In the footsteps of the Past

Dave outside The Columns Hotel in The Garden District

The smell of breakfast wakes us, the hotel provides a complimentary breakfast and to our delight the hot option is sausages and scrambled egg. Fortified we walk off to find the trolley stop to go to the Garden District. I’m hoping to follow a garden district walking tour and Dave wants to relive his youth. The trolley arrives and we hop on and rattle our way along the road to Washington Street where we get out along with most of the passengers on the tram, all heading to Lafayette Cemetery and the Garden District. The cemetery is easily found and feels very hot and steamy with its tall enclosed walls and blocks of above ground mausoleums. Next, I try to direct us on the walking route but fail miserably and it is getting hotter and more humid by the minute, it looks like Dave might dissolve any minute so the walking tour is abandoned and we search out The Columns Hotel. This is the place Dave stayed when he first came to New Orleans 35 years ago and has long wanted to revisit. He’s not disappointed, it is exactly like it was all those years ago, dark wood lined rooms and bar, stained glass windows and white columns on the exterior. It is also air-conditioning an excellent improvement to the hotel!

Inside The Columns Hotel

We ride the trolley back to the French Quarter and after buying a roll, yes one is more than enough for these 2 Brits, we follow our ears to Jackson Square and munch our lunch listening to a large brass and drum band who have everyone toe tappin’, thigh slappin’ and dancing to their beat. When their set finishes I suggest a trip round the St Louis Cathedral and the inside is as impressive as the outside, there are huge paintings on the high vaulted ceilings and some lovely dark wood furniture but the overall impression is of light. The next stop on our eclectic tour of the city is the oldest gay bar in New Orleans where we can sit on the iron work balcony and people watch.

St Louis Cathedral

After recovering in the cool of the hotel, we walk back to The House of Blues where an Americana band, The Right Lane Bandits, are playing tonight. There’s a good party atmosphere going, with a Guns ‘n’ Roses tribute band playing the main hall, but a good number of the audience seem to be in the courtyard restaurant where we are. The rain pours down while we’re under the canopy eating adding to the steamy atmosphere. The food is surprisingly good, philly cheese steak for me and meatloaf for Dave. Once the 2 hour set is finished we walk back to our local bar, Cosimos which does a good JD & lemonade or American whisky.

The Right Lane Bandits at The House of Blues