Mornings in NOLA - Exposed

01/08/2026

I can’t wait until I get back to the French Quarter and work on my next installment of Mornings in NOLA! While I have been gone, I have been thinking of new ways to view the neighborhood.

Might have to do a special post of our neighborhood in San Ramon. Hmmmmmmmm!!!!!

Happy Carnival everyone!

12/12/2025

12/11/2025

Christmas in the French Quarter

Many, if not all, people associate New Orleans and the French Quarter with partying, drinking, music and great food. They aren’t wrong. However, there is a group of business people, residents and homeowners that call this 6x9 block area “home”, and treat this neighborhood, much like every other neighborhood in this country.

They go all out to make this area special and bring that Christmas spirit to everyone that passes down these historic streets.

This morning on our walk, I took random pictures of the different ways people share that Christmas Cheer.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

11/13/2025

Flower Lilly (Fleur-de-Lis)
They are everywhere!

On this morning’s walk, I wanted to see how the City and citizens of New Orleans incorporate the symbol of French Royalty into their logos and signs and decorations. Some are really obvious, like on the Saint’s logo. Others, not so obvious like a Bud Light can. I am sure I missed a bunch, but I found myself looking for them in the smallest and unlikely places.

Good luck on your own quest for “Hidden Lillies!”

11/07/2025

All That Jazz….a trek around the French Quarter looking for Jazz signs, or signs of Jazz.

11/07/2025

All that Jazz!!!!

When people visit, the inevitable question will come up…”Where can we hear good music?” We have our short list of places to direct them to, and those spots are usually Jazz related (except for Fat Catz on Friday or Saturday). After all, Jazz was created here in New Orleans at Congo Square, now in Armstrong Park. We are proud of our Jazz roots. So proud, the word “Jazz” must be all over the French Quarter. Right????

We (my PIC and I) set out this morning at 7am, to see how many instances of the word “jazz” we could find. It wasn’t as many as you might think. We looked on buildings, signs, plaques, menues and so on, all over the French Quarter. We really tried……

The only thing I didn’t see, but expected to see, was a Flag from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival hanging off of a balcony or gallery. You know….thw yellow one! I also wanted to find a sign that had a Jazzy Pass logo, for the public transportation system here…mainly the streetcars.

I also assumed that Preservation Jazz Hall would have the word “Jazz” on the sign. Turns out, the sign says Preservation Hall no mention of Jazz hmmmmmm……I guess I have been calling it the wrong name all this time.

Keep in mind, we did stay in the FQ and did not want to wander outside our 6x9 block environment. I am positive we could have wandered up Frenchman Street and around Armstrong park, and found more instances of “Jazz”.

I bet we missed a few, since at the hour we went, most stores had not opened. Oh well….we did get in a 4 mile walk.

Till next time!

Oh….I did include one image of a statue of a band or second line, that I am going to assume was playing Jazz. No sign saying Jazz. I looked….

05/02/2025

This morning, I decided to dig out the REAL camera and take a walk up to City Park in New Orleans. It is so beautiful up there with the moss hanging from the Live Oaks, and the many little lakes and such all around. I think I walked somewhere close to 10 miles, before my SD card filled up.

09/24/2024

A Good NOLA morning to everyone! So glad to be back posting my morning photos of NOLA and to be back in the French Quarter. I checked and it seems we have somewhere close to 100 people following this page. That is pretty crazy, since I don't think I know 100 people. Anyway, please share this page with anyone that wants to see NOLA and the FQ from a different perspective.

Todays Theme: Wheels of NOLA

I woke up this morning to sound of a street sweeper going by our house. For some reason, 4am seems to be prime street sweeping time. Then come the garbage trucks and the ever so skillful garbage men that can return your can up and over the curb with one fling of an arm, landing with a loud bang on the side walk. Who needs alarm clocks in the FQ.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about all the different wheeled things in the FQ that we see every day, and how there is a certain "booting up" process to the French Quarter. For those that don't know, the FQ gets a fresh bath every morning, along with a sweeping, and clearing of garbage from the curb. They have to keep up with it, or it would become completely uninhabitable in a bout a day and a half!

I walked around this morning and saw the Quarter wake up. First was the previously mentioned sweeping and washing by the street sweepers, the water trucks and the specialized crew that steam cleans the sidewalks. After these folks pass, Bourbon Street is pretty uninhabited, except for the few bar owners that are washing out their bars with plenty of water and Pine Sol. Ahhh...the smell of disinfectant. It is so early, the homeless haven't started to dig through garbage cans and the swindlers haven't stated asking tourist "I bet I know where ya got dem shoes?".

About an hour later the fleet of delivery trucks, laundry truck, construction workers, linen delivery folks, Uber and Lyfts, police vehicles, and worker's cars start to move around the FQ and lining Bourbon Street and surround streets such as Royal and Chartres. Now here comes all the tour buses to take our visitors to see plantations and allegators. It looks completely different now, than it will look a few hours from now.

The last thing to arrive are the mule drawn carriages. I guess the mules get to sleep in late....or maybe they all just had a late night watching Monday Night Football.

Last thing....if you don't move your car in time for the street sweepers, you get your car towed (see last picture!).

Some of the following image are the typical images you might expect in a posting of Wheels of NOLA...the others are gonna be things that are more behind the scenes and a couple will be tongue in cheek.

Remember...these aren't works of art....just quick snaps as I walk around on my morning walk.

BTW...a few pictures that I expected to take, but didn't get the opportunity. I didn't get a shot of the trains that usually pass by on the Mississippi, a picture of the ever present ambulances in the FQ, a picture of the huge container ships that pass by Jackson Square. There were no cruise ships waiting to head out to sea, and I didn't get a chance to get a picture of the two military ships that are docked at the end of Crescent Park.

If I see any of these today, I'll be sure to post them!

Enjoy!

04/25/2024

Hey!!!! You!!! Stoop-id!!!

This morning, I headed around the French Quarter, and took notice of how many different types of stoops there are. What is a STOOP you ask?

Obviously, you haven't spent enough time in the French Quarter. See....a lot of the houses in the French Quarter are built up off the ground. There is a crawl space under your house to allow for air circulation and to keep your house off the moist ground., A stoop is the stairs leading up to your front door(s). However, in NOLA, it really is another outdoor leisure space to use. It is very common to see residents sitting on their stoop, "Holding Court"....meaning chatting with those that stop by to chit chat or maybe a neighbor that has strolled down. It is a lot of fun.

We have residents that "Hold Court" everyday. We even have a gentleman that lives on Bourbon Street, who calls himself "Mr. Mother-f**ker" and he holds court with anyone that passes by. He will offer you a glass of champagne and tell you about his days as a photographer for city officials. He has a lot of stories and you can't be in a hurry....lol! He is a French Quarter Gem!

OH....it is in poor taste to just randomly sit on someone's stoop,

Now that you know about stoops.....you won't be "Stoop-id" anymore!

04/24/2024

Murals and other artwork of New Orleans

This morning, I set out to take pictures of any murals that I came across around New Orleans while I was on my walk. I originally intended to only take pictures of something painted on a brick wall by an artist of some type. However, the first thing I came across was a control box in the middle of the street that had been painted.

I quickly adjusted my parameters, because quite frankly, I wasn't really sure I was going to find enough on my walk to fill a post. Click, Click, Click I went.

Then as I wandered into the CBD (Central Business District, not the oil from cannabis), started to come across old lettering that had been painted on the bricks. In my mind, this was just as much art as an artist painting a picture and you don't see a lot of it with the modern buildings going up. Click, Click, Click I went.

The one building I questioned taking a picture of, was a totally blank wall. However, even though it was a blank canvas, doesn't that make you wonder what you could put up there, if given the opportunity. Upon closer inspection, I realized the dirt or mold or mildew or whatever was up on the wall, made an interesting pattern. Click, Click, Click I went.

All in all.....this was a pretty fun project and before I realized it, I had walked almost 6 miles before I made it back to the house.

See....photography can be healthy!