Walk This Way: ‘Big Easy’ Walkin’ in New Orleans, Louisiana
Few U.S. cities can appeal to walkers of all stripes like New Orleans. Even after the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, the Crescent City remains a destination that’s made for pedestrians.
For lovers of historic architecture, what can beat a stroll down one of the streets of the French Quarter or Garden District? And, of course, for people-watching, live music, a few of the good kind of Hurricanes (thanks, Pat O’s!) and general weirdness, there’s nothing like a walk along Bourbon Street, day or night.
But there are quieter, more introspective walking opportunities across the Big Easy, a well: a pleasant circuit or two around Jackson Square, the blazing white form of St. Louis Cathedral always in view. An oddly quiet trek along the riverfront in the early morning hours before the Aquarium of the Americas opens and the riverboat tours start plying the Mississippi. Even the melancholy exploration of the flood-devastated Lower 9th Ward.
And always, wherever you walk, music: blues blaring through the open doors of Bourbon Street clubs, suddenly popping into earshot when you turn a corner and encounter a lone violinist or sax player collecting tips on the sidewalk, waxing and waning from calliopes as the riverboats cruise by, or strumming on the breeze as a guitarist plays just to play on a little-traveled stretch of grass near the Mississippi.
Whenever I visit New Orleans, walking is pretty much the only way I get around. and every street and sidewalk evokes memories. By the time I get back into my car for the drive home, being behind the wheel again feels strange and a little sad. And maybe that’s the way driving should feel.
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