Far off places, daring sword-fights...
Apr. 23rd, 2025 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennaria...a sad lack of vampires or ghosts, but New Orleans at least provided plenty of ambiance and beignets to make up for it.
Things I Learned About New Orleans (besides just 'yup, as pretty as expected'):
* The Museum of Death is absolutely mis-named, and should be called the Museum of 20th Century Serial Killers. I mean, it's also got a decent exhibit of (animal) taxidermy, and a whole thing about Dr. Kevorkian, but definitely not what I was expecting from a Museum of Death. Not even a single vampire legend, much less the Truth Behind It. Not worth the money.
* One of the public libraries is the converted mansion of an old silent film star from the 1920s and her husband. She apparently haunts it still. Sadly, I did not see any signs of a ghost, but you can't go wrong with a library visit and a beautiful mansion.
* Wife and I went to Antoine's (since the 1840s!), and it absolutely lived up to its reputation. Did not get oysters, but I got lamb, which was absolutely amazing, and baked Alaska, which I'd never tried and which was less amazing. Eh. Oh well. Then we took a Haunted History carriage ride, which wound back and forth through the French Quarter, and included everything from where to find the best live music in the Quarter (not on Bourbon Street), to the first vampire story of New Orleans (which involves young women with scurvy, no blood-sucking at all).
* I took a tour of one of the oldest cemeteries, which requires a tour ticket before they'll even let you inside. Good parts: learning how New Orleans mausoleums work (apparently there's more than just sticking a casket inside a big marble box and leaving it there); hearing the scuttle-butt about Nicholas Cage's pyramid (apparently bets are still being taken on whether he'll even be buried there, since he has a second spot available in Hollywood!); hearing our historian guide's campaign for the next Hollywood blockbuster (the Battle of New Orleans, from the War of 1812); and of course, not only seeing Marie Laveau's burial place but also getting a bit of backstory on a heck of a woman. (The attitude of native New Orleans folks toward voodoo is fascinating - they acknowledge that their voodoo isn't the same as what's practiced in Haiti, but they also regard pop culture voodoo with eye-rolling exasperation.) Bad part: very bright sunlight.
* Final bit of touristing: a Movie Locations tour of the French Quarter. I had seen...some of these movies? More than one at least? >_< Bad Film & Media Professor spouse, bad! But no, seriously, our guide had cheerful Opinions on THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (one of the best New Orleans movies, even with the off portrayal of voodoo - 'good song, but bad voodoo'), movies in general that mix up Cajun and Creole (because those are Not The Same Thing, and his favorite bit of DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE was Deadpool calling out Gambit's accent for mixing the two up), and movies with vampires (he's pro, his wife is apparently con).
Did not eat my weight in beignets (although not for lack of trying), but I did discover what the heck a po'boy is (a sub where the protein, e.g. shrimp, fish, chicken, has been fried - delicious!). Don't know if I'll ever watch INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, but I'd go visit New Orleans again.
Things I Learned About New Orleans (besides just 'yup, as pretty as expected'):
* The Museum of Death is absolutely mis-named, and should be called the Museum of 20th Century Serial Killers. I mean, it's also got a decent exhibit of (animal) taxidermy, and a whole thing about Dr. Kevorkian, but definitely not what I was expecting from a Museum of Death. Not even a single vampire legend, much less the Truth Behind It. Not worth the money.
* One of the public libraries is the converted mansion of an old silent film star from the 1920s and her husband. She apparently haunts it still. Sadly, I did not see any signs of a ghost, but you can't go wrong with a library visit and a beautiful mansion.
* Wife and I went to Antoine's (since the 1840s!), and it absolutely lived up to its reputation. Did not get oysters, but I got lamb, which was absolutely amazing, and baked Alaska, which I'd never tried and which was less amazing. Eh. Oh well. Then we took a Haunted History carriage ride, which wound back and forth through the French Quarter, and included everything from where to find the best live music in the Quarter (not on Bourbon Street), to the first vampire story of New Orleans (which involves young women with scurvy, no blood-sucking at all).
* I took a tour of one of the oldest cemeteries, which requires a tour ticket before they'll even let you inside. Good parts: learning how New Orleans mausoleums work (apparently there's more than just sticking a casket inside a big marble box and leaving it there); hearing the scuttle-butt about Nicholas Cage's pyramid (apparently bets are still being taken on whether he'll even be buried there, since he has a second spot available in Hollywood!); hearing our historian guide's campaign for the next Hollywood blockbuster (the Battle of New Orleans, from the War of 1812); and of course, not only seeing Marie Laveau's burial place but also getting a bit of backstory on a heck of a woman. (The attitude of native New Orleans folks toward voodoo is fascinating - they acknowledge that their voodoo isn't the same as what's practiced in Haiti, but they also regard pop culture voodoo with eye-rolling exasperation.) Bad part: very bright sunlight.
* Final bit of touristing: a Movie Locations tour of the French Quarter. I had seen...some of these movies? More than one at least? >_< Bad Film & Media Professor spouse, bad! But no, seriously, our guide had cheerful Opinions on THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (one of the best New Orleans movies, even with the off portrayal of voodoo - 'good song, but bad voodoo'), movies in general that mix up Cajun and Creole (because those are Not The Same Thing, and his favorite bit of DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE was Deadpool calling out Gambit's accent for mixing the two up), and movies with vampires (he's pro, his wife is apparently con).
Did not eat my weight in beignets (although not for lack of trying), but I did discover what the heck a po'boy is (a sub where the protein, e.g. shrimp, fish, chicken, has been fried - delicious!). Don't know if I'll ever watch INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, but I'd go visit New Orleans again.
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Date: 2025-04-24 12:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-29 10:25 pm (UTC)