new orleans - city park

after consuming what amounted to like 3 pounds of food at li'l dizzy's, we continue our trek up esplanade in order to somewhat walk off our lunch. we pass by st. louis cemetery no. 3 and take a bridge crossing over bayou st. john, where we arrive at the beautiful and serene city park. at 1,300 acres, it's the 6th largest urban public park in the US and actually 50% bigger than NYC's central park.

parkour out front

POV from museum of art

dueling structures

mirrored pond

home to a wide array of attractions and activities for the young and old, we visit the sculpture garden first, where we're confronted by a number of creative and unique pieces of art. here are just a few:


from there, we make our way to the conservatory of the two sisters, where an abundance of color brighten up the otherwise overcast day:

conservatory front

under the dome

flower garden

outdoor tent

conservatory rear

possibly my finest photo

in the rear of the park, we locate the miniscule japanese garden and the train garden, a magnificent recreation of the city of new orleans with trains and streetcars making their way thru.


seeing as it's 3:30pm, we start to wind our way back to the front of the park, as we have to make it back to our b&b by 5:45pm for our taxi ride to the airport. a few more shots to round out city park:


exiting the park, we make one last stop at parkway bakery & tavern to grab a couple of po-boys for the plane ride home - grilled catfish for heidi and fried shrimp for me. fully dressed, of course:


and with that, our short but great adventure to new orleans comes to an end. with the big easy still fresh in my mind, the one thing that keeps coming back to me is the sense of community and civic pride inherent in all of the locals. hurricane katrina did nothing but harden their steely resolve, so i'm thrilled and proud - as an american - to finally visit this wonderful world and see first-hand why people say there's no other city like it...