rage on less professional sites. i expect better.
57
This is a one-in -a- lifetime experience and she apparently has taken it as a challenge and I bet she will rise to it. I will be cheering her on all of her journeys.
8
I know New Orleans is "all over the place" but writing about it should not be. It feels like the author was too terrified to embrace the city, thus focusing mostly on herself in this article (doesn't that break the rules of good journalism?). The result is a poor description of a magical place and a couple of difficult to decipher paragraphs. Hopefully the rest of the series will do better at helping the audience to experience the locations.
81
Are you visiting each city in order? I am on my way to Colombia later today (for work related to the education system in Bogota) and can’t wait to see the country through your eyes. I live in Cincinnati. When will you be visiting #8?
2
What a very wonderfully written article. I think you are going to be great at this job, and am looking forward to your year of travel reports.
21
Great piece about a wonderful city. I look forward to the other 51!
3
Good start and true to my outsider experiences to New Orleans.
Looking forward to the other 51 entries.
3
If you're an urban cyclist who aspires to the human interactions that Jada Yuan notes in her article, you must visit New Orleans. My triangular, day-long leisurely ride began in the Vieux Carre, took me north up Esplanade to City Park, back down Carrollton to Audubon Park, then back east through Uptown, the Garden District, Warehouse District, and downtown to the French Quarter. The Crescent City's astounding residential architecture and neighborhoods, and yes, street names, kept me visually riveted my entire 8-hour ride. How fascinating and beguiling is New Orleans from the seat of a bike? Well, there were moments--usually every 200 yards or so--when I would jokingly exclaim, "Make It Stop!"
28
Jada's experiences and perspectives about this great city mirror my own, over my 25+ visits to New Orleans over the last 20 years. Visitors need to get off Bourbon Street, and look beyond a little decay and grime to experience the true beauty and mystique of this city.
I toyed with moving there, but don't do well with heat and humidity. Otherwise, it would be a good fit.
15
I agree completely. I went so many times when I was in my 20's, and even had my honeymoon there. Absolutely explore the city; it has so much to offer, and is without a doubt, my favorite city in the US, along with NYC. They have some of the best French restaurants in the US. In fact, 1 years only NYC had more which were as highly rated. This is was before Katrina, when the population was almost a half a million. After Katrina, it went from 450,00 to 250,000; a stunning number. I had a maternal great aunt who lost her home in Metarie in Katrina, and was moved to a trailer in Tennessee (!) for almost a year. She died a couple of years later. Apologies for going off topic, but the following is related and part of my family history: Ironically, her mother (my great, great aunt) had survived (age 3) the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States: The Great Hurricane of 1900 in Galveston, Texas (an island). Somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 people died. The storm surge knocked a passenger train off the tracks over 5 miles inland, killing most of them!)There is a stunning account of the hurricane called "Isaac's Storm" (a great read). He was the National Weather Service man in charge of Galveston (that it what the US had then). He ignored the Cuban forecasters who said it was headed his way, even though they had a better record than the US weathermen back then regarding hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.
Thank you again for pointing out the rest of the city.
3
I agree that "Isaac's Storm" is a great read which I happened to be reading around the time of the hurricane that flooded Texas in 2017.
It was Isaac's superiors at what was then called the Weather Bureau, especially those assigned to Cuba, who did not believe the storm would track to Texas and did not issue a warning. Isaac's wife, Cora, who was pregnant, died in the storm.
1
excellent beginning! travel safe. and be sure to plan that trip with your father, it’ll be the best part in the end.
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My contrary advise regarding a New Orleans fun jaunt..... skip the French Quarter entirely.... seriously. It's the very definition of a tourist trap. The Garden District is awesome with lots and lots of cool little shops, pubs and restaurants. And authentic as all get out as well. Just saying.
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Though the fringes of the Quarter- the residential areas near Rampart- should not be missed. A couple blocks from the hubbub and noise- the streets are quiet and architecturally stunning.
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Not to mention the abused and maltreated carriage horses. Seeing those poor animals all over the place ruined our trip to NOLA. (And Charleston). When are cities going to outlaw that abomination?
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Nailed it! For your Dad trip, you might consider my favorite: Early April's four-day completely free French Quarter Festival, featuring all local musical groups, with 23 stages scattered around the French Quarter and lined up along the river (one stage is dedicated to mostly Zydeco). We dance our shoes off every year to bands we've never heard of, and enjoy bites from the best restaurants for a pittance. Welcome to NYT Travel - I'll be following.
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My wife and I are going to NOLA in mid-April. Thanks for the suggestions, and happy traveling.
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You nailed it. I fell in love with New Orleans on a one say stop when I was 17. We get there as often as possible and even got to live there for 5 years.
One suggestion, Mardi Gras and all the celebrations are great, but the true New Orleans is an off week (or 2) when there is nothing happening and you can wander the quiet.
That may hold true for many of your destinations. Enjoy your magical opportunity. I'll be waiting for the next installment.
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Sounds like the kind of place I’d not feel comfortable in at all. I’m rather a square, prudish type - and that’s why I enjoyed this so much! It gave me an inkling of what some people like and why, and an appreciation for the variety of people’s tastes. This is a great first of what I expect will be an amazing series of articles. Thank you! Happy trails to you!
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There is plenty in New Orleans for the square and prudish types. Bourbon street is just one street. The next block over are museums and sedate antique shops.
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Through the years since Katrina I have traveled extensively throughout the city. ( on Google maps interactive )
I have to say that mainly in the African American sections that not too much has changed. Still lots of pock marks and empty lots.
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This article made me cry. I bought a house in New Orleans the month before Katrina because, like Jada, I fell in love with this city the moment I visited it and have wanted to live there ever since. I still have my home, although I live in Miami, and I have never for a moment regretted my decision to call New Orleans my second home. It is a truly magical place and Jada has captured its spirit perfectly.
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Let’s start a go fund me for your dad. Wish you had been here last night for the most human experience of love I know, Mardi Gras.
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