New Orleans the Second Time Around by Ann Banks
Featured Hotel in New Orleans
Windsor Court Hotel
See all hotels in New Orleans >
You’ve done a walking tour of the French Quarter, feasted on beignets at the Café du Monde, listened to the jazz band at Preservation Hall. Now the real fun can begin. Nothing wrong with the typical first-time tourist itinerary, but the city’s unique qualities are best appreciated once all that is out of the way. To call the following a list of “Must Do’s” would violate the free and easy spirit of New Orleans.
Let’s just call them: “some things you might want to check out next time you’re in town”.
Wednesday Night at the Candlelight Lounge
The traditional New Orleans-style Treme Brass Band has a weekly gig at this neighborhood bar and it has to be the friendliest scene in town (Treme rhymes with bouquet). The music is free and so are the Red Beans and Rice.
The audience is mixed-race and multi-generational. Many well-known New Orleans musicians got their start with the Treme Brass Band and often return to sit in with co-founders Benny Jones and the irrepressible and famously dapper Lionel Batiste, known throughout the city as “Uncle Lionel”.
The Treme Brass Band isn’t as famous as other New Orleans groups like the Dirty Dozen, but it’s every bit as good. Trumpeter James Andrews is a Dizzy Gillespie for the new millennium. He’s the brother of Troy Andrews, a.k.a. Trombone Shorty. The band plays for tips, so when you go, be prepared for Uncle Lionel to dance his way through the crowd, flirting with the ladies and shaking the jar in your direction. Be generous.
The Candlelight is soon to become more famous, as scenes have been shot here for “Treme,” the new HBO series set in post-Katrina New Orleans. As with many music venues in New Orleans, the best way to get to the Candlelight is by taxi.
The Confederacy of Cruisers Bicycle Tour
There is no better way to see New Orleans than on a bicycle and there is no better bicycle than a vintage-style one-speed cruiser with fat tires and a comfortably padded saddle. Jeff Shyman offers a fascinating three-hour tour through scenic neighborhoods that visitors often miss out on.
Starting in the Faubourg Marigny, the slow-paced tour wends through the Bywater, with stops at Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-in-Law Lounge, as well as the St. Roch cemetery, where you will hear the story of a miracle involving the Black Plague, a loyal dog and multiple loaves of French bread. Jeff is funny and knowledgeable and extremely passionate about the history and culture of his adopted city. In addition to the bikes and the entertaining patter, Jeff provides helmets, icy cold water bottles and all the restaurant advice you could ever want.
Greater Antioch Full Gospel Baptist Church
You can pay good money to hear gospel music in New Orleans; the House of Blues does a weekly gospel brunch. You can even pay good money to hear the Greater Antioch Full Gospel Baptist Church choir, if they happen to be headlining at Jazz Fest. But you can also save that money for the collection plate and show up for church on Sunday morning.
In addition to the famous Antioch choir, you might be lucky enough to catch a sermon by the charismatic and funny Bishop Lester Love. The Sunday I attended he reminded the congregation that they had an obligation to feed the homeless, those less fortunate, who are, as he said, "between blessings." Dress nice, arrive early and stay for the whole service. It’s church.
Zydeco Night at the Rock ‘n Bowl
This high-concept night spot – half retro bowling alley, half dance club – would be a tourist trap in any other town. In New Orleans it’s a quirky gathering place for locals of all generations. It’s also the best place in town for Zydeco, which is on the schedule every Thursday night, drawing big names like Geno Delafose and C.J. Chenier.
Expect to be asked to dance. Regulars were worried when the Rock ‘n Bowl recently moved into more spiffed up and spacious quarters, but there is general agreement that the amazing vibe has not been ruined.
I witnessed one of my favorite “only in New Orleans” moments in the Rock ‘n Bowl parking lot. A black stretch limousine drew up, and from it emerged a Just Married couple, he in black tie, she in full bridal white. Each clutched a long neck bottle of beer. As the bystanders gaped, the groom turned to his new wife and, after an exquisitely timed comic pause, said, "Gee, honey, do you think we're a little overdressed?"
The Backstreet Cultural Museum
This fascinating small museum is dedicated to preserving African-American Mardi Gras traditions, from photographs and memorabilia of the Jazz Funerals and the Social Aid and Pleasure Club parades to the elaborate befeathered and beaded costumes of the Mardi Gras Indians. The museum is a labor of love by documentary photographer Sylvester Francis. He became an accidental curator some 25 years ago, when he realized how many artifacts of this rich cultural heritage were being discarded or lost.
After a decade of using his garage to exhibit his collection, in 1999 Francis was able to move the Museum into its permanent home in a former funeral parlor. Francis’s work as a museum director and documentarian has been recognized by the State of Louisiana. Become a member of the museum, and he will send you regular emails announcing the upcoming times and routes of the Social Aid and Pleasure Club second line parades.