NO Adventure

Posted by: noadventure | October 24, 2010

The Myrtles Plantation

For a little weekend trip, we decided to head up to St. Francisville and stay at the Myrtles plantation. Before we got there, we went to some pretty cool WATERFALLS at Clark Creek Natural Area, but that’s another story for another week.

St. Francisville is a quaint and hilly, historical burg about 2 hours northwest of New Orleans. Visit the Magnolia Cafe for lunch when you get there(we did).

The plantation has a reputation for being one of the most haunted building in America. You will hear lots of stories of a ghost slave named Chloe that poisoned her masters and freaky mirrors that reveal other spectres when you snap a photo.

I was surprised at the haunted tourism that this place drums up. There were people from far away states who came just to experience the paranormal activity in the old plantation. The Myrtles’ grounds are pretty creepy in their own right.

There’s about 9 or so black cats that roam the property and complete the haunty cliche.

We took a night tour of the plantation’s haunted history and the guide informed us that our room, The General David Bradford Suite, had a reputation for its faucets running by themselves. Also, a ghost known as the Woman in Black, was supposedly particularly fond of lingering around our suite.

Here’s our room:

Kinda freaky. During the night, I heard weird little noises all night. One was a gibberish chattering – another was a dragging sound that seemed to come from the floor above us. The next day, I looked to see what room was above our suite and I found out that there wasn’t one; The roof was the only thing above that portion of the house. Hmm.

Here’s the whole story of the Myrtles.

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Posted in historical, night, plantation, road trip

Posted by: noadventure | October 17, 2010

NOadventure T-shirts are coming soon.

That’s really all I can say for now – it’s kinda top secret.

The t-shirts will be:

1 Awesome.

2 Free for Guest Writers(which is open to anyone).

3 $15 bucks(delivered) to anyone else.

Stay tuned for super scary posts coming up soon! Hint: the Myrtles.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: noadventure | October 10, 2010

Bike the WestBank

Editor’s note: This is writer Kevin Carlson‘s second guest post for NOadventure. If you have an adventure you’d like to share, email me about it – guest posters get a FREE NOadventure tshirt!

If you want a great bike ride with plenty to see and just enough miles to warrant a cold beer or two, hop the ferry with your bike at the end of Canal Street and take the lovely 5 minute boat ride across the Mississippi. Its free. The ferry ride is lovely and it gives you a whole new respect for New Orleans as a port city.

When you get off the ferry, head to your right where you’ll be greeted by a marvelous statue of the most famous ambassador of New Orleans, Louis Armstrong.

Head toward the bridge on the nicely paved levee for an easy 5-6 mile round trip ride. You’ll see a whole new side of the city. Along the way, you’ll pass thru Mardi Gras World where remnants of floats lean up against the buildings and soak up the sun.

The old river is on your right and you can actually see the shoreline and the tankers rolling by. You will be heading towards Gretna, a sleepy little town with a prominent water tower. Gretna is the home of the Gretna Festival, held every year in the first weekend of October. This year(2010) had headliners Reo Speedwagon, Doobie Bros, and Charlie Daniels as well as lots of local acts like Amanda Shaw. Imagine a mini-jazzfest complete with awesome food vendors and a great festival atmosphere, right smack dab on the river.

Peddling on the smooth asphalt of the levee is a treat, especially if you’re familiar with the potholes and ragged conditions of the roads here. On your 5 mile journey, you will go under the Crescent City Connection Bridge. It’s an awesome structure when you see it from this perspective.

Along the way you’ll see driftwood and every once in a while a gator will sun up on the banks. Don’t worry, just give him a few marshmallows and he’ll be on his way. There are egrets, seabirds, and occasionally a hawk will make his presence known. This part of the river is nice and you can actually see the water meet the shore. If you’re like me, you have to stop and launch a few rocks in the water; to NOT to do it would be uncharacteristic of me.

One of the cool things about this stretch of levee is that it is not that well traveled. You’ll see a few people here and there, but it is not as well used as the levee from Audubon Park to Harahan. You can bike for speed or leisure. The path is wide enough to accommodate anyone.

You’ll soon pass a refueling dock where tugs and tankers stop. It may sound unpleasant, but it’s really not. You’ll pass through it fairly quickly with only a touch of diesel in the air.

Next is the downtown area of Gretna. The levee path comes to an end near a Coast Guard facility, which gives you the option to head back, or explore the downtown architecture of Gretna. It is fun to experience this little American downtown with its historical buildings and pleasant landscapes.

Heading back, you may encounter a headwind coming off the water, but I have found that this only makes the beer taste better, knowing that the Olde Point Bar is open and ready to serve up a pint or two of your favorite suds.

It is closed in this picture, but they put out tables on the sidewalk and there are always colorful locals as well as tourists here; it’s truly a drinker’s landmark in Old Algiers. When you come off the levee, you simply keep going past the Ferry station and ride out against the one way on Patterson road(hardly any traffic). The Olde Point is famous for being used in lots of movies. In fact several locations in Old Algiers are readily used in feature films as well as HBO’s Treme series.

Another drinking establishment on the point is the Crown and Anchor, a British Pub with Guinness on tap to make your mouth water. They don’t have food per say, but you can get sandwiches close by at a wine and cheese shop called the Vine and Dine. There are other dining options as well, but not many.(Editor’s note: What about the Drydock?)

If you can navigate the potholes, exploring Old Algiers on a bike is a treat. The historical relevance and the charm of this place is truly beautiful. The ferry will sound when it’s backing away from the dock, so time yourself accordingly. If you hear the horn and you’re still drinking, you might as well order another because the ferry comes every 1/2 hour.

If you’re not into beer and you’d still like a beverage, Toot De Suite is a great little coffee stop.

Then its back to the Ferry down the sweet paved bike path.

The West Bank is pretty cool. Riding back on the Ferry makes you think about the old steam ships that filled this port. Makes you wonder about Spaniards, French, and pirates that make up the history that surrounds this awesome place.

Editor’s note: For more on the Westbank – check out the three part NOadventure Journey to the WestBank series:

Part 1: Algiers Point

Part 2: Jean Lafite Park

Part 3: Asia Minor

And don’t forget to vote on where you get your PHO! VIETNAMESE FOOD POLL

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Posted in beer, bicycling, festival, fitness, food, historical, river, urban, westbank

Posted by: noadventure | October 3, 2010

NOLA Brewery Tour

Did you know that NOLA Brewery offers a free tour every Friday at 2pm? Well they do motherf*cker!

The tour starts with a frosty pint – this sets the mood for a pleasurable tour that is heavy on beer and low on science.

For starters, beer is about hops… and they’ve got truckloads of that shit.

You’ll be invited to taste the hops – right out of this guy’s bare hand!

Next, you’ll take a stroll around the tiny warehouse brewery and your guide will explain stuff to you that you may or may not absorb, but that’s not important. Look around; have a good time.

Keep a look out for cool stuff like this…

or maybe you’ll see the tiny Godzilla brew dragon.

Later in the tour, you’ll see a bunch of these things. Later, I found out that most of the equipment NOLA Brewery owns was purchased “used” from other breweries that were expanding or getting rid of gear. WISE BUSINESS IDEA – buy used gear(write that down).

Did you know NOLA Brewery uses plastic kegs, which are better for the environment(recycled plastic) and weigh less? I bet you didn’t you ignorant bastard!

After the tour is concluded, there is an informal chat with your tour guide over a few pints. ALL NOLA BREWS ARE AWESOME. That day I had their Blonde, 7th Street Wheat, and their super hoppy Hopitoulas.

You can find the NOLA Brewery on the corner of 7th and Tchoup in the Irish Channel.

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Posted in beer, food, how to, socializing, urban

Posted by: noadventure | September 26, 2010

Oktoberfest @ Deutsches Haus

Last night we went to Deutsches Haus for perhaps the FINAL celebration of Oktoberfest at their original historic location. It’s a real shame that this place is being taken over by a hospital and getting torn down.

Incorporated in 1928, the Deutsches Haus was formed as a benevolent and social organization which evolved from the Deutsche Gesellschaft von New Orleans and several other Deutsche groups. The Deutsche Gesellschaft, whose origins dated back to 1848, provided support for the numerous German immigrants in the New Orleans area, providing them meals and housing, helping them find employment, and assisting them in reaching their ultimate destination in the United States and assisting them in become US Citizens.

Now, the place is basically a club for people of German ancestry, German speakers, and New Orleans German community members to hang out, socialize, organize philanthropic activities, and celebrate their culture with BIER.

Oktoberfest is celebrated at Deutsches Haus every Friday and Saturday evening at their original location at 200 S. Galvez. It’s only 8 bucks!

If this wasn’t the middle of a ghetto, I’d swear I was in Germany.

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Posted in beer, dancing, fall, festival, food, historical, night, socializing, urban | Tags: adventure, beer, deutsches haus, german, nola, oktoberfest

Posted by: noadventure | September 19, 2010

Scooter to Frenier Landing

The time had come for another scooter journey. My brother, Dave, was in town from Dallas and we wanted to circumnavigate the southwest corner of the lake to go to a coastal restaurant known as Frenier Landing.

This is the route we took, ‘cept that we used River Road the whole way to Main St. in Laplace instead of Airline(which you can see by clicking on the map and changing it from a WALK MAP to a BICYCLE MAP – no clue on why Google won’t let me embed bicycle maps).

As is our custom on River Road, we stopped in Rivertown, the sight of the first World Champion Heavyweight Prize Fight in the United States.

But oddly enough, somebody stole the other bare-knuckled boxer!? WTF? I hope the city of Kenner was just scrubbing some graffiti off of him or something. The lone boxer looks like one of those crazy dudes at the Greyhound station.

Next stop: the Spillway. Notice the flare in the distance from one of the nearby plants. This photo was taken at the RC airplane field.

Then… we saw a few huge mountains of trash around Destrehan/Laplace. Just look at all those different textures.

Stopped at a roadside park on Old 51 north and threw up a NOadventure sticker on this garbage can.

Not surprisingly, the garbage can contained a huge stash of porn.

Finally, we rolled up on Frenier Landing, right on the western shore of the Pontchartrain.

I spotted some possibly surfable waves from the porch. Everyone hits Pontch beach when the north wind is over 20 knots, but this might be the new spot if you have a hearty east wind.

Strangely enough, there is a stuffed BEARCAT in the restaurant. The plaque says that it was shot up the road. Never heard of this animal in Louisiana before so I researched it’s presence in the area. Here’s the story from the owner of the place:

“My name is Murry Daniels and I am the owner of Frenier Landing Restaurant and Oyster Bar. I received the mount of a binturong (common name is Bearcat)from a local LaPlace gentleman that shot the misplaced critter 1 mile north of Peavine Road along the railroad track while coon hunting in 1989. The event was published in the local LaPlace paper when it happened and the gentleman had the bearcat mounted by a local taxidermist. It was tucked away in his sisters garage in Metairie until someone told me about this strange thing that was killed 20 years ago. I met the owner and he offered me the mount to display in the restaurant. I had Heards Taxidermy in Baton Rouge (I am a homegrown LSU kid) touch up the mount and put it on some driftwood. The Bearcat is indigenous to South China and the surrounding islands. How it happened to be in Louisiana is a mystery. There were also three other accounts of binturongs in Louisiana. One was captured in the EXXON tankfarm and donated to the Baton Rouge Zoo in the early 1970’s and the other two were killed north of Morgan City, La. according to Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries.”

Here’s what one looks like:

I guess the story checks out. As we packed up to leave, I decided to let this 2 year-old borrow the keys to my scooter and give it whirl.

I whipped this poster up quickly which I deemed more appropriate.

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Posted in coastal, food, river, scooter, spillway, water | Tags: adventure, bearcat, frenier landing, new orleans, noadventure, pontchartrain, scooter trip, spillway

Posted by: noadventure | September 13, 2010

Snorkel Mississippi (Ship Island)

We hadn’t really been to a nice beach this summer and we’d never been to Ship Island. The summer was almost over so it was essential to squeeze it in before Labor Day.

Ship Island is a barrier island 11 miles off the coast of Gulfport, MS. You can take a ferry there from the Gulfport Harbor and the boat ride is about an hour. Pretty much guaranteed that you will see dolphins on the way out and on the way back in. The island(and all of the Mississippi barrier islands) are part of Gulf Islands National Seashore, which stretches from Cat Island, all the way east to Destin, Florida.

So basically, once you’re off the ferry, you’re in a National Park and there is no trash cans(pack in and pack out). This is a good policy because the beaches are spotless. They will give you a plastic bag to take your trash home with you if you ask; you just can’t leave it on the island.

The island also has a Civil War fort on it – Fort Massachusetts. We gave it a speedy tour ’cause there were mosquitoes all over that thing.

Next, we cruised down the boardwalk to the south side of the island(the open Gulf). This is where the idyllic beaches are. Ship Island is a cross between Dauphin Island and Pensacola with clear emerald water and white sand beaches. No trash – and about 50 guests on the whole island the Wednesday we went.

To save a bit of money, we brought our own pop-up shelter and chairs, but you could pay 20 bucks for an umbrella and 2 beach chairs. We also ate on the island. Their restaurant is really a snack bar that has hot dogs and nachos and stuff. No disposable cups; instead they give you a beefier Mardi Gras type cup that you get to keep and refill if you like. Of course, you can bring beer or whatever(just have to bring home your empties).

We found this cool shell to match one we found on the Florida coast in Ft. Walton.

The north side of the island(by the fort) had calmer water and more rocky features(which make a reef habitat).

I was amazed at how much stuff I got to see snorkeling in Mississippi! Stingrays, blue crabs, stone crabs, ladyfingers, pinfish, redfish, mullet, sergeant majors, damsels, hermit crabs, and a buncha fish I can’t name. Oh, and on the way back to the boat we saw a 3′ blacktip SHARK. He totally could have come up on me when I was snorkeling and I wouldn’t have known it.

Here’s the movie: