UGH...this is dragging on w-a-y too long. Today's will be about the cemeteries. Part 8 will be the swamp tour. Part 9 will be adventures in dining. Part 10 will be miscellaneous stuff (WWII Museum, Mardi Gras World, the cathedral, more about the homeless guy---no, he might show up in adventures in dining actually--, and other tidbits).
We actually stumbled upon another cemetery after this tour---only this cemetery was open to the public. No tour was required. It was on the day we decided to visit the Garden District. This was supposed to be the area where some of the fancier homes are, and where the former home of novelist Anne Rice was located. We took a beautifully restored streetcar there.
There were several open tombs. The open one on the far right in the photo below I took a close-up picture of the inside, so you can see what it's like inside. DARE YOU LOOK!? (It's the photo below the next one).
We DID make it to Anne Rice's former house. It's a LOT bigger than it looks with a huge, very nice back yard.
That's it for now.
Up next---get shipwrecked on the swamp tour! Stay tuned!
The St. Louis Cemetery #1 is the oldest existent cemetery in New Orleans. It's, naturally, closest to the French Quarter, sitting Lakeside from it (New Orleans does not use north, south, east and west. They use Lakeside -sort of N/W-, Riverside, Down River and Up River instead).
There was large group of us (and NO free cocktail that time. Hmm...). Our tour guide was okay, but not as good as the Ghost Tour guide. On the way to the cemetery, we stopped at a location where graves were found under a home during a renovation, a place in a park where slaves used to meet up and where the whole voodoo aspect of the city really kicked off, and also stopped at the visitor center right next to the cemetery where we got even more local history passed on to us (and I was able to run to the gift shop for a bit. Yippie! Ha!) Then we headed to the cemetery.
One day,we tried to visit the cemetery but it was locked. As of March 1st this year (2015), the ONLY way into the cemetery was with a tour. I guess this particular cemetery has had more than its share of vandalism over the years. It seemed unfair (especially since I'd love to roam around on my own), but we had no choice.
The tour we found started off again at Reverend Zombies House of Voodoo.
There was large group of us (and NO free cocktail that time. Hmm...). Our tour guide was okay, but not as good as the Ghost Tour guide. On the way to the cemetery, we stopped at a location where graves were found under a home during a renovation, a place in a park where slaves used to meet up and where the whole voodoo aspect of the city really kicked off, and also stopped at the visitor center right next to the cemetery where we got even more local history passed on to us (and I was able to run to the gift shop for a bit. Yippie! Ha!) Then we headed to the cemetery.
The cemetery is old and not kept up very well, as was evidenced by all of the crumbling graves and rubble on the ground.
Because of the swampy soil, the cemetery is above ground with the bodies placed in oven-like tombs. The graves are used over and over again. The remains of one person are scooped out, put in a bag and dropped underneath the burial compartment to make ready for the next body that needs to be entombed.
It was not uncommon to see a long list of names on a very small grave--simply because it had been constantly reused.
This unusual pyramid-shaped grave is the future resting place of actor Nicholas Cage:
This cemetery may have been vandalized for one reason more than any other. Aside from its nearness to the touristy part of town, it is also allegedly the final resting place of the infamous voodoo priestess Marie Laveau. There are several locations in the cemetery where Leveau is supposed to have been buried. One unmarked grave has had many people assume it is her resting place and it has been vandalized many times--not out of spite, but out of asking for voodoo magic from beyond the grave! This is that grave:
The real probable resting place is in the Leveau family plot. Here is that tomb as well as a small plaque about Marie Leveau that is on the tomb.
As with the Ghost Tour, while we were on the Cemetery Tour, there were several other tours from rival tour companies marching through the crowded grounds...including a group with the Voodoo Lady. I snapped this picture of her (in red) and her group.
We actually stumbled upon another cemetery after this tour---only this cemetery was open to the public. No tour was required. It was on the day we decided to visit the Garden District. This was supposed to be the area where some of the fancier homes are, and where the former home of novelist Anne Rice was located. We took a beautifully restored streetcar there.
Once we got off and started walking towards the Garden District/Anne Rice's former house, we passed the walls of the Lafayette Cemetery No.1. I knew it was there, but the guide books said it was closed the day we were visiting the area.
As we walked by, we could see people (GHOSTS???!! If so, they were some of the worst dressed ghosts I've ever seen) milling about inside. Was it open? We turned the corner and walked down a bit more. Yep, the main entrance was open after all.
With no tour guide to wrangle us along,we were free to explore at our leisure. This was actually a nicer cemetery. It was still run down and not kept up well, but there was space to it--unlike the cramped St. Louis #1 we'd visited before.
The only problem in not having a guide is that we had no idea of the significance of any of the graves. But that was okay. We took our time and poked around.
There were several open tombs. The open one on the far right in the photo below I took a close-up picture of the inside, so you can see what it's like inside. DARE YOU LOOK!? (It's the photo below the next one).
Right across the street is this famous restaurant where Emeril got his start, Commander's Palace. We hoped to go there for lunch, but even though it was a hot day--anyone not in long pants and a sports coat was not allowed inside. Oh well...
We DID make it to Anne Rice's former house. It's a LOT bigger than it looks with a huge, very nice back yard.
That's it for now.
Up next---get shipwrecked on the swamp tour! Stay tuned!
CHEERS!
Comments
Calling Monster Island