Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Edwards

The 3200 block of Burgundy St. in the Bywater is looking more and more like Magazine Street uptown.    Now that’s not necessarily a good thing if you’re an artist who moved to the Bywater in the first place because it was affordable, but if you’re in town looking for an unusual and emerging area, it’s a good thing.   First, check out Christopher Porche-West’s photography gallery on the corner, A Studio on Desire, at 3201 Burgundy.  Christopher is best known for his early portraits of New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians, but his gallery is another thing altogether.   His constructions and assemblages incorporate his photographs celebrating New Orleans life (as well as that found in Africa and Haiti), with architectural found objects.   Shrines, really, some of them are, and extremely moving works.   Porche-West observes cultures and people, and portrays them honestly.   He’s the real deal-he’s been there on that corner from way back when.  Here’s  a piece on NPR describing his work about the Indians.    But today you can walk across the street from his gallery and enter one of the coolest new restaurants in town, Maurepas Foods.   At 3200 Burgundy St., Maurepas Foods has been getting lots of press-The New Orleans Times-Picayune food critic recently gave it a glowing three-bean review.   It’s “New American” food, with vegetables getting the center of attention, but besides a wonderful plate of roasted beets, you can get goat tacos, or grilled shrimp with herbs, all in a former corner store with a hipster vibe.   It’s loud, with all those ancient walls, and it’s buzzing, and it’s very Bywater.   Probably won’t find it uptown on Magazine St., but the food is worthy of anywhere.

There’s a fetching little shop, Bon Castor, at 3207 Burgundy. It just opened in February, and it’s absolutely adorable, showing off desirable handmade objects all sourced from local Bywater artists.  The owner moved to town and thought, why can’t I buy a birthday present in this great neighborhood?  Amy Knoll, who also is a part-owner of Lost  Love Lounge, another Marigny establishment, opened the shop, and it’s really taking off.    Everything’s sold on consignment; it’s Etsy come to life!  And if you don’t feel up to the hubbub of Maurepas Foods, there’s another cool restaurant next door to Bon Castor, called Suis Generis.   (Yes, that’s how it’s spelled).   It’s smaller than Maurepas Foods, with about 40 seats and a DIY-decorated ambiance, but with equally distinctive small-plate fare, and somewhat larger plates if you’re really hungry.  There’s a great wine and cocktail list, and the menu really does change with the seasons.   It’s a seriously local joint, both in conception and execution.  It’s  open for brunch on weekends too.

Like the whole block, it’s a Bywater thing.

In the last couple of years, the city has increased bike lanes and promoted bicycling as an environmentally-friendly and economical way to get around.  It’s part of a national trend—and has anyone been to the gas station lately?  Wow, gas prices are high. Before Hurricane Katrina, there were only seven miles of bike lanes, shared lanes and bike paths in the city.  Now there’s much more—see http://nolacycle.noladata.org for a map of New Orleans bike facilities, highlighting potholes, traffic projects, and everything that might make a difference to somebody on two wheels.  The long-stalled Lafitte Corridor project is also under way, transforming a 3.1-mile strip between the French Quarter to Lakeview into a public park.

We still have a ways to go, though.   Bicycling is not all that safe here, partly because of drivers’ failure to acknowledge bicyclists and their rights to the road, partly because bicyclists themselves don’t feel compelled to follow the same rules as four-wheeled vehicles must, and partly because there are numerous potholes and road hazards in an old city that’s built below sea level.  Bike Easy is a nonprofit bicycling advocacy group that helps everybody out who wants to get on a bike here in New Orleans. Its mission is “to make bicycle riding in New Orleans easy, safe, and fun.” We’re all for that!

On Sunday, May 20, it’s sponsoring Bicycle Second Line: Bayou Boogaloo 2012   It Starts and ends by Bayou St. John at Jefferson Davis Parkway and Lafitte Street, and concludes with an after party at the Bayou Boogaloo.    It’s a great way to participate in that time-honored New Orleans tradition, a second-line parade, with live music—but on a bicycle, not on foot!  You can get your bicycle right here at Southern Comfort Bed and Breakfast.

2012 Jazz Fest Blues Tent

In the “city that care forgot,” (or that forgot to care?), the best time of the year is Jazz Fest.  It’s the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May, and we all pile in our cars or get on our bicycles and head for the Fair Grounds to indulge ourselves in all that Jazz Fest is.   It’s the sum of the whole that makes it an experience to anticipate excitedly every year.

You walk in the gate at whatever entrance you choose, and hear the familiar deep tones of the Jazz Fest announcer coming over the loudspeakers.  You smear yourself with suntan lotion and get ready for the sun to begin warming your sandaled toes. You feel the breeze wafting the smell of barbecue from one of the food booths, but you’re not going there.  No, you’re standing in line at the soft-shell crab poboy booth because before you go to hear any music, you’ve GOT to have that rare New Orleans treat . Or maybe for you it’s the strawberry mint iced tea booth you hit first.  Or maybe you immediately go the biggest stage with your friends and set up your encampment, complete with the artistically decorated flag you carry around every year to mark your spot.

Then you’re ready to check out your “cube” to see what musical act you should hit first.   There’s so much to choose from it takes a strategy equal to Napoleon’s to make sure you don’t miss that set by Trombone Shorty, or Dwayne Dopsie on his accordion at the Fais Do Do tent.   And of course you’ve got to get lined up to get somewhere to stand, or sit if you’re lucky, for one of the headliners-Bruce Springsteen, or Dr. John, or whoever the festival has laid out for your pleasure that day.  Or maybe you’re one of the legions of fans of the Gospel Tent, where all day long you can stay in relatively cool comfort and hear the best spirituals and gospel music out there, getting some of that old-time religion.   Or grab an umbrella and second-line in the Economy Hall tent to Tim Laughlin’s wailing clarinet.

Actually, it’s not a bad idea just to wander around. Randomness really works best at Jazz Fest. You can hear some unexpectedly beautiful sounds that way, making memories for the rest of your life.

Maybe you like to shop?  The crafts are so well-curated and beautiful that you might as well be in a museum—but you’re not. You’re at Jazz Fest, and you can buy a handmade straw hat from Tracy Thomson at Kabuki Hats to wear immediately, if you need instant gratification . Or a pair of gorgeous earrings, or carved African sculptures.  Who knows what you’ll see this year—maybe one of your favorites from past years, or maybe something entirely new to show off to your friends.

If you’re really tired, and savvy, you know that you can always go to the Grandstand for the bathrooms and the air-conditioning; and catch an up-and-coming or quirky act at the Lagniappe Stage.   In the past, New Orleans favorite Teresa Andersson played there; this year it’s Kristin Diable, another talented and lovely songstress, and always the irrepressibly weird Bobby Lounge, the Mississippi piano player known for his surreal stage act.  It’s hard to go wrong.  Wait, did somebody just walk by with Crawfish Monica? Better head back to the food booths! It’s Jazz Fest, and it’ll be another year before you get to eat that again.

Jazz Fest is an amazing expereince, hope this entry gave you some insight to how special this event is. It does belong on your bucket list. But be sure to stay at one of New Orleans Bed and Breakfast so that they can give to all the hot tips of cruising the fest like a local….you just won’t find that info at a big hotel. Bed and Breakfast is A Better Way to Stay!

The country was young in 1812, but Louisiana had already been around for a while.  Although we achieved statehood only on April 30, 1812, we had been a colony under France from 1699-1763 and Spain from 1763-1803.  With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, of course, Louisiana became an American possession.  Although it was rough going at first, with the Louisiana Catholic French and Spanish Creole culture colliding with the Americans, we all pulled together when the country went to war.  In many ways, America gained its identity as a nation during the War of 1812.  Certainly, that’s when our “song” was written– what later became our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner.

This week, we get to relive those events of 200 years ago, when the very young United States of America went to war with England in the War of 1812.  Louisiana played a part in the war, of course, and NOLA Navy Week is kicking off the commemoration of the war this week, from April 17 through April 23.  Similar celebrations will take place in Norfolk, New York, Cleveland, Boston and Baltimore, but we get the honor of beginning and ending the celebration. In 2015, on the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans, there’ll be another celebration. And that’s only appropriate, because the British were out to get us here in 1812, and we stood our ground at the Battle of New Orleans, Battle of Lake Borgne, and another assault in Algiers and later at Fort St. Philip in lower Placquemines Parish before the British finally gave up.

On April 17, Class A Tall Ships from around the world will make their way up the Mississippi River, and can be seen from Erato Street to the Upper Poland Avenue wharf.  U.S. Navy warships, tall ships, and frigates from Britain, Canada and France will be greeted with 21-gun salutes from the Washington Artillery at the old Navy pier in Algiers.  It’s going to be an amazing sight, and the public can tour the vessels during afternoons.  See http://nolanavyweek.com/.for a schedule of the ships’ arrivals and tour times, and other events.

There’ll be National Park Service exhibits at the Chalmette battlefield, a military drill demonstration in Jackson Square, and war-related exhibits at the Cabildo in the Louisiana State Museum.  Since it wouldn’t be a party in New Orleans without food, on Thursday, April 19, there’s also going to be a Louisiana Seafood Cookoff at Woldenberg Park, where Louisiana chefs get to do battle with chefs from the visiting chefs and armed services.

On Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, the Navy and Marine Corps’ Blue Angels will soar in the skies as they perform air shows over Lake Pontchartrain, with performances by local Coast Guard, Navy and Air National Guard aircraft.

So, from the rocket’s red glare, to the bombs bursting in air, it’s going to be quite a show here in New Orleans.  In the air and on the seas, we’ll get to see it all.

Lent is over, and we’re still enjoying our Easter candy here in New Orleans, but this year just isn’t the same.  Although the familiar Elmer’s Chocolates, the second largest heart box manufacturer in the country and the maker of Gold Brick, Heavenly Hash and Pecan Eggs is still located in the area, it moved across the lake to Ponchatoula in the early ‘60s. Nonetheless, it’s a venerable local company, established in 1855 in New Orleans and today run by the third generation of the Nelson family.  The company’s founder was Christopher Henry Miller, a German immigrant to New Orleans. His first shop was at the corner of Jackson and Levee Streets in New Orleans.  Later it became Elmer-Miller, adding the name of Augustus Elmer, who had married into the Miller family.   In 1914 it became The Elmer Company . Roy Nelson bought the company in 1963 from the Elmer family, who first began making Heavenly Hash Eggs in 1923 and Gold Brick Eggs in 1938.   Elmer’s didn’t invent the Heavenly Hash recipe, but bought it from a department store.  Today the company makes 15 million candy eggs a year, and we eat a lot of them in New Orleans!

What’s missing from the mix, though, is Merlin Candies.  Merlin made chocolate bunnies, and any local would tell you that Easter wasn’t complete without a chocolate Merlin bunny.  Merlin’s original operation was uptown on Magazine Street, opening in 1947.   It moved to Elmwood in Metairie a few years ago, but now it is no more-sold just last year to R.M. Palmer of West Reading, Pennsylvania.  Oh well, we’ve still got the inlaid door tiles for the Russell Stover store on Canal Street in downtown New Orleans, even though that store went away a long time ago as well!  Old-timers may remember the purple-mirrored glass in the store at the corner of Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue.  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CanalStChasRussellStoverDoor.jpg.

Now, though, we’re looking forward to the 29th Annual French Quarter Festival , the largest free music festival in the South, taking place April 12-15 and featuring over 800 local musicians on numerous stages throughout the French Quarter.     You can take a streetcar  from your New Orleans Bed and Breakfast, Southern Comfort Bed and Breakfast, and you’ll be able to enjoy food from more than 65 of New Orleans’ restaurants.  The party continues!

Louisiana has its share of basketball greats, both players and coaches.   Superstars Pete Maravich and Shaquille O’Neal both played for LSU.   Robert Parish played for Centenary College in the ‘70s, although his time there flew under the radar due to a harsh N.C.A.A. sanction against the school under the subsequently repealed “1.6” rule.  He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and was also named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996.    Bob Pettit, Jr., the first basketball player ever to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player award, which he received four times, was born in Baton Rouge in 1932 and currently lives in New Orleans. Coach Dale Brown led the LSU Tigers to Final Four appearances in 1981 and 1986 and was named College Basketball Coach of the Year in 1986.    Right now in New Orleans we’re hosting the national men’s basketball N.C.A.A. championship tournament at the Superdome through Monday night, April 2.  Let’s take a look at another local basketball star, Kim Mulkey.

Ms. Mulkey, 49, and a former point guard, is from Robert, Louisiana, a small town near Hammond. 5’4”, flamboyant and competitive, she’s the head coach of the women’s basketball team at Baylor, 38-0 going into the 2012 championship season .  Baylor’s Lady Bears beat Stanford 59-47 to advance to the finals, now the first N.C.A.A. team to win 40 games in a season.   If they beat also-seeded No. 1 Notre Dame in the final game this Tuesday, Baylor will be the seventh women’s team to go through a season unbeaten.   That’s pretty impressive, and so is Kim Mulkey. Growing up in Robert, she never missed a day of school from grades one through 12.   She was valedictorian of her high school class and won four state basketball championships.  She wanted to play in the boy’s all-star baseball tournament in high school, but being female kept her out of that game However, she went on to play college basketball at Louisiana Tech, where she won national championships in 1981 and 1982. She won an Olympic gold medal in 1984.  Mulkey won N.C.A.A. Assistant Coach of the Year in 1988, while coaching at Louisiana Tech, and Coach of the Year at Baylor as head coach in 2005, thus making her the only woman to win an N.C.A.A. basketball championship as player, assistant coach and head coach.   She plays with the big boys now!  And she’s continuing the great Louisiana tradition of excellence in basketball.

New Orleans loves its music and its food-and its craftspeople and artists too.  There are many ways of experiencing or taking home with you some of New Orleans’ quirky crafts and artworks, while still eating and listening to  music!   In the spring, it’s really fun to visit some of the local arts markets.   One of the oldest is the Arts Market of New Orleans, held rain or shine in Palmer Park at the corner of South Carrollton and South Claiborne Avenues, last stop of the historic St. Charles streetcar.   The Arts Market is held on the last Saturday of every month, and you can eat wonderful food there (of course, it’s New Orleans!) and also listen to live music (of course, it’s New Orleans!)  Many local visual artists show their work, and you can drool over gorgeous jewelry, hats, handbags, ceramics and wood items, and anything else that our creative artists have imagined.  Upcoming dates for the next three months are (rain date Sunday) Saturday March 31st – Celebrate Africa Day at the Arts Market; Saturday, April 21st (special early market); and Saturday May 26th .   You can the  ride complimentary bicycles offered by your Garden District Uptown Bed and Breakfast, Southern Comfort there too; there’s a Bicycle Valet program.

If you want to try something a little different in an up and coming part of town, the Freret Street Festival is another option . It’s on the first Saturday of every month, at the intersection of Freret Street and Napoleon Avenue; only a short walking distance from Southern Comfort Bed and Breakfast.  Not only can you dine sumptuously from local restaurants, and peruse artworks for sale, you can also check out the flea market vendors who bring their wares uptown.   There’s an eclectic lineup of music every month as well.   The next market is a Supermarket on April 7, with four live music stages.    And after you shop at the Freret Street Festival, you can stroll up and down the street for more entertainment. Freret Street has become famous of late as “The New Freret,” a neighborhood convenient to uptown universities, with diverse shops, restaurants and bars.   There’s a fancy bar that serves artisanal cocktails, Cure; a gourmet hotdog emporium, Dat Dog; a wood-fired pizza restaurant, Ancora Pizzeria and Salumeria, that takes you back to the old country.  There’s an old school hardware shop, the usual suspects like yoga studios, a comedy theatre that also holds acting classes, and a bike shop that sells used and new bikes you can use to ride to the next market!   If you want to know more about the neighborhood, and your many dining and shopping options there, visit http://thenewfreret.com/.

If you can’t make it uptown, and still want to see some local artwork and crafts indoors, ride your bike or board the streetcar headed downtown to Dutch Alley, another gallery that is a cooperative of local artists and craftspeople located behind the French Market at 912 N. Peters.   For a list of artist members, see http://dutchalleyartistsco-op.com/.  It’s New Orleans’ largest artist cooperative, with 25 regional artists as members; it’s open seven days a week, with artists staffing the gallery. You’re sure to see something you like.

You might also see something different at RHINO Contemporary Crafts Co., (Right Here in New Orleans), another artists’ cooperative shop in the Shops at Canal Place, at the foot of Canal St.  Founded in 1987 as a  nonprofit to help foster awareness of Louisiana fine crafts artists and provide educational outreach, RHINO recently moved to spacious new quarters on the second floor of the Shops at Canal Place.  Artist members are also there to answer any questions.  Don’t forget, both Dutch Alley and RHINO are in tax-free zones, another of Louisiana’s ways of providing incentives for the purchase of Louisiana hand-made items.  RHINO Contemporary Crafts Co. – Fine Handmade Crafts in Canal .   So go forth and shop!

New Orleans is a cinematic city, steeped in visual clichés.  We all know about the feature films, television shows and television commercials that get made here. HBO’s Treme’ has shone a spotlight on the local music industry, and given quite a few locals work.  Right now, it seems everyone is either working in the film business in some capacity, or trying to avoid film crews!  But it’s not just the out-of-towners who are coming here to take advantage of our scenery and the Louisiana tax credit program for filming.  Talented young filmmakers who live right here are making acclaimed movies right here.

For example, Jeff, Who Lives at Home opened this past weekend nationally.   Directed by a pair of New Orleans brothers, products of Jesuit High School, and filmed mostly in Metairie (to look like Baton Rouge!), the movie has received great reviews.   It’s the latest in a series of several features by Jay and Mark Duplass, who wrote, directed and produced Cyrus and Baghead before Jeff, Who Lives at Home.    The movie, about a 30-year old slacker who lives in his mom (Susan Sarandon)’s basement in Baton Rouge , is acclaimed as a mature piece of filmmaking.

Another very successful indie movie is Beasts of the Southern Wild, which just won the Grand Jury Award and Excellence in Cinematography Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  Benh Zeitlin directed that film; he’s part of a collective group of independent filmmakers called Court 13 who began as students together and are based in New Orleans. Although Zeitlin hails from Queens, New York and went to college at Wesleyan, he came to New Orleans post-Katrina, like so many creative young people who have enriched the city’s cultural life.   Beasts employ nonactors to tell a magical realist story filmed and set in a poverty-stricken town in Louisiana’s Bayou Country.   Its heroine, a young girl called Hushpuppy, undertakes a mythical journey in search of her mother, battling prehistoric creatures unleashed by environmental changes.  The New York Times called the film one of the best to be screened at Sundance in over two decades. Searchlight purchased U.S. rights to the drama during the festival for nearly $1 million, and it will be released on a limited platform on June 29, 2012.

And even though it’s not New Orleans, we’re proud of the 2012 Academy Award for Shreveport’s Moonbot Studios for its first animated release, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.”  William Joyce, author/illustrator, and co-director Brandon Oldenburg created the 14-minute movie about a character who survives a storm and lands in a world where books come alive to help people.   It’s a Louisiana project, made by Louisiana residents.  Here in New Orleans and the rest of the state, we’re not Hollywood outsiders anymore. We’re working from within, and making a real success of it.

That is a great tour that takes you around New Orleans to various locations were film scenes were shot, your home away from home,Garden District Bed and Breakfast, Southern Comfort, will gladly arrange the tour for you.

The Irish thrived here.  They have contributed, among other things, the distinctive New Orleans accent that has been likened to a Brooklyn accent.  St. Patrick’s Church, the gorgeous Gothic Catholic church in the Central Business District, was built to serve the Irish immigrant population in 1833 and is the oldest building in the Central Business District. www.oldstpatricks.org  According to Terrence Fitzmorris, the Irish brought their strong sense of parish life to New Orleans and left as their legacy the powerful devotion that characterizes New Orleans Catholicism.

The Irish really changed the face of the city.  The famous New Orleans architect, James Gallier, who built the old City Hall building now known as Gallier Hall, was actually James Gallagher, and French-ified his name to fit in better with the prevailing French Creole culture he found in the early 19th century.  The Irish Channel, an old neighborhood abutting the river, was home to many Irish dock workers and is still the site of the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and the parade sponsored by the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club, coming up this Saturday.  Get your Irish on!

Here in New Orleans, life moves to the rhythms of the Catholic liturgical calendar.   It’s an old city, with European sensibilities merged with African, Creole, Haitian, all that jazz, with a bit of Anglo-American-Irish mixed in–after all, we did become a part of the United States a while back!  Our celebrations follow a familiar pattern-Christmas, then Carnival Season, which begins on 12th Night, the Feast of the Epiphany in many Latin countries, Spain, and Italy, and culminates on the day before Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Easter.  (That’s called Mardi Gras; you’ve heard of it).

Many New Orleanians attend Mass on Ash Wednesday, but Lent is hardly a sacrifice here.  Once the ashes are washed off, and the Lenten vows to “give up” something taken, we can move on to enjoy spring.

Typically, beautiful weather in March and April draws us out of doors, to-Festivals!  Right now, we’re anticipating the new season–great food, often seafood; interesting music; and just being together to celebrate various ethnic traditions such as St. Joseph’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day.  We love to get out our lawn chairs and pack up our coolers in anticipation of seeing our friends at the festival. Apart from the bigger events like the French Quarter Festival and, of course, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell, there are many other gems.

For example, next week’s Louisiana Oyster Jubilee, in the 300th block of Bourbon Street, is a relatively new festival celebrating a Louisiana delight.  Live music, food and the French Quarter come together.  You can watch local chefs create delicious concoctions, not to mention build the Longest Oyster Po-Boy.

The French Market itself is the home this year of another new food-oriented festival, the New Orleans Road Food Festival. It’s March 24th and 25th, and is described as “a street food festival that welcomes culinary folk artists to bring the experience of local American eateries to the Big Easy!” 40,000 happy eaters converged in the Quarter for this event last year. Now, at the French Market, it’s going to be even better.

Music lovers and New Orleans cultural history fans will enjoy the fifth annual Congo Square New World Rhythm Festival, to be held at the reopened historic Armstrong Park, where slaves congregated in Congo Square to dance and play their music.  Presented by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, it’s held on March 24 and 25th this year.  It will include a symposium about the history of New Orleans culture, as well as joyous music from the African Diaspora.  There’ll be an arts market as well.

We could go on and on about all the different ways to enjoy life right now, and all the different festivals, but you get the idea.  The best season in south Louisiana is-Festival Season!  It doesn’t really matter which one you choose. We love them all.