Northwood Around The World: Three Thoughts on New Orleans

In "Northwood Around the World", we showcase some of the captivating destinations visited by Northwood team members.

Featured Traveler: Scott Dickenson

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

My wife and I recently spent a few nights in New Orleans. It was our first time in the city, and the first extended trip we’ve taken since having kids. I really enjoyed my time in “The Big Easy” and wanted to share some of the thoughts I have on the city with our readers.

1. New Orleans Shouldn't Exist

New Orleans sits below sea level and continues to sink further down every single year. Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina flooded most of the city, killed over 1,000 people and permanently impacted New Orleans’ future. Two decades later, the city’s population remains significantly lower than it was before Katrina hit. The aftermath of the hurricane even raised the question of whether they should bother rebuilding a city in such a vulnerable geographic position. New Orleans was once the 3rd largest city in the United States. Today it doesn’t rank in the top 50.

Founded by the French, occupied by the Spanish, and eventually the crown jewel of the Louisiana Purchase, New Orleans cultural history is unique before you even get into the Creole and Cajun side of things. Before you get into the Antebellum South side of things. Before you get into the vampires and the ghosts and the history of the occult that the city has built up over its 300+ year history. There’s no place like it in the U.S. (or anywhere else) and thank God it does exist.

2. New Orleans is a City of Neighbourhoods

The French Quarter is stunningly beautiful. Bourbon Street itself is decidedly not. We were in New Orleans from Monday to Friday and Bourbon Street was still buzzing every single night we were there. It’s loud, grimy, and tacky, and absolutely worth walking down and experiencing with a drink in hand at least once in your life. Have a sazerac and soak it all in.

Frenchmen Street is where the jazz is. You pop into a standing room-only place and watch masters of their craft playing a type of music that peaked in cultural relevance nearly a century ago. The night we were there, we saw multiple performers bring themselves to tears playing this soulful music.

The Garden District is all oak tree-lined streets and centuries-old mansions. City Park is 50 per cent bigger than Central Park in New York and a walker’s paradise. The National WWII Museum in the Warehouse District is truly one of the best museums I’ve ever been to.

3. ‍New Orleans is a City of 1,000 Restaurants and 1 Menu

The title above is based on an old saying about New Orleans that implies the city has many restaurants but lacks diversity in its food offerings. This is probably somewhat true, but those food offerings are so unique that it doesn’t really matter. From turtle soup with a splash of sherry, to gumbo, beignets, and crawfish étouffée, the food culture here is as singular as the city itself is.

Go to Commander’s Palace, the grand dame of New Orleans restaurants. This is where a 23-year-old Emeril Lagasse jumpstarted his career in the 80s and invented the ‘New New Orleans’ style of cooking. The restaurant sits in a converted Garden District mansion with a beautiful blue marquee out front. If you’re there for a weekday lunch (as we were), you can order up to three 25-cent martinis to accommodate your meal. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly.

Go to Galatoire’s for Friday lunch, the see and be seen social scene of the French Quarter for the past century. The room is packed and raucous by 11:30 am, jackets are required for gentlemen, and the hats on some of the women there would not be out of place at the Kentucky Derby. No one is drinking sparkling water with their lunch in this room, and table hopping is common. We left after two and a half hours to catch our flight home and were probably the first people in the room to leave the lunch service.

Go to Café Beignet (or Café du Monde, or any of the other myriad of cafes in the French Quarter). Eat a beignet and sip a café au lait with chicory. Enjoy the breeze, and the pace. If you’re lucky a street jazz band might be playing out front (or set up in the café itself). Indulge in the powdered sugar doughnut and in the knowledge that there’s nowhere else like this on earth.