I just came down Market into work on Wednesday and didn't go home for lunch.  After work I managed to get in a little ride.  I rode Sutter to Fillmore to Clay to Spruce to Washington.  The fog was pouring in and there wasn't much of a view at Spruce and Washington:

I continued on Washington to Arguello to 30th.  This is the view of some of the fabulous homes in Seacliff from Lake and 30th:

I took 30th to Clement into Seal Rock to El Camino Del Mar to Point Lobos.  I stopped for pics of the coast over the Sutro Baths:

I took Point Lobos to the Great Highway and stopped at the beach for pics:

Me:

I continued on the Great Highway and went into Golden Gate Park at JFK.  This is the North Windmill from JFK:

I continued on JFK to the Panhandle to Stanyan to Waller to Cole to Frederick to Ashbury to Piedmont to Masonic to Roosevelt to 17th to Mars to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  We're still cleaning up from being out of town so long.  It's good to be home.

Bike Mileage:

Today 16.8 Week to date 16.8 Month to date 16.8 Year to date 4,575.7 To Goal 5,424.3 Over (Under) plan (602.4) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 650.5 Rolling Year 8,542.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 25,745.5

Wednesday we slept in and then took Mr. Poe's colleague to lunch and then to a short walk through the Garden District.  Short, but lovely:

This building has an unusual for New Orleans mansard roof:

We got rid of the rental car and then waited at the airport for the longest time.  We flew Southwest through Denver and it wasn't too bad.  Mr. David picked us up at the airport which was soooooooo nice.  We got back and the dogs were all thrilled to see us.  We unpacked and got ready for work.

Tuesday was a stormy day in New Orleans.  There was torrential rains that lasted into the late afternoon.  I got in the car and headed to a couple of plantations.  Driving in the rain in Louisiana is a challenge.  The pounding rain led to slick roads and low visibility.  There were tons of accidents and I was really happy that the car had GPS so I could stay focused on not hitting anything. 

First up was Oak Alley.  Oak Alley is a beautiful plantation in Vacherie that has a thoughful restoration, lovely interiors which they don't let you photograph, and pretty grounds.  The tour was only just OK but the plantation is so lovely it didn't really matter.

The back of the house has a younger alley of oaks.

The famous oak alley as seen from the front porch:

These trees are about three hundred years old:

They have a couple of antique cars:

A Confederate Camp:

Me:

The view of the Mississippi from the top of the levee:

Next up was Nottoway in White Castle.  Nottoway bills itself as the largest Antebellum plantation in the south and that's probably true.  It's amazing.  They've just finished a renovation and the interiors are incredible.  The window treatments are beyond fabulous and the place is stuffed with gorgeous antiques. And it's a B&B so you can stay there!  Nottoway, unlike many of the plantations on River Road, was continually inhabited and always by people who could afford to keep it up and so there are a lot of original fixtures in the house and it's really in good condition.  They even have a couple of original pieces of furniture.  It was my favorite of the four plantations I visited this week.

Front Porch:

The front hall:

The white ballroom:

The view to the river from the verandah:

I headed back to New Orleans and had a burrito for a late lunch and then dropped off the car and then headed off to the quarter and had a few cocktails at the Pub while I waited for Mr. Poe to finish his meeting.  I had an extra one when my Iphone told me that they were finally sending Lindsay Lohan to jail.  I don't know why that makes  me so delighted but it makes me so delighted. 

When Mr. Poe was finished with his meeting we went to Adelaide in the Leows hotel a couple of blocks from our hotel.  It was very, very good.  They had a vegan option for me that wasn't on the menu and Mr. Poe had a shrimp and grits thing and was totally intimidated when it came out with the shell and head on.  I had to shell them for him which left me with shrimp fingers.  Yuck.  That's what you do when you love someone.

I headed off on Monday morning to the CBD.  I wanted to look at some of the fantastic buildings there.   The CBD may lack the historic bonanza that the French Quarter has, but there are amazing buidings there. 

This wonderful deco office building has been repurposed as a hotel. 

Check out this amazing detail:

I love the Immaculate Conception church on Baronne.  Sadly, it wasn't open so I couldn't go in:

The Roosevelt Hotel has been recently redone and looks spectacular.  Swank:

The view looking down Canal from Baronne:

St Jude Church on Rampart:

I love this grotto on the grounds:

Lafayette Cemetery #1

Pretty houses on Rampart:

I walked around Armstrong Park for a while.  I think it's still under construction and I wasn't supposed to be there but I found an open gate and you know how nosy I am:

Love this:

From there I headed through the French Quarter on the way to the Bywater neighborhood:

Looking up Esplanade from the riverfront:

I headed over to the Country Club which was a nice pool, restaurant, and bar.  I had fun laying out all afternoon.  Sadly, I completely forgot about sunscreen and charred myself to a crisp.

After lunch I headed back towards the French Quarter through the Bywater neighborhood:

Me looking a little charred:

I got stuck in the pub by torrential rains for almost an hour.  Upside:  cocktails.

I got back to the hotel and got cleaned up in a massive hurry and then headed back to the Roosevelt Hotel where I met my friend Mary at the Sazerac for cocktails while we waited for Mr. Poe to finish his meetings.  Then we all went uptown where we had dinner at Ignatius on Magazine.  I hadn't seen Mary in years and was so nice seeing her again.  We didn't stay out too late.  I was exhausted.  It was a great day.

I started off Sunday by heading out to Audubon Park which is a gorgeous park uptown across Saint Charles Avenue from Tulane and Loyola Universities.  It's gorgeous:

Bird Island:

There are many beautiful homes on Exposition Blvd which fronts Audubon Park:

Lazy kittehs:

Pretty homes on Calhoun:

Glamour on Palmer:

More glamour on Palmer:

I headed over to South Carrollton and had lunch.  I ate at a Middle Eastern place and it was very good.  Then I headed over to City Park.  I started off hiking some of the swamp trails which were really fun but very, very hot.  I almost didn't go to the Botanical Gardens after because I was sooooo hot.  But I sat in the car in air conditioning for a few minutes and got it together.  I'm glad I went to the Botanical Gardens because they are really nice:

I love all the sculpture:

New Orleans has the only botanical garden I've ever been to where the rain forest room wasn't more humid or warmer than the rest of the garden.

These pretty birdhouses have neighborhood themes:

There's a train exhibit too which is so neat:

Looking down Lelong Drive towards the museum:

City Park has many lakes:

The art museum wasn't open because of the holiday so I walked around it.  There's still tons of stuff to see:

Sexy pirate:

Looking back down Lelong drive towards Carrollton:

General Beauregard:

The homes on the canals are all rebuilt.  You would never know they'd ever flooded:

From there I did a Katrina tour where I saw that there's a lot of New Orleans that still hasn't been rebuilt.  The lack of a coherent reconstruction plan has resulted in some blocks where one house in three are still boarded up which isn't an ideal situation at all.  I went home and got cleaned up and then we had dinner at the Hard Rock.  It was some work thing for Mr. Poe.  From there we headed over to the Pub where I saw my friend David who's a bartender there these days.  He doesn't look like he's aged a day since college and he's the nicest person.  Bitch.  We were out pretty late and Mr. Poe was grumbling on the way home.  I slept like a rock.

I went for a long walk on Saturday that covered a big chunk of the historical areas.  I started up walking through the CBD over to Lee Circle:

This bar on Lee Circle is in a building that has seen better days:

The art collection at K&B plaza has shrunk since last time I visited and they've put up a fence which is kind of a shame but some of the pieces are still there:

Then I headed over to glamorous St. John the Baptist which is now closed so I couldn't go it.  It's a spectacular structure:

I headed down Dryades.  It's in a terrible neighborhood so I walked very quickly.  There's still ample evidence of Katrina in the poorer neighborhoods:

Fabulous mural:

More Katrina ruins.  It's crazy how these ruins are slowly being overtaken by vines:

Pretty synagogue:

Fantastic details:

I headed over to the Garden District which is almost completely rebuilt from the hurricane:

Designed by James Gallier Sr.:

This building is cut up into apartments.  My friends Tom and Bill lived here many years ago.  It's such a cool old house and I loved rambling around it:

I headed into Lafayette Cemetery on Washington and Prytania:

More Garden District loveliness:

I stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant on Magazine while I waited out some rain:

Then it was back to the Garden District:

I used to live in one of the Creole cottages (the one in the background).  Back when I lived in it it was only one floor and a total dump.

 

I lived in this place for a couple of months while I subletted for my friend Jim.  It looks like they've done nothing to it since I lived there almost 20 years ago:

Pretty St. Mary's Annunciation church:

Coliseum square:

Margaret Place which commemorates Margaret Haughery:

The National World War II museum that opened in 2000.  It isn't an inspiring design and I didn't go in:

The Civil War Museum:

I headed home and got cleaned up and then we had dinner with my friends Jimmy and Paul at the Upperline uptown.  Which was fabulous.  They had vegan food that wasn't on the menu and it was delicious and I loved it. It was so nice seeing Jimmy and Paul again and I hope they come and see us in San Francisco.   After that we went home and went to bed.  I was beat.

Ugh.  I was super hung over when I woke up on Friday morning.  Not pretty.  Not pretty at all.  And so not flattering for a man my age.  But I reserve my right to be a hot ass mess periodically so I'm not apologizing for anything.  So I was a little slow on the start up on Friday but eventually got moving.  To my delight, Mr. Poe had the whole day off so we headed up River Road to visit a few plantations.  We stopped for barbecue along the way and Mr. Poe wasn't crazy about their ribs, although I think my Aunt Charlotte might have spoiled him for ribs for the rest of his life last week with her delicious Southern cookin'.  I had fried pickles.  Fried pickles!  They were pickly slices dredged in cornmeal and fried up.  They were crispy and salty and tangy and all shades of awesome.  Mr. Poe thought they were nasty but sometimes he's just crazy.

First up was San Francisco Plantation and it was a bit of a disappointment.  They bill themselves as the most opulent plantation on River Road and that just isn't accurate.  The main problem with the plantation is that it is surrounded on three sides by a gas refinery and the gardens around the plantation don't do much to either enhance the structure or disguise it's neighbors.  The structure itself is fabulous and the interiors are nicely done.  It's a snapshot to right before the civil war, I think, when the lady of the house had just finished decorating with a distinct German flavor.  The interiors are very nice and I feel like they're working hard to present that snapshot as accurately as they can.  In that sense it's pretty successful.  The interiors are gorgeous.  It's a see but probably not a must see.

Me in front of the house:

Glamorous interiors:

Hello gorgeous:

Big, fabulous tree:

Some of the outbuildings:

Not the ginormous cisterns.  There's one on the other side of the house as well:

Views from the front gallery:

The pretty fish bowl on the first level:

One last view of the house:

From there we were off to Houmas House.  Whereas San Francisco was a little lacking, Houmas House was much, much too much.  The property is a popular wedding venue and I think the ultra-ultra look is a definite boon for that but you're gonna be super disappointed if you are thinking that they're gonna give you any sense of perspective.  The interiors are all over the place and can only be characterized as a contemporary interior with a bunch of antiques.  Which isn't bad but you gotta realize that you're only gonna get a passing sense of some of the previous residents.  Which isn't a disaster, but it isn't a trip back in time like San Francisco.  Also worthy of note is that our tour guide was crazy.  Crazy!  Like off her meds in a huge way crazy.  And so, so inaccurate.  Like what the fuck was she thinking telling me that bullshit inaccurate.  The house is beautiful and it's gorgeous inside and the gardens, while completely and maybe too much over the top are fun to wander around but you're gonna be disappointed if you're going there expecting a taste of antebellum life.  Because it isn't more than a nibble.

Spectacular:

Glamour-licious interiors:

Gorgeous murals in the main hall:

The view up the staircase-- perfect:

Schizophrenia-inducing childrens toy

Me on the veranda.  Fiddle-dee-dee!

The gloriously overdone gardens:

Me:

We came back to the city and I took Mr. Poe to Mothers for dinner.  He loves New Orleans food.  He'd probably weigh like 1000 pounds if he lived here.  We went home and went to bed.  I was beat.

Thursday Mr. Poe had meetings all day so I was on my own.  I had a lot planned.  I started off with a long walk in the morning.  First I headed off to the Faubourg Marigny.  Not quite as fabulous as the French Quarter but lovely with a big variety of architecture.  I love these little Creole cottages:

These grand homes are on Esplanade:

Then I headed into the French Quarter:

Then I went back to the hotel and got the car and headed uptown.  First stop was Tulane where I went to college.  I walked around and felt old.  I headed over to Audubon Blvd and walked the length it.  There are many fabulous, fabulous homes there:

 

I headed back over to Tulane.  This is Newcomb Hall where I had so many classes so many years ago:

The mural around the Mushroom hasn't changed in 20 years:

Newcomb Blvd:

Then I headed to pretty Audabon Park:

Me:

There are many beautiful homes on Audubon Park:

I finished my walk by walking down Walnut to the river and then back up Audubon.  Gorgeous:

Medium sized house with giant sized detail:

Then I went to the grocery store and got stuff for a picnic.  I took Mr. Poe out to the shore of Lake Ponchartrain with Muffalettas from Central Grocery.  He was totally daunted by the size of it.  Mine just had olive salad on it and was delicious.  The lakeshore is so pretty and such a great place for a picnic:

Hello gorgeous:

Local hotness:

After dinner we headed over to the pub where I got stinking drunk and was a general mess.  Ah, bourbon, why must you do me that way???

Mr. Poe and I are in New Orleans for a week.  It's probably the worst time of the year to be here because it's very hot and sticky, but he had a work thing and I've been looking forward hanging out here.  We got in mid day and went for dinner before we checked into the hotel.  New Orleans is going to be a tough city to be vegan in but I'm super flexible and I'm totally OK with having french fries and salad for every meal.  We had out first dinner at Taqueria Corona uptown.  It was OK but I'm pretty spoiled for Mexican food in San Francisco so I'm pretty picky.  Their guacamole was pretty average but the rest of it was OK.  From there we checked into the hotel and then we went for a walk to the French Quarter through Woldenberg park along the riverfront.  Hello gorgeous!

I liked this colorful installation:

Riverboat:

St Louis Cathedral:

We were pretty beat by the time we got back from out walk.  It was a long day.