The great Louisiana purchase on Magazine Street

Magazine Street again. Treasure galore. How about a pair of medieval looking shields. One can never have too much protection these days. And they do bring a sense of stability and permanance to any room. A sense of history and chivalry. Perfect accent pieces if you ask me.

Magazine Street in New Orleans is about a 3.5 mile stretch of shopping opportunities. I am counting the section from about Nashville Avenue to abut in the Felicity Street area. It continues further on downtown, but that has a different character. And it continues on the other end through Audubon Park, but that, too is a different, though scenic part of the street.

Magazine Street takes you back a few years to the time of one-car families, pedestrians, family-owned shops, and family restaurants. It's fun to just park, walk, browse and shop the boutiques, antique shops, galleries and all.

--steve buser

Eye popping shopping on Magazine Street

Pop your room with color. What about this Chinese dragon I found in the window at The Private Collection on Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans. No one will ever talk about your house being boring again. I didn't ask about the price, I was pretty sure I couldn't afford it.

The Private Collection is one of a number of boutiques along Magazine Street -- a shopping corridor that was spared the flooding from Katrina. Art galleries, antique shops and more line the New Orleans Street.

See. I told you we would get back to shopping on Magazine Street. Just wait, there's more tomorrow.


--steve buser

Meandering Magazine Street -- shops, shops, shops

You restless like me? Maybe it's the cool weather blowing in.

Look. If you've got a couple hours, I got just the place to cure your Fall's a falling blues. Let's go run down Magazine Street in New Orleans. We can window shop and explore the stores to our hearts delight.

Magazine was holding on before Hurricane Katrina hit. After the storm, it was one of the few commercial corridors that was not flooded and that caused a boom in shops along the busy street. Lately, a few vacancies have been cropping up. Much of that seems, though, to be in newly renovated space.

Magazine is mostly little shops -- some store fronts from the 40's and 50' era and earlier, but also a lot of old homes converted into stores, and galleries. Did I say galleries? Plenty of them. Lots of antique shops and assorted boutiques, too. Some coffee shops, a hardware store or two. Good eating places. A menagerie, as it were, that is just waiting to be explored. One of those fund things to do if you just visiting for a few days and don't want to do the crowd magnets.

Let's start right here. Bella Nola Home Decor. Can it get much more N'Awlins than that.

Come on, this is going to be fun. Wait till tomorrow and you see what I found.

-- steve buser