Theme Day -- passing into the French Quarter.

January 1 is Theme Day on City Daily Photo -- more than one hundred sites participate.  The theme for this start of the month is Paths and Passageways.  I chose this shot of St. Ann Street in the French Quarter.  It passes alongside Jackson Square.  It is a kind of passage way between the parking lots and Mississippi river venues  and the heart of the French Quarter along Royal and Bourbon Streets.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

-steve buser

French Quarter, St. Ann Street, Rue St. Ann, New Orleans, Lousiaiana

Fun fills the night

One more shot from the Bacchus Parade last year. This shot is on Napolean Avenue. A great spot that is not too crowded. That is not to say that the "Throw me something" yells don't fill the air. It's a real fun atmosphere. The lights of the float, the flambeaux carriers, the tractor lights, and an occasional street light add to the ambiance. Parades this year start in just a week -- just the weekends at first, until closer to Mardi Gras when they are every night and eventually every night and day.

-steve buser

Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Louisiana, Napolean Avenue., beads, throws, trinkets, Bacchus

Sky hacker

The sun was practicing its brush stokes a in a kind of haphazard fashion a few weeks ago.  Apparently, it was practicing its large motor skills with a unbalanced palette -- seeking to strike new ground ... er... make that "new sky."  It didn't have a lot of time.  Bedtime comes so fast.

--steve buser

  To join in visit Sky Watch

sun, sunset, sky, sundown, New Orleans, Louisiana, E-510

Prima Pelican

I know you won't believe again, so I won't even try to convince you. Let me just put out my case the way it happened. I report, you decide.

I had set up this shot to shoot this group of houses on the Mandeville lakeshore (across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans.) It was a foggy day and I thought the birds in the foreground (maybe midground) would make a great contrast with the foggy, fuzzy houses.

I shot one photo and was adjusting my camera up a little bit to better center it, when this brown pelican in the middle flies in and sits right near the middle. I guess he was jealous of the seagulls getting all the notoriety.

Anyway, the fog wasn't thick enough for much fuziness, but I think the picture turned out okay in spite of that.

--steve buser

pelican, birds, nature, lake, fog, weather, Mandeville, Louisiana

Hitchhiking the wind

If I were a bird, and I give my assurance that I am not. I think it would be my favorite daily pastime to climb to a height where I could catch the thermals. Then I would stretch out my wings and force the wind to hold me aloft. I wouldn't get tired doing it. I guess, though, that the wind would probably tire of it.

Just imagine. The wind beneath my wings.

--steve buser

wind, egrets, birds, nature, flying, feathers

You gotta go da Mardi Gras

There is still some chance, albeit slight, that you have not yet got your Mardi Gras on and are therefore not ready for the big one.

So, I have stepped forward and taken on the task of reminding you of what it feels like to be in the biggest party in the world. This is a seen from the Krewe of Toth Parade last year. The site is on Magazine Street and the crowd as you can see if mostly family oriented. Still, yelling and screaming for the perfect pair of beads or the most desired trinket is de rigeur


If you want a feel for the music "et tout" check out this youtube.com of Professor Longhair


--steve buser

Mardi Gras, Krewe of Toth, parade, New Orleans, Louisiana

Pushing on the river

In case you thought that paddlewheel out there in the middle of the Mississippi River was just a decoration -- take a look at the massive cranks that pushes that thing around. After all, when you take a boat that big and put on a couple hundred people or more, you have to move a lot of water to push them around.

I got a real treat out of looking in the engine room.

--steve buser

boats, paddlewheelr, New Orleans, Louisiana

100-year-old traditions

I can't think of anything that more epitomizes the genteel New Orleans life that a light luncheon the porch of the Audubon Park golf course club house. Sitting under ceiling fans and gawking at an occasional golfer wandering by, it is easy to pass more lunch time that you had set aside.

The golf course features contoured fairways, four lagoons and exquisite landscaping on a par 62, 4,220-yard layout set among hundred year-old oak trees.

The park opened in 1898 --thus the hundred-hundred-year-old oaks including this glen sitting in between the club house and the lagoon.

--steve buser

golf course, club house, Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana

Dormez Vous?

This penquin was standing very still. He even appears to have his eyes shut.  Maybe he was sleeping on the job.  Nonetheless, the kids had a lot of fun seeing him at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans.  We thought wewould be in there for a couple hours -- it was almost five hours later before we emerged to head down into the French Quarter.

Oh, by the way.   When I said the kids enjoyed it, several of those were packing on the years, if you know what I mean.

--steve buser

penquin, birds, aquarium, Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, French QUarter

Spying the spire

The French Quarter of New Orleans looks quite a bit different from above. This photo from the garage of One Canal place shows the rising sun burnishing the facade of St. Louis Cathedral. The Cathedral's huge face looks down on Jackson Square which you can't make out here. But the Cabildo sits on this side of the Cathdral. Seeming to jut out from there you can see the back side of the apartments that line St. Ann Street along Jackson Square. In the distant is the more residential area of the Quarter.

--steve buser

St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, landmarks, French Quarter, architecture

Sky Climber, how high can you climb?

Our grandson really had a lot of fun on this playground in Audubon Park, right next to St. Charles Avenue and across the street from Tulane University.

You remember those days, don't you? When you were testing your muscles and your nerves. Learning just how far you could push that fear thing. It made you feel powerful and alive.

Why don't we continue living like that as we get older?

--steve buser

Be sure to check out my bee photo on my Southeast Texas Blog today

kids, climbing, playground, parks, fun, fear

Poking fun

A imature white Ibis (Eudocimus albus)>at Lafreniere Park in Kenner.  THe old race-track-converted-to-park as one of the best natural setting I have ever seen -- and apparently the birds appreciate it, too.

--steve buser

birds, ibis, white ibis, Eudocimus albus, Lafreniere Park, Kenner, Louisiana

Faux famous grandeur

I love the architectural details on the buildings in the city. This faux column piece is on the old Werleins building on Canal Street in New Orleans. Werlein was a noted record publisher (not all of that 'noted' was good -- read the history.) The store is now occupied by the storied and swank Palace Cafe.

I remember as a youth making Werlein's one of my stops on my frequent trips to Canal Street. It was just a big fabulous music store. . I loved to wonder among all the grand pianos they had on display. The store closed in the beginning of 2003.

--steve buser

ps: Our son Charlie competed in the Houston Marathon this weekend. He started running marathons with his one, a year ago. He has a lot under his belt since then. See the account in my new blog : Southeast Texas Daily Photo.

-- steve buser

Technorati Tags: New Orleans, Werleins, Canal Street, history, music

Da throwing's going to start soon

Oh, Mardi Gras is close now.  Even though Mardi Gras falls on February 24 this year, the parades start on February with the the Krewe du Vieux -- the rowdy French Quarter parade in which anything goes.

I thought I would start getting you in the Mardi Gras mood with some shots of a former parades.
 I think this was from Bacchus.

--steve buser

Go ahead. Stretch your neck out

Feel like a little stretching this morning.   This Brown Pelican got his gumption up.  He is not stretching, though, because he is sleepy or just waking up.  The ferry boat from Canal Street in heart of New Orleans over to Algiers  (actually the other way around) is coming up to dock.  That means a good chance that it will stir up a few fish.  It is going to be a good meal.  Stretch that throat and get readdy.

-- steve buser

Technorati Tags: Brown Pelican, pelican, birds, feather, New Orleans, ferry, Canal Street

Peaking sunset

Another Lake Pontchartrain Sunset. The sun is taking one last peak from under its cover of clouds. Just like a little boy who is fighting going to sleep.
This is a SkyWatch Friday Post. Go and check out more Skywatch images at the Skywatch Site!

--steve buser

Technorati Tags: sunset, sundown, lake, Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, SkyWatch Friday

Exotic Shopping

In the French Market at on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, this was one of the stalls when we visited.  The variety is amazing and it is fun to shop.


--steve  buser

Technorati Tags: French Market, shopping, New Orleans, African art, art, masks

N'awlins Icon

St. Louis Cathedral by twilight.  The grand ole Cathedral is the de-facto visual icon of New Orleans.   It is fun to take pictures of the church from different angles -- plenty easy to do, because it sets across from Jackson Square and you can easily see it from the Moon Walk, along the Mississippi River.

I thought that I had posted more about it.  I suppose I forgot to add a label here and there. But here are a couple of old posts with more photos and/or information on the cathedral.

Hot time in the Quarter
Strike up the band. Draw near the crowd.
Fading
Holy ground

-- steve buser

PS.  I picked up on a new blog  New Orleans Vacations.  It's really well done and well written.  I added it to my blog list (on the column to the right, down a ways).  Check it out.

French Quarter details

It's fun to examine the smaller details on the older buildings of the French Quarter.  I guess we would call this something similar to a sofit vent or a gable end vent.  They just don't make them like this any more with cast iron work.   Notice the symbolism.  You can also notice the wire mesh behind the iron grate to keep the pigeons out -- I'll bet that wasn't part of the original.

--steve buser

Technorati Tags: French Quarter, buildings, cast iron, ornamentaion. New Orleans

Peaking back and forth in time

Gaze down a street in the New Orleans French Quarter and it seems as though you are looking back in time.   Then let your gaze wander up and you see the office and hotel towers from the center of the city and you leap back to the 21rst Century.

--steve buser

Gallier Hall

Gallier Hall on St. Charles Street inNew Orleans today is a recption hall and home to the Ty Tracy Theatre.. The building -- dedicated in 1853 served as city hall for more than 100 years.

On Mardi Gras Day, the Rex parade passes down St. Charles Avenue. King Rex stops in front of Gallier Hall to salute his queen.

The building sits across from Lafayette Square.

--steve buser

Technorati Tags: New Orleans, Gallier Hall, landmarks, history

Boisterous fury

I cannot explain to you why I never posted this picture that I took last April. I was just standing out in the parking lot when a late afternoon thunderstorm was beating its breast and trying to swallow the sun. At the right on the bottom is a tree that stood with me against the storm.

The storm is, of course, gone now. Despite all its fury and roaring, I have reduced it to a few black, red and yellow tones.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

--steve buser

Technorati Tags: Storms, weather, clouds, sunset nature

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans

There were sweet, deep-throated melodies from a street musician who was plying his trade outside of Cafe Du Monde one morning.

We were there with the family for the famous beignets-- deep fried bisquits avalanched in powdered sugar. Cafe Du Monde is a nice place to take a rest right in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans, across from Jackson Square. With its outdoors covered patio, it's also a great place to gawk at all the passers-by.

"Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans..."


--steve buser

Face the feeding frenzy

Fish feeding time at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans is frenzied favorite of the crowds, not to mention the fish. The site is at the foot of Canal Street by the Mississippi River.

--steve buser

Technorati Tags: Aquarium, fish, stingray, Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans

Walking in New Orleans

Walking along the Mississippi River levee as night falls.

Today's entry is part of the Skywatch Friday. Go and check out more Skywatch images at the Skywatch site!


--steve buser

Theme Day - it's all in the catching

Today is theme day -- "Best photo of the year 2008". I chose this one because, when it is all said and done, it is Mardi Gras which best defines New Orleans -- it is a participation sport in which the whole city takes part. Some families have their decades old traditions. Other spend weeks planning a new Mardi Gras celebration -- a new parade, a new costume, a new set of friends.

When it is all said and done, everyone heads home with bags of beads and trinkets that they really have no use for. Six weeks later it is all in the trash or given to out of town relatives, or sold to a recycling shop.

Mardi Gras isn't so much about what you catch as how you catch it.

--steve buser

There are hundreds of blogs participating in this Theme Day. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.