New Orleans

New Orleans is such a unique city. With such a complex blend of French creole and diverse cultures, a vibrant round-the-clock night life, and the lasting impact of Hurrican Katrina, it’s an endlessly colorful and interesting place. We flew down over Memorial Day weekend, staying for three nights and covering a lot of ground across the Seventh Ward, Treme, Marigny, Bywater, Central Business District, Garden District, and of course, the French Quarter.

We kicked off day one with a visit to the New Orleans Museum of Art or NOMA (not to be confused with this Noma).

NOMA is a part of City Park, which includes their beautiful sculpture garden outside. And so many moss-covered oak trees.

We were definitely off to a bit of a rocky start on day one as we attempted to to ride two bikes that were both kind of old and rusty and would have been thoroughly mediocre if they were working, but one was actually broken with a flat tire, and Justin still attempted to ride it to go put air in the tire before realizing the tube was punctured and having to walk our bikes a couple miles back that day. Oh well. Live and learn. It was an adventure.

So much interesting and colorful architecture in New Orleans.

Frenchman Art Market.

The next morning, we headed out on a bike tour with Confederacy of Cruisers. The cruiser bikes were super comfy, especially compared to our failed biking on day one, and this was a very easy biking town with very flat streets and many bike lanes. The tour guide was very friendly and informative too. Definitely recommend!

The markings on the house to the right below are typical search and rescue markings from Hurricane Katrina. Reading the four quadrants marked by the black X, the top denotes the date: September 11; the left denotes the search team, TXO from Texas; the right denotes any hazards found, though NE means No Entry, so they did not enter; and the bottom quadrant marks the number of victims found (in this case, none).

A visit to St. Roch’s Cemetery.

The Rusty Rainbow Bridge, which leads right over to the Mississippi River.

If you want a sense of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and can tolerate a heavy dose of moral outrage, two really well written nonfiction books I’ve read: Five Days as Memorial by Sheri Fink and Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Clear some emotional and mind space before delving in though.

Back in the French Quarter.

So fun! We ran into a “Second Line,” a.k.a. a street parade led by a jazz band. And this one was a wedding parade! How cool. We should do these everywhere.

That night, jazz over by Frenchman St.

The next day, we checked in to our new hotel for the last night, which I loved. The Old No. 77 Hotel and Chandlery .

Not only is the decor on point, so is their support of the local arts and culture. All the art in the museum and rooms are from high school students at the local tuition-free high school New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, and you can shop goods from local makers in the lobby. There’s even this little art-dispensing vending machine too.

The hotel restaurant is Compére Lapin, helmed by Top Chef contestant Nina Compton. Delicious.

A walk around the Central Business District and a trolley ride over to the Garden District.

So much rain. It thunderstormed heavily every day for about an hour. We were always underprepared and often had soggy feet, but it was kind of fun. And we ended up with a very patriotic umbrella purchased from the WWII Museum on day three.

Garden District and its mansions!

District Donuts, Sliders, & Brew. Delicious.

Finally, some obligatory beignets from Cafe du Monde.

A visit to the National World War II Museum. It was very expansive, well put together, and informative. Plus, they had a nice little feature that assigns each person one WWII veteran’s story that you get to access with your personal “dog tag” at stations throughout the museum for a more personalized take on history.

And finally, after two failed attempts (the first try it was already closed after our series of biking mishaps, and the second it was closed for Memorial Day), we finally made it to Willie Mae’s for fried chicken right before flying out. Pretty nice way to go out!

So much to see, it was all a blur!

Visit New Orleans

• Take a bike tour with the Confederacy of Cruisers. Book ahead to secure a spot!
  Stay at the Old No. 77 Hotel and Chandlery and dine at Compère Lapin downstairs.
  Visit the sculpture garden and NOMA at City Park.
  Walk through the French Quarter.
  Check out the jazz scene on Frenchman St. and visit the Frenchman Art Market by night while you’re there.
  Eat an obligatory beignet from Cafe du Monde.
  Hope that you get to run into a “second line” parade on the street.
  Go on a self-guided walking tour through the mansions of the Garden District, and grab a donut or three from District Donuts Sliders and Brew while you’re there.
  Visit the National WWII Museum for a tour through history.
  Grab some fried chicken from Willie Mae’s Scotch House.

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco but often traveling and working around the world. She creates beautiful, soft, and timeless imagery while capturing the most fleeting of moments. View her work at annawu.com, follow her daily adventures on instagram, or contact her to book your own session today.