Cemetery Tour of New Orleans

We were lucky enough to be able to take a cemetery tour.  This was one of the big things I wanted to experience while in New Orleans.  I was extremely happy with the outcome and we learned a ton! 

Our tour is beginning! The kids are already super curious about the history of New Orleans.  Especially how it was founded.  The were very intrigued when they found out it was built by pirates, thieves, and the ladies of the night.  I'm almost positive they had no clue what ladies of the night are, but they still thought it was pretty neat sounding.  LOL

They were also interested to learn about the Kings, Queens, and Dukes.  The city was named after the Duke of Orleans.  Many of the streets are named after royal family members, such as Bienville (the founder of New Orleans) and Dauphine (French Princess, is what we think he said), as well as the famous Bourbon street (French family Bourbon, not the drink like some of us would assume).  The French founded New Orleans and certainly left their stamp; however, Louisiana was purchased by America with the Louisiana Purchase, so there was a lot of influence from that side, as well. 

There was a neat little story behind this building.  The two sisters were described as the mean girls of the times back in 1886.  These two sisters had their shop and they would make gowns and Mardi Gras outfits for some of the elite women in New Orleans.  They would hold court with some of the finest women in New Orleans and they would gossip and talk badly about any of the women who didn't frequent their store.  This business is now a lucrative restaurant. 

If you know me, I love wiener dogs!  This has nothing to do with the cemetery tour, but I loved this picture! 

We were also told about the Jesus statue.  The hands of Christ were always open at night when the lights shone on him.  After the Saints won the Super Bowl, some of the grounds keepers adjusted the lights just a bit to make it look like Christ was making a touchdown with his arms.  He is now called "touchdown Jesus." 

This building doesn't look like much to some, and it really didn't to me either, but it really has a lot of history.  The building to the right would be the Master's home.  The middle portion would be a small court and the building of the same color on the left was the help or slave quarters of the times. Another thing to note about the buildings of New Orleans is how they were built in the first place.  New Orleans is a swamp.  What they would do is drive telephone poles down until they hit bottom and then continue to do this until the ground was firm and there would be no sinking when the building was built.  They have been having problems recently with the cemeteries.  The cemetery we visited had some graves and monuments 1 1/2 deep that were buried and the historical society has no clue who is buried there.  They are in the process of starting to rebuild and restructure them.   

Many homes in New Orleans were decorated up for the holidays and we were told that they generally decorate for every single holiday in this fashion.  Again, if you have read my other write up, I mentioned house colors.  The owners of the homes are not allowed to change anything on the outside of their home.  It must be kept historically accurate.  The inside is whatever the owner decides.  Any changes to the outside must be approved or there are a multitude of fines and troubles the owner can get into. 

Other than being a beautiful home, this one has a lot of history packed in as well in which a typical person would know nothing about.  This was a typical Mistress home.  Historically, women have had much fewer rights than men.  The Mistress, had almost as many rights as men.  Her lover was to go into a binding contract with her that the Mistress's Mother would secure.  The Mother would make sure that her Daughter was well taken care of and that he would pay for any of her expenses, purchase her a home of her choosing, would pay for schooling for any children born, and would pay a monthly payment to the Mistress for her services.  This was great for the family because they would be taken care of.  If the man's wife found out and threw a tantrum and the man had to call it quits with her, the Mistress was able to go into contract with another man.  She was able to keep the home and her children would still be paid for.  This woman had more rights than the Wife, in most cases.  The reason behind these women becoming Mistresses instead of wives is related to their color.  If a woman was found to have even the slightest black or anything other than white, they could not marry.  There were balls held where these women would be put on display for the men to choose them as his Mistress.  The men loved these women because of their beauty and their coloring.  This was quite acceptable back then.     

This is the entrance to a park where many of the African Americans would spend their days off.  They would have singing and dancing, would sell their wares, and would even wait for someone to need some work done. 

A statue within the park that I found interesting.

The cemetery had certain hours where it could be seen.  They have had a horrible time with vandals.  Even recently, they had tombs broken into.  Such a sad thing. 

Where the people of New Orleans thought Marie Lebeau was buried for a long time.

Some of the monuments

As you can see, some people still frequent the grave sites of their family members

This is where Nicholas Cage is set to be buried.  Cage bought a home in New Orleans and later found out that it was one of the most haunted houses around.  It just so happened that while he owned the home, his acting career took a huge plummet, and when it was sold, he came back out on top.   

Many of these resting places have unknown families and people inside. 

This is where jazz musicians of New Orleans who have little or no money can be buried for free.

They call these the vampire tombs because the people inside are buried face down.  It was some sort of protestant ordeal.  The cemetery didn't want protestants buried there, so they made a rule that they had to be buried in this fashion. 

All of us in front of the true resting place of the Voodoo Queen Marie Labeau.  There was a ritual that must be performed if you want a blessing from the Voodoo Queen herself.  I will post our video below. 

Braden gave some money and Sophia gave a hair tie for beautiful hair.  I won't say what I asked for ;)

There is a ton of information on Marie Labeau.  Brad knows a little bit from watching American Horror Story.  I don't think it is accurate, but he found it interesting that they used her and we were learning the real story behind the Queen herself.  So, Marie was a hairdresser who was the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner.  Marie was a good listener and while doing hair, she gathered many secrets about the high society.  She used these secrets to help spread the word that she was the true Voodoo Queen.  Nobody doubted her.  She would gather many secrets from slaves and from workers.  They trusted her and she would always give favors. back.  The men never questioned her and many of the elite owed her.  She would keep their secrets about their mistresses and about their estates.  She would even have balls where these men could intermingle with the gorgeous mixed women of the time.  When she did need to cash in a favor, they were always more than willing.  Marie had many children.  She had a few daughters that looked almost identical to her.  She named them Marie as well.  These daughters looked, talked, dressed just like her, and acted just as she acted.  This was all part of Marie's brand.  Now she was the Voodoo Queen but she also never aged thanks to her offspring.  When the daughters got older, they had a pretty good bank account set up thanks to their mother.  When they retired, so died the Voodoo Queen.  This is what our tour guide told us, and I quite like the story.  It seems to me that Marie was an entrepreneur of the times and that's pretty amazing since she was a woman, let along a woman of color!

XOXO...Becky

New Orleans

New Orleans was different.  Different good and different scary.  I can see why people get into trouble or get hurt while there.  We had a few great days and I feel like I marked everything off my list that I wanted to.  I wanted to eat at Café Beignet, hit up the voodoo shops, do a cemetery tour, and experience a swamp tour.  I will have to hit up Mardi Gras when it is going on at another time (without kids) or mark it off the list completely. 
Our first day was hectic.  We tried to check in early, which they informed us was fine before we got there.  When we got there, the room wasn't ready and we were in limbo.  It was fine with us, so we just got a few things from our car and let them park it in their secure parking lot.  Our hotel was the Holiday Inn French Quarter Chateau Lemoyne.  Phew that is a mouthful!  We just called it the lemon while we were there.  Our hotel was in a pretty good location for walking, so we decided to take off.  We were amazed with all of the old architecture.  I took plenty of photos, of course.   I feel like there was so much to see that I could never get enough pictures and I don't feel like my pictures capture the true beauty of the buildings, not to mention I'm not a great photographer! 

We found out that if you are an owner in the tourist area, you have to paint your home and leave it like it was historically.  The tour guide for our cemetery tour said that the historical society of New Orleans will even scour around for old newspaper clippings and photos of your home to confirm any colors.  If any changes are to be made to your home, it has to be approved and that is highly unlikely if it is to the exterior. 

We spent a small portion of the first day just walking, but we did run into the Voodoo Authentica Museum.  It was quite interesting and there was even a medium doing some work with a customer. There were oils, spells, voodoo dolls, and other spell/witchcraft items.  They did not allow pictures inside, unfortunately.   

Somehow, we ran into Jackson Square and found some good opportunities for some pictures.  We decided that when the rest of our family arrived, we would have to show them our find.  There were many artists set up along the street, lots of shops to check out and gorgeous apartments.  We found out that the apartments run $3000 and up per month!  Wow that's pretty steep to live in that area!  My Husband also informed me that "Brangelina" lives in the area. We never did figure out which home was theirs, but we did find out that it is for sale at a hefty price!   

Of course, we had to get a picture of the whole family!

So, the story behind this statue is quite interesting.  The man on the horse is Andrew Jackson, and he is always tipping his hat.  The person he is forever tipping his hat to is also the same person who paid to have the statue made.  This person is Baroness Pontalba.  Apparently, Jackson would never tip his hat to her because he did not feel that she was a lady.  So, the Baroness paid to have the statue built facing her apartment, much to Jackson's dismay. Now, there are a few other stories that I googled and read, but this one has some spicy juice to it, so I will stick with it!   

These apartments are the ones that go for $3000 and up per month

Selfie!

I mentioned above that there were artists.  I bought one piece of art that I think is odd, but I love it!  I bought a painting of the Luck Dog stand.  I had taken some pictures of the stand and the painting just had to be mine!  The person we bought it from has no website or cards.  She explained that she just prefers to sell her art there at the square and does just fine. 

My picture is the white vertical photo on the middle right side and it was only $20

After checking out Jackson Square, we decided to walk down to the river. It was a gorgeous sight with the bridge we came in on in the background.  There is an aquarium down there as well as some boats used for tours. 

The following day, we hit up Jackson Square again, but my Grandma was too worn out from walking everywhere, that we decided to take a horse drawn carriage back to the hotel.  The carriage was $126 for all ten of us and it was a brief history lesson on some of the hotels, shops, and restaurants.  It was quite fun.  I said horse drawn, but this carriage was not pulled by a horse.  Check it out in the pictures :)

   

After a carriage ride, we had to get ready for our swamp tour. This was one of the items on my list of to-do's in New Orleans.  We booked with New Orleans Swamp & Airboat tours in the jean Lafitte Swamps.  The website to book is www.jeanlafitteswamptour.com and their prices are reasonable.  We felt like it was too much to get three vehicles out, drive around New Orleans, and find the establishment, so we opted for them to pick us up at the hotel.  Once picked up, it was only 20 minutes to the swamp.  We got onto a big pontoon boat with two big motors and bench seating all around the edge.  When we got on the boat and took off, we saw a small gator right away.  The Captain said that this is his typical hangout.  I definitely wouldn't want to walk along at night out there!  We had over an hour cruising the swamps and saw many birds and gators.  On the way back, the Captain had a small gator that he brought out so the kids could get up close and personal.  It had tape over the mouth, of course. 

Later on that night, we got to ride on the trollies.  I had great expectations, but really that experience wasn't that great.  It was hot and cramped.  We got off after just a little bit of a ride.  It was a cheap ride, though!  $3 for the entire day or $1.50 per ride.  One word of caution:  If traveling with someone a bit older, let them sit down.  The trolley is extremely rough to ride.  I can imagine there are plenty of accidents and falls on them.

The last thing I wanted to write about is Bourbon Street. We did a cemetery tour as well, but I am going to have a whole write up about that.  I didn't necessarily feel like I had to do Bourbon Street, but I wanted to say that I did, if that makes any sense at all.  I'm not much of a drinker, but I did have a few drinks because what the heck...I'm on vacation!  I had a daiquiri and a margarita, which were quite tasty, and Brad had a few beers.  In my opinion, Bourbon street was loud and gross.  There were people flashing others (this was expected and I only think it was bad because of the idiots with their kids), beads being thrown (so hard at times, I saw drinks spilled out of hands and people crying out in pain), homeless people that were getting somewhat irate if you didn't give them money (scary), and it smelled badly.  I love to people watch, have a good time, and you all know I'm all about freeing the nipple; however, this was just gross drunken debauchery.  We heard that down the street there was a teenager giving oral sex to an 80 something woman.  Age isn't an issue, but sheesh keep it to yourself!  There were some people that had their children in tow.  I'm quite sure it was not the appropriate place for them to be hanging out.  After some walking around, we found a pretty decent bar that was playing some 80's and 90's music and we found a seat.  The music was good and we were actually enjoying ourselves!  I wish in knew who the band was.  We ran into one of the Tennessee Titans football players and his girlfriend and we met some others who were there for a conference.  We made friends with both groups.  Overall, we had a decent time.  I can now say I have done Bourbon Street (I may never be back, though).  The only negative thing that came out of the whole experience was my Brother's Girlfriend had her debit card stolen.  I'm glad I didn't have my nice camera or any of my cards on me!  I will leave you with some pictures and videos :)

"Touchdown" Jesus was seen on the way back from Bourbon Street.  Our tour guide told us that the lights were simply adjusted making him appear this way. 

Overall, New Orleans was fun!  I loved the shopping, the food, and the architecture.  I will stick to the daytime activities, though!!!  The nightlife was a bit too much for me! 

XOXO...Becky