The journey begins...

I've toyed with the idea of moving to New Orleans for a while now, but haven't been able to sell my house in NC. Well, I finally made an executive decision to JUST GO. I'm starting out with a 30 day stay and arriving in mid-May. We'll see how it goes. Anyone who knows me also knows I'm a major tight-wad, so it should come as no surprise that I sought out cool but "economical" accomodations. I also had to make sure my cats, Tinker and Scout, were able to come too.

The place I've chosen to live is St. Vincent's Guest House in the Lower Garden District. I'll have parking, laundry and a pool, plus a private room and bath with queen bed, mini-fridge and microwave. So there you have it. It appears that New Orleans has countless upscale restaurant, bar and even concert "mystery shops". Needless to say, I won't be going hungry, and sampling the culinary delights unique to New Orleans will be a priority for me. St. Vincent's is in a great area of the lower Garden District on Magazine Street. The lower end near me has been revitalized since Katrina blew out some of the sketchy, crime-filled housing projects, and there are literally miles of coffee shops, antique and clothing stores, salons, restaurants, hardware stores, yoga, acupuncture, tattoos, jewelry, silver and anything you can think of. All of these businesses are on the ground floor of historic properties, often with residential space and balconies upstairs, just like the old days.  St. Vincents is also only a few blocks off the main avenue through town, St. Charles. Streetcars still run along this broad, tree-lined street, transporting locals and tourists alike through town and down to the French Quarter for $1.25. The streetcars will be addressed in a future post...

St. Vincent's is dripping with history. I borrowed this from their website: St. Vincent’s was built in 1861 as an orphanage.  It was founded by the Daughter’s of Charity order of nuns, however much of the funding was provided by Margaret Haughery.  She was an extraordinary woman... an illiterate, Irish immigrant who, from nothing, built a thriving bakery business and became New Orleans’ foremost philanthropist.  She lost her own child and husband to yellow fever, which was endemic in New Orleans.   Mosquito born diseases killed thousands every summer until the early 1900’s when the link between mosquitos and disease became understood and public works were undertaken to reduce mosquito breeding grounds.  Orphanages were much needed in this environment and St. Vincent’s and St. Elizabeth’s on Napoleon Ave, harbored orphans and later unwed mothers and children until the 1970’s. Peter Schreiber and Sally Leonard rescued the near derelict building in 1994 and with much love and dedication, have remodelled it to become the unique guest house it is today.

I may have devote an entire day's post and photos to this place. It's hard to believe it was built during the Civil War and has survived numerous hurricanes! If the walls could talk, I'm sure they'd have tales to tell after150 years of colorful residents and guests. Well, there you have it. I arrive on May 16th and am counting the days. I've already spent hours on the internet researching this one-of-a-kind city, and I don't think I'll scratch the surface in 30 days... might have to stay longer ;-0