Streetcar

Jun 02 2010

A Streetcar Named John!

A short brisk walk from Tony and Rita’s house brings you to St. Charles Avenue. It is on the tourist map with Bourbon Street and other ‘must’ visit places. A streetcar line runs along St. Charles Avenue. Here is a photo. It is one of three lines and takes you straight to the centre where you can walk across Canal Street into Bourbon Street and so enter and explore the delights of the French Quarter.

I got a tourist pass so was able to use the public transport system for a week on that ticket and so spent happy hours touring around the city and crossing on the ferry to explore Algiers on the south bank of the Mississippi.

On one of my excursions I went into the Civil War museum. I had a strong sense of the civil war, slavery and the plantation culture and economy throughout my stay in the south of Louisiana. Certainly more so than on any of my previous trips to the USA. The exhibits focussed more on the misery and experiences of the ordinary soldier, than I expected, with many examples of how families lived and died then!

Coming from Tony and Rita’s, you cross over St. Charles Avenue and walk south into Audubon Park with its Zoo and public sport places. See photos. It is on the north bank of the river and very popular with the more active inhabitants such as Tony, who plays football there each week. I really liked wandering or cycling through it and always ended up chatting to strangers during breaks to relax on a park bench.

On one side of the park are big mansions and one was for sale. I asked a passer-by what it cost. He told me if I had 3 million dollars I could have it. I smiled and said, “Is that all!” I had 50 dollars in my pocket at the time – I should have left it as a deposit 🙂