Can you believe that?

See that? Apparently, by the expression on their face, everybody did. I didn't. Wish I could tell you what it was that they are smiling about. Just shows that the horse and buggy tour with a good tour guide gives you a real feel for the city and the "rest of the story."

These buggy tours are real popular in the French Quarter, but I have been seeing more and more of them around town. A few weeks back there must have been something big going on at a hotel across from the Convention Center, because there were about 20 of these buggies lined up waiting.
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By the way if you missed the comments on yesterday's post you have to see this -- AND MAKE SURE YOUR CLICK THE LINK TO THE PHOTO. It made me laugh and smile for a half hour.
Roadrider said...

I'm sure it's no coincidence that King Falstaff is oriented so that he is toasting the nearby Dixie Brewery on Tulane Avenue. You can see it in this photo

--steve buser

Weather ball signals winds of recovery

Work has begun on converting the old Falstaff Brewery into 149 apartments -- bringing an eye sore into a key landmark at a high visibility intersection for the New Orleans recovery effort.

The statue above (King Gambrinus, a 12th century Flemish nobleman who legend has it brewed the first beer) sits atop the 204,000-square-foot former brewery. More famous is the 125-foot sign below with 10 foot high letters that would light up. The ball at the top would change colors to predict the weather.

The ball turned green to signal fair weather, red to tell of cloudy skies and a flashing red light was warning of rain. If the letters of the Falstaff name were lit from the bottom up, the temperature was rising. When they were lit from top to bottom, the temperature was falling. Flashing lights on the letters meant a constant temperature.

Close up:
The brewery operated from 1936 to 1978.

Here's a great collection of old photos of the closed-down brewery.

Maybe just one more legend. Hank Williams chauver, Charles Carr, reported the country crooner was drinking Falstaff on the night of his death.

You remember, of course, Jerry Jeff Walker's line in "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" -- 'He sure did like his Falstaff beer. He liked to chase it down with Wild Turkey liquor.'

--steve buser

Theme Day: Cemetery

New Orleans cemetaries are mostly above ground because much of the city is at or below sea level -- caskets can have a tendancy to pop out of the ground. These tombs at the cemetary by City Park are a common site.

Today (October 1) is theme day on City Daily Photos (theme day is the first of each month) Check out these other sites who are posting for theme day today:

St. Louis (MO), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Mainz, Germany - Hyde, UK - Arlington (VA), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Toulouse, France - Arradon, France - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Joplin (MO), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Seattle (WA), USA - Baziège, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Anderson (SC), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Nashville (TN), USA - Tenerife, Spain - Manila, Philippines - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Jacksonville (FL), USA - River Falls (WI), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - Lubbock (TX), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Moscow, Russia - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Minneapolis (MN), USA - New Orleans (LA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand - London, England - Paderborn, Germany - The Hague, Netherlands - Selma (AL), USA - Sunderland, UK - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Stavanger, Norway - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Forks (WA), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Boston (MA), USA - Sydney, Australia - Wellington, New Zealand - Montpellier, France - Jackson (MS), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Evry, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - New York City (NY), USA - Santa Fe (NM), USA - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Cypress (TX), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Wichita (Ks), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Zurich, Switzerland - Budapest, Hungary - Paris, France - Saigon, Vietnam - Grenoble, France - Zurich, Switzerland


-steve buser