Pedaling Around the Crescent City
The Garden District of New Orleans
We can hardly wait to chase each other down Carrollton Avenue to catch the Canal Streetcar to our next destination, riding through the Central Business District as the rain begins to pound on the streetcar roof. Hopping off at St. Charles Avenue in hastiness without hesitation, we embrace nature's showers and hike the downtown streets toward the Garden District of New Orleans.
A thirty minute walk down St. Charles Avenue feels like the entrance to a brand new city. Restaurants, shops, and small businesses line the small highway. We inhale the morning smells of moss blanketing the apartment buildings. After a coffee break at the Avenue Cafe, we are struck by the Eiffel Society, a piece of Paris in New Orleans. This steel structure subtly overlooks St. Charles Avenue in the Lower Garden District. Constructed from 11,062 pieces of a restaurant originally housed in the Eiffel Tower that was dismantled and shipped to New Orleans in the 1980's and reassembled in its current space, this venue now hosts weddings, live entertainment, and other special events. Love locks line the entrance allowing lovers of New Orleans and alike to padlock their passions for all of time. We continue our journey, strolling down Jackson Avenue admiring the antebellum mansions and intricate ivory designs on the multitude of suburban structures. Finding our way to Magazine Street, we exercise our window shopping habit past clothing shops, cafes, bars, and boutiques, with our sights set on another plant-based lunch.
The Heart of Treme
Pausing at Sophie Wright Park and taking the same name place, we gawk at the quaintness of Coliseum Square Park on our route to Seed on Prytania Street. Vegan style comfort-food soothes our souls on this rainy day and we hit the streets for more adventure. The Blue Bikes system brings a new definition to expressway for travelers. With a simple click of a button, we cruise on blue bikes through the remaining Garden District through the hustle and bustle of downtown streets, making our way back to the heart of Treme.
The Lafitte Greenway Trail
Reaching the parish of Treme once more, as Basin Street wraps around to The Lafitte Greenway Trail, we pedal along the harmonious greenway reveling in the now setting sunlight and cooler wind blowing on our cheeks. We cruise along capturing sights of the Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center, a Fitness Park, and tennis courts, followed by the transition into industrial plants, wastewater treatment systems, and water pumps to flush out the floods that plague this region. We connect to the North Jefferson Davis Parkway that overlooks the Bayou St. John, gravitating to the Music Tree that perches along the Bayou in all of its majesty. Handcrafted art of a pelican, jazz instruments, and a fleur de lis wrap around the leafless tree.
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