New Orleans and Bayou by Bike

For the Big Easy, we had a big rush – Amtrak’s intermittent scheduling through New Orleans meant that we could only have 3 days in town. Having our bikes with us made even our brief, full visit feel chill. It was easy to let our plans come together slowly, as we could see so much of the city just cruising on our bikes.

I got serious on the train with Charles, sat him down and made it clear that we needed to eat out three times a day the whole time we would be in NOLA, because of how many different restaurants I wanted to try and areas of the city I wanted to visit.

We stayed at the Brandywine by Sextant, a 5 minute walk from the Amtrak station and a 25 minute walk from the French Quarter, with plenty of close food, drink, and shopping options. The neighborhood (Central Business District / Warehouse District) felt completely safe, no matter how late we were out, without being very crowded. Everything was really clean, a very pleasant surprise, especially compared to the Bay Area these days.

The Brandywine was not so much a hotel as an apartment building, but about half of the units do not have any windows – beware. We had a choice between a studio with no window and a two-bedroom with windows, so we went with the two-bedroom apartment. It was really a blast, fun decorations, tons of room, good showers, everything functional. There is a rooftop pool and hot tub, which we did not use, but was a very chill space.

The Brandywine did not seem to have staff… at least not often. The front desk was unstaffed 99% of the time, other than an iPad on wheels with a video feed to someone off-site. Awkward. The other unit we looked at had laundry, which we thought our unit would have also, but it didn’t. There were no staff to ask about it. The room had a big touchpad where we could submit a service request, which was answered by someone off-site. We didn’t get the info we needed until the last day we were there, but they did have a communal laundry option on the 5th floor, so we were able to get clean before our bike ride from D.C. to Pittsburgh.

Having the bikes in NOLA was awesome, despite the condition of the roads (aka pay attention when you are biking and engage your core early so your wrists don’t explode). Our first day, we rode from the Warehouse district to City Park, zig zagged across the park, out to Lake Ponchartrain, up the levee, along the lakeshore, to Deanie’s for lunch, and then along the 17th Street Canal Trail on our way to the Metatarie Cemetery. On the way there, Charles lost his crank on the left side, popped clean off. Fortunately, all the necessary pieces were located along the trail, and we put it back together.

We spent some time in the cemetery, looking at families and epitaphs and decorations. We noticed one man, born in New Orleans in the 1790s and died in the 1870s, who could feasibly – without moving – have lived in Spain, France, the United States, the Confederate States, and the United States again.

On the way home from Metatarie, we passed a mechanic wearing gear from Bayou Bicycles along the Lafitte Greenway, and asked about a torque wrench to get the right tightness on Charles’ crank. He asked what the torque range was (40+ N), and just recommended “ooga booga” without overtightening with a too powerful wrench. We also cruised to RideTHISBike, to potentially get fenders and a bungee. The guys there were awesome, really friendly, knowledgeable, and talkative. Even though we could only get the bungee, it was a really worthwhile trip.

Even with the pandemic, music was unescapable – not that we were trying. Our first night, we went for a midnight walk in the neighborhood and stumbled into the Hot 8 Brass Band at Howlin’ Wolf, who fully lived up to their name and tore the roof off the venue. They play every Sunday night, tickets are expensive but seemingly if you go late enough they just wave you in.

Even with the pandemic, music was unescapable – not that we were trying. Our first night, we went for a midnight walk in the neighborhood and stumbled into the Hot 8 Brass Band at Howlin’ Wolf, who fully lived up to their name and tore the roof off the venue. They play every Sunday night, tickets are expensive but seemingly if you go late enough they just wave you in.

We skipped Bourbon Street altogether (touristy music, drinks, and strip bars) and spent our time at venues on Frenchman Street and in Treme. The Royal Frenchman hotel had phenomenal jazz, and their backyard courtyard ended up being where we spent the most time. The Broadside was also a fun venue, skewed much older but great adirondack chairs & good COVID protocols (but underwhelming music).

We got really lucky with our weather window in New Orleans – it rained the week leading up to our arrival, stopped in the morning of the day our train arrived, then started raining the afternoon we left.

I highly recommend visiting… by car. The bike ride was not for the faint of heart, most of the way. The river crossing on the ferry was lovely, then the first 3+ miles are on a beautiful and well-maintained bike path along the river. Then you get into the pitted streets and surprises.

Our route got completely changed by a bridge closure (but we got to talk to a construction worker with a great local accent), so we considered our options and re-routed through Harvey Tunnel (awful), next to I-90 (not ideal, even on the designated bike path), through some neighborhoods (okay…), and a very busy street (not my favorite). The neighborhoods and busy street would have been part of either route, so even with the bridge open it’s not an easy recommendation to make.

But as we got further from the busyness, first into less crowded neighborhoods, then into big greenery and quiet roads, then into the din of the bayou… it was so special. We pulled in to the visitor’s center parking lot, locked the bikes, and spent the next 4 hours walking the 4-mile round-trip boardwalk. The boardwalk was magical – loud with frogs and birds, shockingly green, with flowers and cypress trees dotting the view. The water itself was coated in tiny green leaves.

We saw alligators, frogs, snakes, birds, bugs, and greenery to infinity and beyond, and… armadillos! I had never seen them in the wild before, they were so cute and so close, I could not believe it. Very socialized, they ignored us and just kept digging for snacks.

After the armadillo section, it transitions from bayou to marsh – which is where we saw the most alligators, and met some hilarious local guys telling tales in thick Cajun accents about sinking Texans into the mud and how many alligators there were when they were kids.

We stayed in the Central Business District, so a lot of these places were within a 30 minute walk, but having our bikes with us meant that we could go anywhere without worrying about parking, and while exploring the neighborhoods around each restaurant. The positive atmosphere around eating & drinking is really comfortable – it was so great to be ready to leave a bar and have them offer you a “to go” cup for your beer. We had many walking beers as we explored the city.

Other recommendations (we missed on this trip because of when they were open, how limited our time was, and various COVID closures):

• Cochon – oyster BLT and baked oysters, pork belly sandwich
• Domilse’s – poboys / bar
• Felix’s – oysters
• Napoleon House – shrimp remoulade and pimm’s cups
• Stanley’s – any of their soft shell crab meals, especially benedict or poboy
• Acme Oyster – baked oysters
• Elizabeth’s – brunch
• Willie Mae’s – friend chicken
• Lola’s – Spanish cuisine with NOLA atmosphere. BYOB for waiting in the line – it can take a while to get in, so everybody does it, and make new friends while you wait.