New Orleans Cemeteries

On Sunday the 27^th we drove to Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, the burial site of New Orleans infamous Voodoo Queen, Marie Leveau, only to be told at the visitor’s center that all cemeteries in New Orleans were closed on Sundays.  This cemetery is very small and old and we were disappointed that it was closed. As a consolation, I was able to get some photos of the mausoleums through the iron gates and Jim parked the truck near the cemetery wall and climbed into the truck bed to get some shots over the wall. I had really wanted to find Marie Leveau’s crypt to see all the scratches and marks left by previous visitors in hopes of rubbing off some of her black magic.

In our explorations of the city we had seen several cemeteries and decided to go to one of the larger ones along Esplanade Avenue. When we arrived we saw tour buses parked outside and people and cars inside…that meant it was open!  I guess the visitor center’s person didn’t know what she was talking about. Even though it was sweltering outside we left the comfort of the air conditioned truck and set out to walk among the mausoleums.

 

 
This cemetery is huge and has all sizes, shapes and ages of mausoleums, from humble to grand. Some have lost any identifying marks while others have dates indicating recent burials.  It appears that each one is meant to contain multiple members of a family. Along an outer wall of the cemetery there are places for individual burials.  It didn’t take too long before we both were dripping wet from the heat and humidity.

As we cooled down we drove around various neighborhoods.  There are still many homes that are boarded up from Katrina. Eighty percent of the city was under water and recovery has been slow! At one point in our drive traffic came to a halt because of what appeared to be some kind of New Orleans type parade, music and all. The entire street was filled with people milling around the musicians and there was no way anyone could continue down that street. We inched up until we came to a street we could turn on.

We were disappointed with most of the French Quarter due to it’s dirty condition. Buildings have been restored but there’s trash all over and just as many pot holes in the streets.

Tourists and drunks or maybe drunken tourists walked the streets and sidewalks.  The city allows open containers of alcohol on the sidewalks and streets as long as it’s not in a glass container. As we walked down a side street we came upon a woman that was squatting against a wall urinating in broad daylight.  It was obvious that she was drunk and didn’t seem too concerned about what she was doing. After a busy evening the streets in the French Quarter can smell like a urinal! Add the heat and humidity to that and OoooLaLa!? Maybe things are better on a non-holiday long weekend.

We never did go to Frenchman Street that night to listen to some jazz. I had my fill of the area and the music coming from some of the places along Bourbon Street wasn’t the style of jazz that I like. I wasn’t too sure it would be worth another trip down to the Quarter that night plus we had a long day ahead of us.  Tupelo, Mississippi… next stop.