[Last month I got to return to my favorite American city for the 2025 MLA Convention. So for this year’s Valentine’s Day series I’ve offered some love letters to what makes New Orleans so unique, leading up to this special tribute post!]
On a few
more magical moments my wife and I experienced on our January visit.
1)
A Food Find: It will come as no surprise to
anyone with even a passing familiarity with New Orleans that we ate very well
throughout the trip. But while that was true of the expected spots, especially
those throughout the Quarter and environs, what really makes NOLA so delicious
is the culinary perfection awaiting in even seemingly out-of-the-way spots. Probably
the best meal we had on the whole trip was at one such spot, Blue Oak BBQ; not gonna say anything else,
other than go if you get the chance!
2)
Musical Moments: We experienced plenty of planned
moments of musical magic on our trip, including a jazz cruise on the city’s
only working steamboat (the Natchez)
and a jazz concert at the legendary Preservation
Hall. But my favorite music (or least music-adjacent) moment was the kind
of spontaneous one you can only find in NOLA—I was buying a copy of Wendell
Pierce’s The
Wind in the Reeds in a used bookstore, and the employee told me that
his uncle is none other than Deacon
John Moore, the wonderful jazz musician who guest-starred as Pierce’s
trombone teacher on Treme!
3)
Great Galleries: For whatever reason, on my
earlier visits to New Orleans I hadn’t spent much time in art galleries, but
this time we were drawn to multiple of them as we walked the French Quarter,
encountering works by profoundly talented artists in the process. I don’t
remember any specifics, but that’s at least partly my point—these weren’t
planned or pre-scheduled visits to places or works we already knew, they were
just impromptu walk-ins that gifted us with beautiful art in compelling spaces.
I recommend you do the same if you get the chance!
4)
A Moving Museum: By far the most moving
experience we had on our trip was another entirely unplanned one: not long
after our initial arrival, we followed signs to The
Historic New Orleans Collection, a museum in the heart of the Quarter. Everything
therein was striking and impressive, but I’d highlight two exhibits in
particular: the absolutely heartbreaking Captive State: Louisiana and
the Making of Mass Incarceration; and the evocative Prospect.6: Gesture to Home,
artist Didier William’s
contribution to the city-wide Prospect
New Orleans project.
5)
A Missed but Still Meaningful Second Line: The
Sunday during our visit featured a
Second Line, a unique part of New Orleans culture that I’ve never gotten to
see in person (despite loving every one featured on Treme). Unfortunately
the timing was too tight with our Preservation Hall concert, and after waiting
for a while to catch a glimpse of the Line, we had to leave before it arrived.
But every part of the experience still felt meaningful, from walking through Armstrong
Park and Treme to get to our viewing spot, to waiting out there with the
folks preparing food and playing music and adding their own contributions to
the day and city. In its own very real and very moving way, one of my favorite
moments ever in my favorite city (and with my favorite person)!
Anti-favorites
series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Cities you’d love on?
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