Below is a map with the location marked of all of the Uptown New Orleans Halloween decorations mentioned in yesterday’s post. If you want to set out tonight to give your favorite ones a closer inspection, hopefully this will serve as a useful resource in planning your route.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of customizing a route, here’s my advice: Definitely drive St. Charles from downtown to Carrollton. Except for the projection house at 2nd and Magazine, skip this major artery and instead drive back on Pitt or, if you don’t want to deal with the potholes and stop signs, Prytania, (though you’ll have to witch to Prytania when you hit the Touro district).

The biggest concentration of decorations are ‘west’ of Jefferson, so as you make your way back downtown, I’d weave through some of the  streets running towards the river, prioritizing in this order: Octavia, State, Nashville, Calhoun, Walnut.

Happy Halloween Hunting & Haunting, and if you like this resource, be sure to share on FB and then email to let me know. If the response in enthusiastic, I’ll compile a similar resource at Christmas!

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HONEY ISLAND SWAMP: MOTHER NATURE’S VOODOO

If you look to the right as you cross the Louisiana border on I-10 West from Mississippi you’ll spy miles and miles of unspoiled wetland dubbed Honey Island Swamp by European interlopers who observed the 5×20 mile island at its center completely swarming with honey bees. Still filled with alligators and a few black bear, this dark, receding Cypress swamp is at the same time inviting and foreboding, much like nature’s version of voodoo. No wonder its mystique is burrowed deeply in local lore. This was a filming site for Oscar nominated Beasts of the Southern Wild, a popular spot for the growing number of highly rational ‘reality TV’ inspired Sasquatch hunters, namesake for one of my favorite local bands—Honey Island Swamp Band, and a popular recreational escape for nature-loving locals and New Orleans Tourists seeking pause from the never-ending party on Bourbon Street.

Something about Honey Island Swamp‘s dark waters, tangled Cypress trees, deadly snakes, lush vegetation, and ancient reptilian guardians teases the imagination back to a day when man wasn’t master of his environment, luring us to a simpler but more dangerous time. Thus, as I build my catalogue of popular New Orleans Tourist Attractions, I heeded the Siren’s call and escaped the city on a beautiful early autumn afternoon to lower my blood pressure in the rugged but pristine solitude. (For you can thumb your nose at it all if you have a boat and a knowledgeable guide!)

ALLIGATOR SHOW & NATURE TUTORIAL

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