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Local Milk | The Art of Slow Living

Popular Posts

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The Ultimate Paris, France Travel Guide: All the Must See Instagram, Travel Photography, Food, Cafes, Things to do, and Shopping Spot plus Travel Tips for the First Time Visitor! #travel #paris #france
Wander Guide | The Essential Paris Travel Guide & Map
Gathering from Scratch | A Workshop Retreat in the Shenandoah Valley Part 2

Meet Beth

beth bio picture

local milk is a journal devoted to home cookery, travel, family, and slow living—to being present & finding sustenance of every kind. It’s about nesting abroad & finding the exotic in the everyday. Most of all it’s about the perfection of imperfections and seeing the beauty of everyday, mundane life.

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Table of contents

  1. Cook
  2. Wander
  3. Dwell
  4. Slow-Living
  5. Motherhood
  6. Sustainability
  7. Wardrobe
  8. Health and Beauty

Most Popular Posts

  1. 35 Baby Travel Tips | Infant to 1-Year-Old + Minimalist Baby Packing List
  2. Chocolate-Dipped Pistachio Shortbread + A Giveaway
  3. Wander Guide | The Essential Paris Travel Guide & Map
  4. Gathering from Scratch | A Workshop Retreat in the Shenandoah Valley Part 2
  5. Cardamom + Rose Iced Latte / Japanese Ice Coffee

Insta-Milk

A long time ago in a different life (or at least i A long time ago in a different life (or at least it feels that way) I was riding in a car at night with @whereissionnie to meet up with @ruthielindsey and @1924us for bonfires and general cabin shenanigans outside of Nashville. 

I remember the drive so well. It’s a conversation that always stuck with me. We talked about trauma and crisis. And I don’t know much, but I shared the only thing I know, a thing that has served me well through the natural undulations life is bound to bring.

And that is simply sometimes you have to cling to the mast. You aren’t doing anything but surviving but that’s the most important work of all. Because the storm WILL pass. And you‘ll be left standing.

And when it does you can mend the sails. Untangle the ropes. And get on with the business of sailing.

I’ve learned to give myself permission to do nothing but make it through. To sleep a little too late. To dance in front of the mirror and feel myself even when I look ridiculous. To load and unload the dishwasher and allow that to be a great victory. To dress like a cartoon character in nothing but white t-shirts and denim shorts.  To eat mac & cheese from a box and frozen chicken nuggets sometimes. To not respond to text messages. To flail and get back up over and over. To ask for help. A lot.

And also permission to feel it all. Rage. Grief. Joy. Hope and hopelessness. And sometimes all within the span of a few minutes. 

And most of all, whether navigating calm waters or stormy ones, what matters more than anything is the crew you’re doing it with. Surround yourself with solid people.

People that challenge you with compassion. And humor. People whose strengths buttress your weakness. People that don’t judge you. That believe in you even when you think they’re maniacs for doing so.

I know a disproportionate amount of us have had rough seas this year. Cling to the mast in the storm. Choose your crew wisely. No storm ever lasted forever. But there never was a last storm in the world. Accept that they will come and be prepared.

Wander Guide | New Orleans, Louisiana

Wander Guides

07.08.2014

“New Orleans is, on the other hand, a comfortable metropolis which has a certain apathy and stagnation which I find inoffensive.” – John Kennedy O’Toole

new orleans

new orleans

cafe du monde

lafayette cemetary

new orleans

I don’t need to pretend New Orleans is something it isn’t to love it more deeply than I have ever loved any city and most men. It stinks awfully, a specific stink. Acrid and sour, the stench drips from those iconic wrought iron balconies. It runs through the streets, bakes up in the heat, mellows at night. The tourism in the quarter is oppressive, and the violence is real. Just before we arrived, there was a shooting on Bourbon. 10 people hit. One dead, a nursing student, and it was senseless. For what that city pays, I can’t say. But it pays, has paid, for as long, it seems, as it’s been standing. It’s not of this world, whatever curse it labors under. But the thing about it is, that city makes you want to labor alongside it. It exists as a city on death row, a matter of when not if. It’s a mortal city for mortals.

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

If the stones and plaster could talk, they’d probably wail and moan like some campy poltergeist. And then, most finally, laugh themselves half to death. Because in the end, that’s what New Orleans is in the business of. It’s memento mori and joie de vivre. It’s hot sauce and chaotic jazz. Mausoleums and Spanish moss. Two story bicycles with streamers for nothing. It’s soporific heat. It’s eating a bowl of red beans and rice half naked in the middle of the night. And rolling off of I-10 into that, all of that, I cried. It was so good to be back.

soniat house, new orleans

soniat house, new orleans

new orleans

beth kirby | local milk

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

I imagined when I finally went back to New Orleans with sober eyes, I’d be haunted by a thousand ghosts. But the only ghost I saw was my own. And I saw her everywhere. I saw her, seventeen in spike platform heels, slurping oysters & drinking Bloody Martha’s with pickled green beans for dinner and arranging one dollar bills just so and all facing the same way. I saw her twenty-nothing years old and in a mosh pit at One Eyed Jack’s with no shoes on, moronic and drunk with all sorts of erroneous ideas about herself, life, the universe, and everything. I saw her dressed up as Alex of Clockwork Orange fame, pupils dilated and sucking nitrous from a balloon. I saw her red faced and vomiting on sundry street corners. I saw her driving, walking, listening to Françoise, Lou, and Tom and feeling wordly. I saw her hunched over Baudrillard at the Rue de la Course, and I saw her snorting mali off the back of a toilet. I saw her at red cup college parties and waking tangled in a 9th ward shotgun.

new orleans

soniat house, new orleans

beth kirby | local milk

beth kirby | local milk

Whether she was blue haired or corseted, in cowboy boots or black feathered costume wings, she was there. Everywhere I looked. That girl I can’t remember. The one I didn’t even have to try to forget. The truth of it is, she really is dead. And this trip was a trip to my own funeral. In the most jubilant way. Death to self is a beautiful thing, and while I was there the universe bequeathed me a shed snake skin, a shark’s tooth, and fair warning from a seer that unforgiveness & resentment is the very voodoo that could resurrect that dead girl I still love but don’t mourn.

soniat house, new orleans

soniat house, new orleans

soniat house

new orleans

new orleans

soniat house, new orleans

So for the most part I did two things. Ate, and took this, my own private ghost tour, a funerary pilgrimage. We stayed at the Soniat House, my favorite B&B on the edge of the quarter by the Marigny in a quiet spot of town. The night we arrived I promptly walked around the corner to the Verti Marte and got a sandwich. A sloppy, transcendent sandwich. It’s called the Jazz and manages to incorporate grilled shrimp, sausage, and mustard remoulade. You should probably eat it. Well, eat half of it. It’s the length of my arm and twice as thick. The next morning, I went to see a clairvoyant to see what the city might have to say to me, and afterwards we ventured into the Bywater, my old stomping grounds, and had lunch at Satsuma. We went back that night for dinner and jazz at Bacchanal. Admittedly, we’re old hating haters of fun and could have lived without the loud music with our dinner. But the grilled octopus with spicy potatoes and grapefruit I had there may have been my most memorable bite of the entire trip. Though in all fairness I do have a well documented fetish for octopus. Purely culinary.

The next day, my birthday, we went uptown and spent the day antiquing (a verb I’m ambivalent about, but it’s efficient) on Magazine Street . I drove by my old home, reminiscing incessantly about the boring routes of my daily past life. I walked away with an art deco mirror with plenty of foxing, a brass tea pot, and a tarnished silver tray. And a pair of handsome monk strap shoes from Billy Reid. From me, to me. 31. Almost a decade since I called NOLA home.

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

cafe du monde

cafe du monde

Over the course of the trip, we managed to find every magic shop and curiosity cabinet, and also found ourselves, more than once, at Cafe du Monde, with it’s green and white striped awning and shuffling waiters in little paper hats. It’s filthy. If you really look, it starts to look back, the grime. But that bitter chicory coffee, so bitter the story goes that they brewed it with chicory to deter the reportedly effete tastebuds of Union soldiers, served alongside plates of misshapen, rectangular beignets piled precariously high with a careless, preposterous amount of confectioners sugar—it’s unmatched and worth all the indignities of being an utter tourist. I lived in turbans, linen, crop tops, and sandals to combat the heat, and I made sure to pay homage to Felix’s Oyster Bar, where I had my first oyster on the half shell as a teen runaway, and ate as much as I could of a muffelatta from Central Grocery, all the while realizing that taste memory and emotion are inextricably intertwined. I feel like that sandwich might just be okay. But to me it will always be the best sandwich on Earth.

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

beth kirby | local milk

local milk

new orleans

new orleans

I leave you with my guide. It’s by no means comprehensive, and I mostly entertain myself by wandering the streets. But here are some of my favorite places, old and new. Also, I am not as sad as I look in that photograph. Some people have resting bitch face. I have resting forlorn face. You win some, you lose some.

soniat house, new orleans

|Local Milk Guide to New Orleans|

Stayed

Soniat House

Packed – essentials

Elder Futhark Runes & Wild Unknown deck
Elizabeth Suzann crop top & Ryan pant
American Apparel linen pants & knit cropped tank (pictured)
Hackwith Design House Chandler top & Millie kimono
Jeffrey Campbell Romero Sandal from Free People (pictured)
Birkenstocks
Block Shop Textile’s scarf (pictured as head scarf)
Lulu Organics Lavender & Clary Sage dry shampoo
Osei Duro bag (pictured)

Breakfast & Coffee

Elizabeth’s
Stanley’s
Cafe du Monde
Rue de la Course

Lunch

Coquette
Verti Marte – jazz sandwich
La Petite Grocery
Satsuma
Cochon Butcher
Ancora Pizzeria
Central Grocery – muffaletta
Felix’s Oyster House – dive oyster bar
Luke’s – oyster happy hour
Bag of crawfish from Big Fisherman on Magazine
Booty’s Street Food
Mother’s

Dinner

Bacchanal
Jacques Imo’s
Peche
Cochon
Irene’s
Mariza
Maurepas Food
Marti’s

Late Night

R Bar
The Saint
Molly’s at the Market
Mimi’s
One Eyed Jack’s
The Spotted Cat

Shopping

Billy Reid
Funky Monkey – vintage clothing
Antiques on Magazine
Top Drawer
Bargain Center

Magic Shops

Hex
Starling
Bottom of the Cup
Esoterica
Marie Laveau’s (reported to actually have good readers despite what you’d think)

To See

Lafayette Cemetary no. 1
Magazine Street
Frenchmen Street
the Bywater
Audubon Park

Did I not mention your favorite NOLA haunt? Leave it in the comment section!

Last, a song. This one is for you Andy & Drew, wherever you are.

marti's, new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

new orleans

soniat house

beth kirby | local milk

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tags: architecture, best of, guide, new orleans, places to eat, recommendation, road trip, sight seeing, travel

86 thoughts on “Wander Guide | New Orleans, Louisiana”

  1. Marta@What should I eat for breakfast today says:
    July 8, 2014 at 2:12 am

    I want to go there!

    Reply
  2. Maja says:
    July 8, 2014 at 3:43 am

    There seems to be no end to your talents lady. I find myself in awe over and and over again, your pictures, your food, your words.
    Also, you are so beautiful! Never saw a picture of you before. And that top is just good.
    Lastly, much love for including magic shops in your guide. I’ve never been to NOLA, but I sure will check back to your guide if I’ll ever find myself there.

    Reply
  3. Nora says:
    July 8, 2014 at 3:44 am

    This is wonderful, takes me back to my semester at Loyola 5 (eek!) years ago. Good times!

    Reply
  4. Thalia @ butter and brioche says:
    July 8, 2014 at 6:18 am

    what a beautiful post beth. love it. i’m travelling to new orleans next month and definitely will be hitting up some of the places you mentioned. thanks for the awesome ideas and photographs.

    Reply
  5. Yelle says:
    July 8, 2014 at 6:35 am

    Yes – the jazz sandwich from Verti Mart! Love your guide so much, it’s a reason to go back sooner than later. The way you write about it, makes me miss it too.

    Reply
  6. Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says:
    July 8, 2014 at 7:58 am

    All I can say is WOW! You leave me speechless. Your photos are outer worldly and your descriptions are so very vivid I feel as if I’m right there with you. You are so very talented — I can only hope that one day . . . .

    Reply
  7. Sarah says:
    July 8, 2014 at 7:58 am

    I feel like I have just read the best, most honest novel, complimented with the most stunning photographs. You are so incredibly talented. It’s always a pleasure to read and re-read your stories.

    I have always wanted to go to New Orleans. I have this strange pull to go there. a curiosity that is even stronger now.

    Reply
  8. Resting Roost says:
    July 8, 2014 at 8:20 am

    Simply lovely, photos, words, and recommendations. Perfect!

    Reply
  9. Leah says:
    July 8, 2014 at 9:10 am

    Beth! You give all of your stories life but this one has a very special soul. It captured me and brought the place to life in such a cool way.
    Hope you’re doing well!
    – Leah

    Reply
  10. sk says:
    July 8, 2014 at 9:33 am

    Just WOW. You are so beautiful and talented. I really enjoy your writing and photos. Thanks for this guide– I hope to visit NOLA one day!

    Reply
  11. Laura says:
    July 8, 2014 at 10:32 am

    Wow. I want to make this my browser’s starting page so I can read it and look at the pictures over and over and over again. This is utterly brilliant!
    I’ve only lived in New Orleans for 5 months, but the city has a way of staying with you … probably forever.
    I’m so glad I found your blog, I enjoy it tremendously!

    Reply
  12. Kiku Vintage Boutique says:
    July 8, 2014 at 10:33 am

    I am so grateful for this post, for it’s beautifully poignant remembrances of a past self that has grown into another person, and also for the travel guide to a city that is next on my travel bucket list. These words and images spoke to me on more than one level. Thank you.

    Reply
  13. Cassandra says:
    July 8, 2014 at 10:52 am

    Your words, your photos. You captured so perfectly the New Orleans I see and feel in my dreams. My ghosts live there too, Lovely.

    Haunts: Trashy Diva ( on Magazine)
    Luke: 50 cent oyster happy hour.
    Cafe beignet
    The Fly
    Night market
    I love to watch the giraffes peek their heads over the fence at Audubon park.

    Reply
  14. Vicky says:
    July 8, 2014 at 11:24 am

    Ohhhhhhh! amazing and lovely! beautiful photography!

    Reply
  15. jensen says:
    July 8, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    reading this was definitely the best start to my day. forever in awe of your story telling ways. so, so very lovely.

    Reply
  16. Madison says:
    July 8, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    YAY! So bummed that I missed you at LUKE…. but glad to hear that you enjoyed the oysters! Thanks for the awesome post…. it’s wonderful to look at pictures of our good New Orleans from your perspective. 🙂

    -Madison

    Reply
  17. Sarah says:
    July 8, 2014 at 3:04 pm

    Such beautiful photographs. I have always dreamed of visiting New Orleans. It seems like such a mystical place. You have captured is beauty impeccably. Also, I’m with you. I could usually do without live music. I like being able to focus on my food and the one I am with.

    Reply
  18. Regina says:
    July 8, 2014 at 4:34 pm

    Bravo Beth! You are continually an inspiration. These images are stunning. I could look over them endlessly.

    Reply
  19. Julie says:
    July 8, 2014 at 5:29 pm

    Wow – what stunning photos. New Orleans is on my wish list of places to visit should I ever get to the USA. Your moody evocative photos, almost make that trip unnecessary. Thank you for sharing them.

    PS: Most restaurants/cafes have music too loud these days, I think to encourage everyone to yell over the top, thus making extra drink purchases a necessity.

    Reply
  20. cakebrain says:
    July 8, 2014 at 5:55 pm

    so glad I’ve found your blog! Love your pics, your writing and your style. Have always wanted to visit New Orleans. One day…

    Reply
  21. Donna says:
    July 8, 2014 at 5:59 pm

    Your photos are beautiful – you are very talented. Great compositions!

    Reply
  22. Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says:
    July 8, 2014 at 6:10 pm

    I reread your post again — this time for the actual content. Your soul spoke out so vividly. Yes, I could feel a darkness but I think you are getting out of it. Your talent is amazing. Not only with the photographs but also with your words. You are amazing.

    Reply
  23. Sofija says:
    July 8, 2014 at 6:34 pm

    I have been to New Orleans once a life time ago. Now I want to go back, with your post as my guide.

    Reply
  24. Tori says:
    July 8, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    I am speechless over this post… You’ve got a way with words and storytelling! I’m planning on going to New Orleans next summer and I’m so glad you wrote this post. I’ll definitely be checking out some of the places you listed. I can’t wait to try the food there. Also, your style is fantastic!

    Reply
  25. Alia says:
    July 8, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    This. Love.

    Reply
  26. Ashley Ozuna says:
    July 8, 2014 at 9:19 pm

    Seriously such a handsome and completely fresh post…love it all. I just did a post regarding death, to me very much a necessity, in more ways than one. Brilliant photos, keeps me coming back for more xoxo

    Reply
  27. Beeta @ Miss Sophisticate says:
    July 8, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    stunning photos. and i simply adore your writing 🙂

    Reply
  28. sarah says:
    July 8, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    Beautiful.

    Reply
  29. Diana says:
    July 8, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    such a beautiful capture of New Orleans

    Reply
  30. Michelle says:
    July 9, 2014 at 4:32 am

    WOW I found your blog via ruthielindsey and will be visiting New Orleans this month from New Zealand and cannot wait now. Thank you x

    Reply
  31. Tori says:
    July 9, 2014 at 5:33 am

    My breath is stuck in my throat after reading your words, so wrought with emotion and honesty. Never have I read something so open, so haunting, so achingly true. You are a beautiful writer, and I’m so pleased I stopped here today, and gave myself the opportunity to read.

    Amazing.

    Reply
  32. Julia says:
    July 9, 2014 at 8:38 am

    So beautiful, Beth. xo

    Reply
  33. Loulou says:
    July 9, 2014 at 11:53 am

    This is a breathstoppingly beautiful post. Your photography, the story, and the way it is written are all stunning.

    Reply
  34. Jean says:
    July 9, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    Just beautiful Beth! So awesome you could go back & understand the past, while moving forward with a wonderful birthday celebration that will hold special memories in your future! Just wonderful photos of you we rarely see, so inspirational, yet reflective. Best wishes for many more birthdays! Thanks for your personal wander guide as well. Mostly thanks for making my move to TN early this year easier by having your amazing blog as a guide! Don’t stop! Best wishes for continued success.

    Reply
  35. Kitty Duke says:
    July 9, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    Evocative writing, superb photos and a comprehensive link list? I die. (I’m going to NOLA post-holidays with my mother. Last time was on a cross-country trip 20 years ago… whoa.)

    Reply
  36. Alison Dulaney says:
    July 9, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    The city is just beautiful especially seen through your lens. Fantastic photos as always:)

    Reply
  37. Sarah T. says:
    July 9, 2014 at 5:49 pm

    I’m from south Mississippi and visit New Orleans often. Every time I go, I love it more and you pinpointed these reasons beautifully. I love reading about others’ experiences there!

    I also think it’s fitting that you felt jubilation when attending the soul – funeral of your past. Like a jazz band ushering you into a new life, right? 😉 What a celebration!

    Reply
  38. Bonnie says:
    July 9, 2014 at 11:28 pm

    Beautifully written! You put into words what my heart felt while in New Orleans. Have you tried Sylvain (http://www.sylvainnola.com/)? My husband and I adored that restaurant. We took our first trip to New Orleans together back in January – I have a few polaroid photos if you’d like to see them on my little blog.
    http://sketching-clouds.blogspot.com/2014/04/ghost-town.html

    Thanks so much for sharing this post!

    Reply
  39. Laurie says:
    July 9, 2014 at 11:56 pm

    Next August will be the 40th anniversary of my freshman year at Sophie Newcomb. This took me back in such a great way. I’m going to return next year and do the same thing-hopefully with my old friends. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

    Reply
  40. Stephanie says:
    July 10, 2014 at 5:33 am

    Wow, beautiful. I so appreciate your talents. You took me back with your words. Merci.

    Reply
  41. Sini | my blue&white kitchen says:
    July 10, 2014 at 6:37 am

    Wow. These photos: the colors, the light, the mood. And that portrait of you truly took my breath away. Gorgeous. Thank you, as always, not only for sharing a post but a story. Have never been to New Orleans but would love to see all of this with my own eyes (okay, and to eat those beignets).

    Reply
  42. Claudette | Dharma Anchor says:
    July 10, 2014 at 7:37 am

    Beautiful Beth, almost as good as going home. (Except I always preferred the Mushroom Mountain to the Jazz.) I particularly like the shot of the Clover Grill. Miss that place.

    Reply
  43. Christina says:
    July 10, 2014 at 10:26 am

    Great photos Beth! I’ve never been to America but the South has always been interesting to me, New Orleans, Carolina and all the cities in between.

    Reply
  44. Niki says:
    July 10, 2014 at 11:49 am

    “It’s memento mori and joie de vivre.”

    That line. I could drink that line. Well written! This post is gorgeous.

    Reply
  45. laura says:
    July 10, 2014 at 2:54 pm

    i loved this post! i’ve only been to New Orleans once, but loved every bit of it. next time i go i’ll check out some of the places you mention. the one place you didn’t mention that i know of is the New Orleans Healing Center and Island of Salvation Botanica.
    thanks for sharing your view of New Orleans with us.
    blessings
    ~*~

    Reply
  46. adrienne says:
    July 10, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    delicious writing. Words that roll around my mouth and make me salivate.

    Glorious photos, hauntingly beautiful.

    When can we go?

    Reply
  47. kathy says:
    July 11, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    Your prose is as haunting and enchanting as your images. I have visited New Orleans many times over the years as it always draws you back. The mystery, the history, and OH the food! all of it. A fave of mine is Napoleon House on Chartres. Great muffuletta and the Pimms Cups are divine. xo

    Reply
  48. katie says:
    July 11, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    confederacy of dunces is one of the best books of all time 🙂

    and your work is beautiful work as usual!

    Reply
  49. nanne says:
    July 11, 2014 at 5:51 pm

    here is my favorite “touristy” thing to do in new orleans: get a n.o . city guide that provides a self guided tour of the garden district, catch the st. charles streetcar at canal to the garden district, see the g.d. from the car, then take a self guided, walking tour of the G.D. so much fun! love seeing the home where Anne Rice set her book, “the mayfair witches, ” etc. on the way home, get off at the columns hotel for a french 75 (sounds like a sex act, but it’s actually a cocktail :)).

    Reply
  50. Leah says:
    July 13, 2014 at 9:19 am

    Gorgeous photography! Loved this post.

    Reply
  51. Maëlia says:
    July 13, 2014 at 3:28 pm

    New Orleans is unique. This place has a soul. I fell in love with the city when I was just years old and fighting depression. I flew from the other side of the world just to be there. It had been a dream of mine since I was 13. I don’t know why, it just was. It’s a magic place to me. The only other place I felt the same about was Nashville. I feel like I belong there for some reasons. There and the shores of Brittany, France. And here I am stuck in Paris. I need to go back!

    Reply
  52. Kelsey says:
    July 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    Wow, you sum up perfectly my feelings about NOLA as a city. I’m moving from washington state to attend school at Tulane in a few months, a choice I made partly because I was captivated by the place itself. It is imperfect in nearly every possible way, but I think that’s part of the attraction, what makes it seem so beautiful. Thanks for the post.

    Reply
  53. kelli says:
    July 14, 2014 at 11:23 pm

    I “grew up” in new Orleans from second grade until I graduated from ben franklin senior high, then located across the street from the best burger and milkshake I can remember, the Camellia Grill. don’t know if it is still there, but it most likely is.
    I had a love /hate with NOLA and haven’t returned since I left it behind all the way back in 1987!
    I also remember snow cones but don’t remember the names of the many places we would get them .
    and of course oyster po boys. again, can’t remember the name of the place, I think on st.charles ave, but maybe not. some other streetcar lined big avenue in that general area..Carrolton ave??? can’t remember
    it’s been too long
    more burger remembering (I lived there as a kid after all!)
    Snug Harbor…biggest burger with a baked potato the size of my head all wood paneling and dark and cool
    thank you for reminding me of a place I knew well, in my own way, so long ago
    I’m sure it has changed a lot and not at all

    Reply
  54. Layken says:
    July 15, 2014 at 4:16 pm

    You are an extremely talented writer, it’s been a long time since I have been genuinely sad a blog post was ending. This post reads like a short story, one i wish was longer. Also you’re photography is as equally as amazing as the words that accompany it! thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  55. Shell says:
    July 19, 2014 at 8:58 am

    Thank you for a lovely post Beth, you evoked distant memories from 2011 when I finally made it to this beautiful, sad, wonderful city. We stayed in The Marigny, it was such a great neighbourhood. Our favourite place to eat was Adolfo’s on Frenchman. A window seat on the second floor was perfect to people watch and the Grouper with Ocean Sauce is to die for.

    Reply
  56. Kate @ ¡Hola! Jalapeño says:
    July 23, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    What wonderful pictures. I’ve never been to New Orleans but would give my left arm to go and you’ve made that no better. 🙂

    Reply
  57. anna says:
    July 23, 2014 at 3:43 pm

    I wish I had found your blog earlier. I left for New Orleans this past weekend and your guide would have been helpful (I sort of winged it). These pictures are so beautiful and makes me yearn to go back one more time to capture the beauty of it all.

    Reply
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  59. slow down says:
    July 24, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    New Orleans, I dream to go there ! Such a mythic place, and such a wonderful, amazing, beautiful post you’ve offered to us.
    I’ve discovered the city only through “the Confederacy of dunces”, one of my favorite books…
    Elisa

    Reply
  60. Jean says:
    July 24, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    From Australia I have come to love New Orleans through the series Treme. I was so sad to get to the end of that and finding this is like a reprise. I have been reading as I listen to ‘This city will never drown’. Maybe climate change makes that an unrealistic hope ultimately but it has a transcendent defiance to it.

    Reply
  61. Adinda says:
    July 26, 2014 at 5:18 am

    Incredible, you are my inspiration.

    Reply
  62. Nadja says:
    July 27, 2014 at 5:08 am

    Found your blog via Huffingtonpost (10 best foodblogs..) – and love your New Orleans pics. Like a road back to memory lane.. you’ve captured the mood of the city perfectly. We visited 2 years before Katrina and we’re absolutley mesmerized by the city.
    Thanks for the beautiful pictures.

    All the best from Holland
    Nadja

    Reply
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  65. Pink Ronnie says:
    August 19, 2014 at 9:20 pm

    Everything about this post is sublime.
    Your words and your images – they are out of this world.
    Thanks Beth for allowing us to see New Orleans through your eyes…
    Ronnie xo

    Reply
  66. Jennifer Klementti says:
    August 30, 2014 at 7:12 pm

    Wow! I absolutely loved reading this post! I have long admired your photography for it’s distinctive moody style. This beautiful post truly does read like a short story as others have mentioned in the comments. I have never been to New Orleans, but I will definitely go there one day. Your photos and words describe the essence and the soul of the city. Thank you. Jennifer

    Reply
  67. Michelle says:
    August 30, 2014 at 11:11 pm

    Nailed it!!!!!! Everything that I love and miss about NOLA. You have a way with words . Words that draw you in and take you on a voyage.

    Reply
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  69. Lisa Brand says:
    November 6, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    I just want to say THANK YOU!!! I try to explain my love of NOLA, I live in Oklahoma, so there is not one person who knows where NOLA is located, and have never been able to get it right. You said it perfectly! My first trip was when I was 14, and then I not to many years ago I took my children for the first time…they are just as in love with it as I am! It gets into your soul, your bones, my heart hurts when I think of how I used to live so close and now I drive 12 hours just for Cafe Du Monde and “Buffets” as my baby girl calls them!!
    Thank you for your guide and your words!!! My family and I will be spending Thanksgiving there, I cannot wait!

    Reply
  70. Dawn says:
    November 16, 2014 at 12:38 pm

    I was born and bred in louisiana. 20 years later I now reside in RVA. Every word resonated with me, bittersweet and beautiful.

    Reply
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  72. E. David says:
    January 21, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    What type of camera do you use? Like the fact that you are shooting with available light–both the food styling and exteriors.

    Reply
  73. Hazel Jarvis says:
    February 10, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    Found your site via pinterest. Love the entry on NOLA. Such beautiful photographs, and so evocative. Can’t wait to visit, with your list close to hand.

    Reply
  74. Mallory says:
    April 27, 2015 at 11:20 am

    Your photos are as beautiful as your words. Thank you for this post – it’s a lovely tribute to our amazing city.

    Reply
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  79. Sophie Koch says:
    December 11, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    What a lovely article. Next time you end up in the Big Easy stop by Katie Koch Home. We would be honored to show you around! XO

    Reply
  80. dámské brýle says:
    January 2, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    super photos the coffee on the table looks welcoming.

    Reply
  81. Vincent says:
    June 10, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    Yes, the Funk of New Orleans. Nice complete picture. Sober it is of little interest to me.

    Reply
  82. CJ says:
    June 12, 2016 at 12:56 pm

    The combination of your amazing photgraphs punctuated with jewels of text scattered through its tapestry has captured that quintesstial New Orleans essence that is like nowhere else on earth. I plan to use this text with my honors students to show them how words can capture and create a world far from their own, yet allow them to savor and taste its flavor so that it becomes someplaee they have been. Thank you for a lovely trip.

    Reply
  83. CJ says:
    June 12, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    The combination of your amazing photgraphs punctuated with jewels of text scattered through its tapestry has captured that quintesstial New Orleans essence that is like nowhere else on earth. I plan to use this text with my honors students to show them how words can capture and create a world far from their own, yet allow them to savor and taste its flavor so that it becomes someplace they have been. Thank you for a lovely trip.

    Reply
  84. Pingback: 5 Cities to Travel to This Spring - The Everygirl
  85. Private Chef says:
    September 5, 2018 at 3:35 am

    Great post on culture and places to visit in New Orleans, LA. You have captured some really nice pictures.

    Reply
  86. Joshua N. Bracco says:
    April 17, 2020 at 1:20 am

    Nice and good website for shopping

    Reply

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