Back in March I was a little tipsy and there was a silent auction and I was in the mood to bid. I ended up with two weekend stays at hotels in Covington, and I’ve got to say, best bidding ever. I tossed the Surly in the back of my car and drove over the bridge to redeem my coupon here at the Residence Inn. I stopped at the Insta-Gator Ranch for a tour–not recommended–and then to the Abita Brew Pub for a beer and some sweet potato fries–highly recommended–to fuel a quick fifteen miles on the lovely Tammany Trace. Continue reading
Month: July 2010
Confederate Memorial Hall at Camp Street and Andrew Higgens
So I started watching Ken Burns‘s National Parks documentary, and then I lazily watched an episode of his Civil War documentary and got hooked on that as well. He is dangerously soothing with these things, all the fiddles and pianos and familiar voices softly reading to me. The documentaries are so epic I can be tempted to imagine I know the whole story after sitting through nine or twelve hours of his stuff. That’s certainly not the case–he’s got a perspective and is making an argument just like the rest of us. Continue reading
Convenience Store at Canal and N. Peters
Three days away from my bike and I was itching to get on there and ride, heat advisory be damned. After getting some writing and researching done in the morning I hopped on the Surly and headed to campus for a quick trip to the library. Continue reading
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park at Decatur and St. Louis
I have been spending my free time slowly working my way through Ken Burns’s documentary project on our national parks, and I’ve been feeling a ridiculously strong urge to go enjoy our natural heritage. Mostly I’m missing mountains, though. I grew up in mountains and there’s just no substitute. But I’m 638 miles from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (yes, I’ve been doing a lot of googleymapping, wishing I were rich in time and money), and those don’t really count as mountains anyway–not when you know about the Owyhees, the Rockies, the Sierra Nevadas, the Tetons. Continue reading
New Rouse’s Sign on the Sewell Cadillac Chevrolet Building at Baronne and Girod
After a long morning of reading and writing I took the bike down to the Marigny to meet D. for a study date at her regular cafe. It was sunny and cloudless and hot, and by the time I made it downtown, my eyes were stinging with sweat. How do I keep my eyes clear, folks? Do I need to wear a sweatband under my helmet? Sigh. Anyway, I rode back Uptown for a meeting and passed this sign for the new Rouse’s that’s going in where the Sewell Cadillac Chevrolet dealership used to be, on Baronne and Girod. Continue reading
Construction at Monroe and Earhart
I had the afternoon free after meeting my writing goals in the morning, so–surprise, surprise–I took the bike out for a ride. After bzzzzzzzing for Spain with N., I rode over to the Mississippi River levee patch and zipped quickly along with a strong tailwind. Oh, it was so beautiful out there today and the river was running high and the sun was warm and I had nowhere to be. Yeah, it was that sort of day. Continue reading
Davis Bayou in the Gulf Islands National Seashore
It’s still the holidays, I think, so today I tossed the Surly in the back of my car, grabbed my National Parks Passport, and headed to Mississippi to get a cancellation stamp from Davis Bayou, part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The gulf shoreline along scenic highway 90 looks a lot different than it did this time last year. It’s still eerily quiet and relatively empty, but now there are roving bands of workers in matching t-shirts and reflective vests carrying clear trash bags, raking through the sand, hunting for oil. Continue reading
Wheelbarrows on Harrison in City Park
After a storm dropped buckets and buckets of rain on us (thanks for the ride to brunch, S. and J.!), I hopped on the Surly for a holiday afternoon pedaling around town. I headed for Bayou St. John and City Park to see if I could find some July 4th revelers, but alas, there were few. I think it’s true that most folks go out of town for the holiday weekend. Either that or the brutally hot temps were keeping people close to air conditioning. But I love riding in the heat, and today I was in the mood to sweat. Continue reading
View From the Fifth Floor of the Odgen Museum of Southern Art
Oh, it was such a lovely day in New Orleans. After catching the second half of the soccer game–I’m sure glad I don’t have to play Germany in the World Cup–I headed out on the bike, destination: post office. The sky was gray and there was a bit of rain, but not enough to put a damper on things. I rode up to the library via Saratoga, watching the neighborhoods change, half a block by half a block. Continue reading
Chainring on a Bike at Exchange Place and Conti
I’ve been struggling with some writing I’ve been doing lately–the professional kind–and it’s been frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels, and not in that happy-bicycling kind of way. When I get stuck in a rut like this it’s usually a good idea to get on my bike and pay attention to stuff that has nothing to do with me, so when S. invited me out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, I thought sure, I’ll ride down to the Quarter, savor some savories, empty the brain. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 