NOLA LifeStyle

Pass Christian Oyster Festival

2012-02-07T17:04:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago, Jessica, her dad, and I drove to Pass Christian, MS for the oyster festival. The festival was basically a county fair, with a ferris wheel, carnival rides, live music, and some oysters.

The highlight food-wise was the fried oyster tacos. It was made by a guy who runs a food truck on the North-shore. The taco consisted of fried oysters, cole slaw, and some sort of special sauce similar to thousand-island dressing. Amazing.

Afterwards, we went to a restaurant overlooking the marina called Shaggy's, which had a pretty hopping atmosphere. All in all, a good little trip.

Saint Louis Cathedral Interior

2012-01-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

St. Louis Cathedral is one of many spectacular cathedrals around New Orleans. St. Louis is probably most well-known mainly because of its location right in the heart of the French Quarter on Jackson Square. Consequently, it has become one of the iconic images of New Orleans - right up there with streetcars, oysters, and hand-grenades.

Taking a photo inside the cathedral is tough because the tourists get in the way of taking a clean shot. More importantly though, the light is very low so you must have a tripod, and you gotta deal with a bunch of different small light sources from the various windows, floor lamps, candles, and stained glass. On the upside, these light sources can give you a warmth and richness that you don't usually find. So if you can get the shot right, it can come out looking pretty cool.

Also, College GameDay is setup in Jackson Square this weekend during the lead-up to the BCS National Championship Game in the Superdome. With the cathedral as the backdrop, this will probably be the most memorable and photogenic GameDay location of all time. Just one more wrinkle in the crazy weekend of the Saints playoff game and the LSU-Alabama game, both in the Dome within two days of each other. It's gonna get wild!

Washington DC Tourists Pt. 2

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Washington DC Tourists

2011-10-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

Gauley River - West Virginia

2011-09-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

Zoo To Do Gala

2011-05-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

My first time in a non-rental tux! And Boucher looks awesome as always.

iPhone photo isn't as pimp as the usual - but it gets the job done.

French Quarter - Pt 2

2011-04-16T05:46:00.000-07:00

Photos were taken by both Little Boucher and myself.

French Quarter - Pt 1

2011-04-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

Oak Alley Plantation Part 2

2011-02-17T17:48:00.000-08:00

Oak Alley Plantation Part 1

2011-02-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

Fontainebleau State Park - Cabin Weekend

2011-01-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

Bama LifeStyle - Chillin

2010-12-27T13:18:00.000-08:00

Bama LifeSyle - Birmingham Peanut Depot

2010-12-24T10:40:00.000-08:00

Serving (delicious) fresh roasted peanuts since 1907, the Peanut Depot is a cool throwback to old school B'ham. It's on a cobblestone road downtown and they still make their peanuts in the antique roasters.

The Peanut Depot was even open on Christmas Eve with a decent number of customers coming in to stock up on some holiday peanuts. Tasty.

America. Freedom. Democracy. Peanuts.

Where Is The Awesome?

2010-12-21T12:57:00.000-08:00

In this sky.

On this grill.

Inside my mouth.

Down this road.

Around this bamboo.

(Photos mostly by Little Boucher)

Lake Verret, Pt. 2

2010-10-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

Lake Verret, Pt. 1

2010-10-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

River Shack LifeStyle

2010-09-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Abita Brew Tour

2010-09-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Abita Brewery on the North Shore. The tour lasted one hour and can basically be summed up as follows: 10 minutes of tour, plus 50 minutes of beer sampling.

I had a fun time at the brewery, but there's not much else to write. The tour was fun, fast, and to the point.

Swamp LifeStyle Pt. II

2010-09-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

Swamp LifeStyle Pt. I

2010-09-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

Gulf Coast LifeStyle

2010-08-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

While New Orleans does not really have a beach (sorry Lake Pontchartrain, but you don't count), we are a scant 3 hours from Gulf Shores, AL. At the beach this past weekend, the topic on everyone's mind was the BP screw-up and subsequent unleashing of oil all over our coast.

We saw few signs that any oil had been dumped into the Gulf of Mexico at all, other than the smattering of tar balls along the sand. The water itself looked and felt like normal, and there were crabs, minnows, and even dolphins cruising around as if nothing was wrong. From a recreational beach-going perspective, the sand was as white as ever, the water as crystal clear as ever, and the relaxation as accessible as ever.

From my lay-man's understanding of the BP screw-up, the damage will be mostly unseen. Fish populations shut down, a Gulf Coast fishing culture on the brink of extinction, coastal wetlands wiped out, etc.

Here's hoping that the damage is less than expected.

One Day Visitor - LifeStyle Condensed

2010-08-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Camellia Grill, streetcar, beignets, hurricanes, Uptown..... how to cram as much into one day as possible.

Photos From a Friend

2010-07-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Photos courtesy of Baca. Experiences courtesy of New Orleans.

Tourist LifeStyle

2010-07-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

Classy and skanky. This juxtaposition embodies my relationship with New Orleans, and this is how I like to portray the city to visitors. Mix in Pat O's versus Margaritaville. Cochon versus Miss Mae's. Cafe du Monde versus Unique Grocery. Hurricanes versus Cherry Bombs. Abita versus High Life. With two DC friends in town and an Italian called Cajun leading the way, we hit the highs and the lows and a few in between.

We somehow managed to squeeze in Uptown, Downtown, Warehouse District, Marigny, French Quarter, and Magazine all into about 36 hours of mayhem. Most impressively, we walked the fine line between never stopping and never getting exhausted.

Moreover, the weekend reinforced two ideas that have become ingrained in my head since moving to New Orleans. First, I miss the hell out of my friends from Washington, DC. Second, I absolutely love this town.

These photos are compliments of Audrey. More photos of the weekend will be coming soon.

Over and Out.

NOLA Blight-Style

2010-06-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

I recently joined a recreational flag football team named Team Blight Reduction. In honor of our 5 touchdown loss the other night, I thought I would snap some photos of a few blighted buildings.

Nearly every American city has its fare share of run-down buildings, and all things considered downtown NOLA is in pretty solid shape. But if you look around for it, you can find some smatterings of urban decay. Sometimes an eye-sore, I see these as a strangely comforting reality of living in a city.

At the very least, a run-down empty building can provide for some quality signage.

Bama LifeStyle

2010-05-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

I'm at home in Birmingham for a short stint now that finals are over. To kill some time, I swung by Sloss Furnace, which is an old steel mill from back in the day when this town was known as "Pittsburgh of the South" for its steel production.

Seeing an old run down shotgun next to Sloss Furnace got me thinking about the Big Easy again. I will be back in NOLA shortly with a cool summer gig in the CBD so I should have some good photo opportunities around town.

Delicious LifeStyle - Cochon

2010-04-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine from out of town sent me a link to a NYTimes article about restaurants in New Orleans. The article itself is a little hokey, but let's be honest - pretty much everything about this city (including this site) is somewhat hokey. Otherwise, it highlights one of NOLA's most attractive attributes - the sheer number of top-notch restaurants around town.

As a law student of meager means, I have yet to patronize most of our best restaurants. But I have managed to swing by a few, including my favorite Cochon. The fact that the co-owner/chef is my landlord has something to do with my affinity. But I think the restaurant's national attention speaks to the quality of food they put out. Here is another NYTimes article published during the playoffs (Stephen is the one on the right).

What do these photos have to do with eating out? Nothing. But it's exam week and I haven't been outside in awhile. Deal with it.

Tulane Crawfest

2010-04-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Tulane today is having their annual Crawfest on the quad. Simple setup: lots of delicious crawdads, a solid lineup of local bands, and free admission for students. As exams are breathing down our necks, most law students aren't able to fully enjoy the day - but I got more than enough crawfish and sunshine to satisfy my needs. NOLA always has a good way of relaxing me when I could easily be stressed out of my mind.

Cemetery LifeStyle

2010-03-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Cemetery.

Lower Ninth Ward

2010-03-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Today I made a trip down to the Lower Ninth Ward. Before Katrina, the Lower Ninth was not extremely wealthy, but it was a reasonably well-off blue collar area of town. However, the neighborhood took the brunt of the flood. Even though the hurricane missed NOLA entirely, the water from the storm surge caused the levee along the industrial canal to fail. That levee borders the Lower Ninth, and everything in the area was flooded. While the Lower Ninth is not a ghost-town, it is a shadow of what it once was.

Many of the houses that existed before the hurricane have been torn down, a few are being rebuilt, and several are simply empty shells. The photos below are of a vacant house a few blocks from the levee. The last photo is where the levee gave way during Katrina. As always, click the photos for a larger view.

Meyer the Hatter

2010-03-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

I meant to do a full write-up of Meyer the Hatter, but I am in a law school time crunch, so a few photos will have to suffice. Meyer the Hatter has been in New Orleans since the late 1800's, which is impressive. Even more impressive is that it is still a family owned and operated business. I met Sam Meyer, who still works the floor of his shop, gives brief history tutorials of the store, and strikes some sweet poses for guys with cameras.... look for him on next season's Next Top Model.

BBQ - The Joint

2010-02-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

I originate from Birmingham, AL which is home to several great BBQ joints - Full Moon and Dreamland come to mind first. I am pretty picky about my ribs, and I have only once ever eaten ribs outside of Alabama. My one foreign rib experiment took place in Kansas City. The ribs were crap. So when Kelly - a friend from school - decided to check out some local BBQ, I said yes with some internal trepidation.

We ended up at The Joint, which is located pretty deep into Bywater. Since I never have the patience to read through a long article/post about a restaurant, I will keep this short. The dry rub ribs were good. A little charred on the outside (see photo below), the meat was slightly dry. The meat wasn't bad - just not what I am used to. Also, the smokiness of the ribs was a bit on the weak side. The good news is that the ribs fell off the bone, which is not what I generally see in my usual BBQ haunts. I ate the things pretty fast because I normally have to work for my rib meat.

While I remain a Bama BBQ purist, if other NOLA ribs are comparable to The Joint then I can see myself getting by around here... if only as a hold-over until I am back in B'ham.

Super Bowl Champs

2010-02-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

Hot damn. I don't have any photos because I left my camera at a friends' house in the Quarter. And I have relatively few memories since I left my sobriety at home on Sunday. But it doesn't really matter.

Here is what you need to know about NOLA during the game. If you were in New Orleans on Sunday, you had an amazing time. If you weren't in New Orleans for the Super Bowl, you probably wish that you were.

Picking the Super Bowl - Celebrity Edition

2010-02-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

It is Friday afternoon and the Super Bowl is looming over New Orleans like a drunk girl on a Bourbon Street balcony. The only question is: will she throw us some beads, or just vomit all over our heads.

To sort this madness out, I have consulted two of the finest sporting minds in all of Uptown NOLA.

First up is Salty.

Salty, a pure-bred mutt who hails from the mean streets of our gritty city, has been analyzing football games for months now. The outside world may have thought that she was simply sleeping on the floor while I was shouting at the T.V. this past fall. In reality she was trying to figure out how in the heck Drew Brees was gonna slice through the opponent's Cover-2.

Salty: "I am going with the Saints, Ashton. No way Brees can be stopped. Especially with that giant birth-mark on his face. Guaranteed victory."

Next up is Napolean Bonaparte. Just like the Coneheads, Napolean comes from France. He likes the outdoors, Mardi Gras beads, and conquering most of Europe.

Napolean: "I gotta go with the Colts. Manning is handsome as a devil. And he has arms. Sexy."

The Soul of New Orleans - Video

2010-02-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

"The soul of New Orleans is in its defiant beating heart."

ESPN.com put up the video from the "Soul of New Orleans" segment, about which I had written a week ago. From talking to Wright Thompson (you can hear him as the voice-over for the video) and seeing the filming of the Chris Rose segment, I could tell that it would be a great T.V. spot. But I am still pretty blown away at how well-made the video is.

Click here to view the clip. At about 3:20 into the segment is a purple house, which is my neighbor, and of course the cemetery is my other "neighbor" across the street.

Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Krewe de Vieux

2010-01-31T17:51:00.000-08:00

The first parade of the carnival season, Krewe de Vieux throws down a pretty good party. After some thinking and much internal deliberation, I think I have cracked the code on how to put together a good Krewe de Vieux float. It seems to be a three step process:

Step One:
You need to choose a politician. Maybe Mayor Ray Nagin could be a fine choice. But no need to stick local. You can go with national politicians too. Anyone is fair game.

Step Two:

Take that politician and come up with some random quips about them. Don't worry about these making any sense or even being too topical. They don't need to. Just as long as you put the politician and an insult or two in the same sentence, you are good to go.

Step Three:
Think of something perverted. Like really perverted. If you have children, imagine what you don't want them to see. Take that image and construct a float out of it.

Good work. You now have an awesome Krewe de Vieux float. Now go drink a few too many beverages, walk down Royal Street, and have a damn good time.

- Editor's note: taking photos in large crowds of moving objects at night is pretty tough. Who knew? -

Saints and Sinners

2010-01-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that the Saints squeaked out a victory last night over the Vikings, so I will spare the details. I went down to Esplanade to watch the game with some friends then we migrated over to Bourbon Street - which was an absolute sh*t-show. I have never been in a city before where the people are so eager to form into mobs of complete tom-foolery. Expecting such a scene, I did not take my camera with me for fear of damaging/losing it - which was probably a good idea.

Two quick stories from the post-game bedlam:

1.
We were standing maybe 10 feet off Bourbon on a side street when a scuffle broke out. The cops instantly descended on the ruckus-makers, threw them to the ground, and cuffed them. After the troublesome pair were put back on their feet and the cops were deciding what to do with them, one of the dude's girlfriend walked up to him and pretended to talk to and hug him. She proceeded to reach into his pocket, pull out a nice little baggie of drugs, pop it into her mouth, and swallow. I couldn't see what was in the bag, but a friend said that it was white - aka cocaine.

Is saving your boyfriend from a little jail time worth the risk of that bag exploding and you dying from an overdose? It sure is hard for some guy to love you when you're dead.

2.
After the game, I was pretty euphoric from the overtime victory so I was screaming and banging on cars etc. One car drove past, and I thought that it was a good idea to keep up the revelry so I banged on that sucker. Turns out it was a N.O.P.D. squad car.

Oops.

Cop hits the brakes, gets out of the car, and looks at me.

Cop: "Is there something you need from me?" (with a tone of anger, condescension, and wrath)
Me: "Ummm. I apologize. I'm just really excited about the win."
Cop: (gives the me death stare, then gets back in the car)
Me: "That's right, pig. You're lucky I didn't pull out my 9 and put a cap in your ass!"

- Editor's Note: That last part is a lie. I actually just stood there scared out of my mind, and let out a huge sigh of relief when he drove off -

Laissez les bon temps rouler.

ESPN - Soul of the City

2010-01-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

"The most important word in the English language is home."

This morning I was coming home from a quick trip to the store and I saw a TV crew right in front of my house. I introduced myself, offered my plugs to power their film equipment, and met the ESPN crew filming a spot about New Orleans that will be aired this Sunday morning on NFL Countdown. Based on the article written by Wright Thompson, the piece is entitled "Soul of the City" and will center around interviews with various locals including Chris Rose, a journalist for the Times-Picayune who lives a couple of houses down my street.

The crew was set up in the cemetery directly across the street from my house, and the interview dealt primarily with the role that the Saints play as the life-blood of this city. Mr. Rose, who was part of the Picayune's Pulitzer winning staff during Katrina, summed up New Orleans when he explained that despite pop culture's emphasis to the contrary, the most important four letter word in our language is not "love" but "home." He spoke of how the Saints were the first harbinger of this city's renewal after the storm. Regardless of the derision about how New Orleans should be abandoned, this city has not and will not ever fade away - if only because the people who call NOLA home refuse to allow that to happen.

Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Rubenstein's

2010-01-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

I am a simple man. I am extremely easy to please. A short list of my likes includes: delicious food, courteous people, fun friends, nice weather, and a cold drink. Give me one or two of these, and you will put me in a good mood.

Sounds fine, but how does this relate to a menswear store?

The other day I was making my way down to the French Quarter to hang out at a friends house before heading out to watch the Saints game. I swung by Rubenstein's expecting to grab some photos and do some looking around. About 15 minutes later, having just met the store owner, I walked out with a whiskey & coke in my hand and a smile on my face. A great testament to a business is when you don't purchase anything but still leave in a good state of mind.

I will go into more detail on Rubenstein's in the next few months, but it is essentially a high end menswear store carrying mostly European brands (think Canali and Zegna) with a strong family history, a great staff, and a great location right on Canal Street.

If you're downtown anytime soon, I recommend swinging by, meeting the staff, and taking a look around.

Saints Divisional Playoffs

2010-01-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

Today, on the sixteenth of January, Drew Brees and the Saints waltzed over the Arizona Cards like a school-girl hopscotching over a line of ants on the sidewalk. As a result, the French Quarter was beacon of fun and festivity on an otherwise dark and muggy gulf coast night.

Tomorrow will decide whether we face the Vikings or the Cowboys in next week's NFC Championship game. I personally hope that we face the seemingly more formidable Vikings with Favre and Peterson, so our path to a Super Bowl victory can leave no doubt as to who is the best team in the league.

In the next few days, I will post some photos of both the Quarter and Rubensteins - a great New Orleans menswear store. But for now, I will catch some sleep and rejuvenate after today's victory.

Oak Street - Rue de la Course

2010-01-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

You can usually learn a lot about a neighborhood - and city - by its coffee shops.

One of my older stomping grounds of Chinatown in Washington, DC literally had five Starbucks within a few blocks of my apartment. Translation - yuppie central. Near my mom's home in Birmingham, AL, the only local coffee shop is housed inside a Barnes & Noble found in a strip mall. Translation - hello suburbs.

Here in Uptown on the corner of Oak St. and Carrollton lives Rue de la Course. Many people argue that PJ's has better coffee, and that may be true depending on your tastes. But what Rue de la Course does have is a great location and vibe. This coffee shop is not part of a world-wide chain, housed in a Borders, or shoved into some strip mall. Like many New Orleans establishments that have kept the class and dignity that comes with preserving older architecture, Rue de la Course has taken what used to be a bank and converted it into a coffee shop. In a past life, this location was the Carrollton branch of the locally owned Canal Bank which went out of business in the 1930's, went through several other iterations as banks, before shifting to retail and now a coffee house.

Rue de la Course has a great aura as a result of its vaulted ceilings and antiquated interior. It also seems to draw in a mixture of the young professional crowd grabbing a pick-me-up and also some of the more bohemian/hipster crowd as well. While inside this morning, I snapped a quick photo of this guy rocking a badass top-hat, but I was unable to grab him to talk before he ran off. He looked like he belonged in a magic show, though I would guess that this is just how he rolls.

Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Dream Home

2010-01-05T17:03:00.000-08:00

Being a poor grad student, I have the unenviable privilege of imagining what it would be like to fully live large in New Orleans. Unlike other parts of the country where people seem to take the most pride in their car (Los Angeles), their clothing (New York), or their overalls (Mississippi), New Orleanians can boast the most beautiful residential architecture in America.

I am an owner of one of the most adorable mutts alive, and as a dog owner I take my critter out for walks on an extremely regular basis - which means that I have the ability to scope out numerous awesome homes around the Uptown area. My area of Uptown does not have the flash of St Charles Ave or the tourist appeal of the French Quarter, but it does boast a very eclectic array of awesome homes.

At the crack of dawn this morning I was out strolling with the pup when I came across one of my favorite Uptown homes. This bad boy is located right on Carrollton Ave., and it is even currently up for sale. With a kingly 6,000 sq ft, this place can be yours for the small total of..... $700,000.00.

Ouch. I suppose that's why they call it a dream home.

Pioneers

2009-12-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Drew Brees

2009-12-26T10:09:00.000-08:00

Myth & Fact about Drew Brees:

Myth: Drew Brees was athletic as a child.

Fact: Drew Brees was never a child. He was came out 100% full grown bad-ass. Here is a picture of Drew Brees at 5 months of age.

Respect.

I will argue that Brees is the most valuable athlete in America. Brees does not rake in the most sponsorships of any athlete. Brees does not have the largest contract even in the NFL. Brees does not even have a Super Bowl ring (yet!).

What makes Brees the most valuable athlete in the nation is what he gives to the city of the New Orleans. He gives wins - and plenty of them. But Brees also gives a sense of pride and a fighting spirit for a city that thrives on emotion and passion.

Brees is the shortest QB in the NFL, who was tossed around at San Diego before finding a home in NOLA. He came here to a franchise in seemingly eternal disrepair, which was often dubbed the most love-able losers in sports. He built a home in the city, built a damn good football team, and has carried the hopes and dreams of our city on his back all along the way.

We are lucky indeed to have him with our Saints.

Thank Breesus.

My Own City of the Dead

2009-12-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

You know you live in NOLA when your across-the-street-neighbors are all dead.

Some people may think that living across the street from a NOLA cemetery would be creepy. Not me. This "city of the dead" spices up my life in many ways. Here is my list of how:

Shock and Awe
Nothing throws down a big 'ole NOLA BOOYA to an out of town visitor than a monster honking cemetery across the street from my house.

Reminders
I have always been intrigued by cemeteries. As a kid, our family reunions were literally held at the family graveyard in Letohatchee, AL where all the kids would play massive wiffle-ball games. We used the graves as part of the field. Hitting it to a grave = home-run! I also spent a summer during college in DC giving tours of Arlington Cemetery. Whenever I am across the street, I am very impressed with the number of service people laid to rest just steps from my house. It makes me realize how many people have served over the years.... and how few young men (myself included) even strongly consider enlisting in the military these days.

Play-Time
Having spent some considerable time over the years in various cemeteries, I have lost much of the mystique associated with cemeteries. I have a young dog (Salty), and a large quiet secluded fenced area is a prime play-spot. While the fence is usually unlocked during the day, I sometimes sneak in at night with Salty for some running and romping under the stars. Is it strange to run around a cemetery at night? Probably. Is it a heckuva lot of fun? You betcha.

Directions
"Keep going till you hit the cemetery. I'm the yellow house on the right"

Perspective
Also, as a kid my family spent weekends in Clanton, AL. We would occasionally hike out into the woods to the local indian burial grounds. The indian cemetery is the most puritan I can imagine - nothing but stones in the ground to mark the head and feet of the deceased. No fancy ornaments or inscriptions. Only a small rock to mark your place. In many ways, NOLA mausoleums are not at all similar to that indian graveyard. But both dispense with the notion that the soul's vessel can or should be remain unadulterated and in prime condition after the burial. The indian site had little fanfare, simply lay your loved one to rest, and let the earth reclaim him. While NOLA mausoleums can be ornate, they are extremely utilitarian. The bodies are allowed to quickly decompose, and the chambers are reused by the next generation.

When it's my time to go, that is the way I want to be laid to rest. Place me somewhere that my remains can disappear into the world - the same way I came in.