New Orleans: Venturing Outside the French Quarter

Painted map of New Orleans by Laura's friend Mary. Find her website here: MCRomaguera.com

When visiting New Orleans, it would be easy to get trapped inside the myriad of alleys in the French Quarter and just stay there; however, there's a lot more to see in this historic, gorgeous city. I was lucky to have a "tour guide" native to the area, who took me to family dinners and backyard hangouts. Here I'm showcasing three other areas of New Orleans that you might wanna see: Lakeview, St. Charles Ave., and Frenchmen. 

In Lakeview, a cute family area lined with trees, I got to see a tiny house in person (I'm totally fascinated with this!).

 Can I just live in one of these things?!?

 Derek, who built the house, had us stay for a few beers by the fire. He also made this fire pit, crafted out of a washing machine drum--gotta love the South and their crafty ways! 

Lakeview is clearly more residential, but gave me a good feel for how people in New Orleans live. When traveling, I love getting a sense of the real city, including taking a stroll in the local supermarket (Rouse's, in case you're curious). For this kind of traveling, Lakeview is a good spot to stop at. 

Moving on...I didn't take enough pictures of the "Uptown" area because I was too busy gawking out the window. Old money is apparent here, where houses got grander the longer you cruise down St. Charles Ave (seriously, just google St. Charles Ave and you'll see what I mean). We did grab brunch in East Riverside, which looked like this:

I was particularly fond of the Frenchmen area, complete with even more color and art than the French Quarter could provide. We went on Sunday night and there was an outdoor art market taking place:

Laura and I caught a spectacular free jazz concert at d.b.a., which I highly recommend. One of my most favorite things about New Orleans was the amount of good music played on every corner. In fact, If I were to pinpoint the feeling of New Orleans, I would say it's all about expression. The sheer amount of music, art, attitude, and flair this fair city has is admirable. Below, I thought I'd showcase a couple more of Mary's paintings to further prove my point: 

New Orleans has style! Hope you venture outside the French Quarter to see it (wink).