Outside The Box

Randy

Tour Guide, New Orleans, United States of America

11 Jun 2015 | 5 mins read

New Orleans has so much to offer but many people don't look beyond what they see on television, in movies and guidebooks.  Our city is very rich in culture and history.  Here are a few ideas for something special and well off the beaten track.

LITERARY.  New Orleans' contribution to American literature is significant.  Tennessee Williams and his immortal A Streetcar Named Desire aside, Truman Capote and Lillian Hellman were both born here.  William Faulkner, Sherwood Anderson, F. Scott Fitzgerald and a host of other literary giants lived like expatriots in the French Quarter and Garden District.  (In fact, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Buttons was based on a short story by Fitzgerald which, sadly, actually takes place in Baltimore and not the New Orleans of the film.) Ernest Hemingway drank liquor here.  (Strike that.  Ernest Hemingway drank liquor everywhere.). Some of the earliest Louisiana literature was written by Adrian Roquette who achieved renown in Europe for his descriptive Creole poetry.  Les Cenelles, a group of les gens de couleur libre (free people of color) published the first anthology of African-American poetry in the United States.  For students and fan of American and/or Southern literature, New Orleans is a treasure trove!

OPERA. Few people realize that New Orleans introduced Opera to North America and, to this day, enjoys strong support from New Orleanians.  The first operas in N. America were performed here and the first opera house in the United States was here.  Later, the French Opera House - considered one of the finest venues in the world - stood at the corner of Bourbon Street and Toulouse Street from 1861 until its untimely demise by fire in 1919.  The great Adelina Patti performed to great acclaim in the French Opera's première saison, famously making her North American debut in Lucia Di Lammermoor. She was a regular favorite and the heartthrob of every Creole lad!  Many of the greatest names in Opera have performed here; on October 12, 2012 Plácido Domingo celebrated his 50th anniversary with the New Orleans Opera Association in a massive gala, hosted by Mayor Mitch Landrieu and drawing fans from around the globe.  For lovers of the Operatic Arts a tour focusing on Opera History in New Orleans is a unique experience.

GARDENING.  New Orleans is a gardening Mecca! The soil, laid over centuries by the flooding and ebbing of the Mississippi River, is some of the most fertile ground on the planet. Coupled with the fact that the city's low-lying, bowl shaped topography (not to mention our notorious humidity) turns New Orleans into a terrarium.  We make a joke here that all one has to do is put a stick in the ground and spit on it, three weeks later it's a 40 foot magnolia tree!  Our soil somehow turns a Louisiana grown tomato (known as a Creole tomato) into something to be celebrated, as evidenced by the annual Creole Tomato Festival.  Back in the day, garden clubs, rose societies, botannical clubs, iris, azalea and camellia societies used to come for entire symposiums and tours of private and public gardens.  It can still be arranged.  Talk to your organization and plan a trip.  Between the jasmine, the magnolias and the gardenias, New Orleans will take your breath away.

ART.  New Orleans has always been a haven for La Vie Boheme.  Artists have flocked to the area since the beginning and continue to make important contributions to our artistic heritage. Royal Sreet, Julia Street, Dutch Alley, Frenchmen street (just to name a few) are alive with galleries and art markets featuring local artists and visiting artists who have seen the rich opportunities for creating astounding visuals.  Many people are unaware that the mother of Edgar Degas was Creole and Degas came to New Orleans to visit his Creole family, painting several important works while he was here.  Whether you are an individual with an artistic flair or a large group of plein air painters looking for lush tropical painting ops, New Orleans is an important destination for for art lovers the world over.  (Pictured is Courtyard Of A House In New Orleans, Edgar Degas, 1872.)

ROMANTIC NEW ORLEANS.  Our city was once known as the most romantic city in the United States.  This reputation suffered a great deal with the advent of the vampire tours of the 1990's and the enormous popularity of ghost tours.  Gas lamps, once thought of as romantic places beneath which to steal a kiss, became gothic and "creepy."  Well, Romance has taken an upturn and New Orleans is fast becoming one of the most popular destinations for weddings and wedding parties.  The Creoles had courtship rituals and wedding customs unique to the United States because of the European and African influences which survive to this very day.  "The Second Line" - a procession that began with our famous jazz funerals - has evolved into a jubilant New Orleans wedding tradition, announcing and celebrating nuptials publicly on the streets of the Vieux Carré.*  Whether you bring your entire bridal party to town or simply come for a romantic honeymoon or anniversary, (or perhaps a discreet tête-à-tête...this is, after, New Orleans *wink* ) a tour focusing on the poetic romance of this moonlit town will prove that love is in the air.  Be sure to give your lady a rose.  Or a diamond!  (I'm workin' for ya, girls!) 

Have I got the wheels turning?  Are ya thinkin'?  Excellent.  Contact me and I'll help you work it out!

*How to Second Line:  DANCE for heaven's sake! Don't just walk and shake a handkerchief - DANCE! DANCE! DANCE!