Civil Rights Trail – Chapter Five: New Orleans

Five unhurried weeks in New Orleans — living like locals through neighborhood diners, second-line rhythms, Mardi Gras season, Civil Rights history, and the everyday magic of the Big Easy

Published on September 15, 2024 – Narrated by Jim

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We could be in New Orleans right now.

Journaling our travels is like a two-fer. First, we get to go there, and later while creating the blog, we kind of get to go there again to say a proper goodbye.

But, whenever we think about New Orleans, it’s not about closure, it’s about planning our next stay.

We’ve been traveling long enough to know that any time of year New Orleans, for us, is preferable to the perfect time of year almost everywhere else.

We had three goals during our five weeks in the NOLA area.

First, we wanted to indulge in the best and most affordable cuisine in America. With both of us now living on Social Security, we planned to skip Commander’s Palace and dine like average residents who know that big flavor in the Big Easy need not cost big bucks. You just have to know where to go and when.

Our second goal was to extend our Novid status as far as possible by finding local music without entering crowded establishments. In New Orleans that’s called “taking a walk.”

The third goal was to fill our memory gaps with facts. We are the same age as the children who bravely integrated New Orleans schools. In the 60’s, we watched televised news reports of first-graders walking to their classrooms accompanied by law enforcement. We wanted to see for ourselves where this happened.

Our campsites

New Orleans has fabulous options for campers who plan ahead. For the first two weeks we camped 20 minutes from downtown NOLA at Bayou Segnette State Park.

The following two weeks we camped about 40 minutes from downtown New Orleans, across The Causeway on the north shore of Lake Pontchartain, near Mandeville at Fontainebleau State Park.

For the last five days, we boondocked for free at a Harvest Host location at Faubourg Brewery’s (now permanently closed) parking lot, about 15 minutes from downtown. Due to Mardi Gras season, the brewery was closed all but one night, so we were the only campers in this quiet parking lot near the Pines Village Neighborhood.

The Cuisine

My recipes bear testimony that Carmen and I crave the southern flavors of gumbo, crawfish étouffée, beignet, jambalaya, muffaletta … and New Orleans is our holy grail. Few places in the world can compete with the quality and affordability of New Orleans cuisine. So much to eat. So little time. We dove in and gave it our best shot. 😋

If you like crawfish boil as much as I do …

I will let you in on one of my secret “home cooked” recipes.

When camping at Bayou Segnette, grab your wallet and drive about a mile to the Rouse’s Supermarket and buy fresh boiled crawfish and fixins’ by the bag. Take it home and serve. C’est Si Bon

The Music

Finding music is no mystery. You just start humming “I’m Walking To New Orleans” and New Orleanians within earshot will likely join in. It’s just that kind of town.

The Fun

About a week before Fat Tuesday, the parades begin and excitement builds. The Mardi Gras shoulder-season is a great time to see the floats up close.

And the perfect opportunity to drop in on popular establishments for excellent crowd-free service.

There’s no better time to view the houses prepared for celebration …

and catch the festivals …

The Cycling

Our Dolphin eBikes were the perfect solution, since downtown parking is sparse and expensive. We cycled everywhere. The Lake Pontchartrain area is very bike-friendly with miles of off-street dedicated cycling trails right from the campground.

The Gators

In Westwego, we’d hoped to kayak beautiful Bayou Segnette, until we got a handle on the local culture. The rangers told us the gators will probably “bump your kayak” begging for a snack – you know, chicken nuggets, marshmallows, whatever you have on you … 😳 So, we decided to take a swamp boat ride to see for ourselves.

All I can tell you for sure is they are big, fast, and hungry for marshmallows and are determined to get them. These creatures are like family to the locals and most assuredly not on the menu, and thanks to my little chat with the ranger, neither are we.

The Wait

What can make me wake up at 4 am and stand in line for hours?

Carmen.

Well, to clarify: Carmen, and Dong Phuong King Cake.

I’d never heard of waiting in line for King Cake. I don’t even like sweets, so how did I find myself hanging out with 400 sleep deprived people to score my 3-cake limit?

It’s all James Beard’s fault. Carmen’s foodie-senses detected that only 10 minutes away from where we were camping, Mardi Gras exclusive, award-winning cakes that sell for 12 bucks a slice at select restaurants were being baked.

She began strategizing how, in two days, when we pull into the Mississippi Perry compound we would present her family with the rare and sacred cake.

With no bathrooms in sight, my focus never wavered. I understood my mission: to secure possession of 3 coveted Dong Phuong King Cakes and return to Beauty before Carmen’s first cup of coffee, or bust.

At Dong Phuong, the early bird takes the cakes. And Carmen said it was more than worth the wait 😆

The Freedom

The Louisiana Civil Rights Museum in downtown New Orleans features multimedia videos, oral histories, and a state-of-the-art Dreamcube.

The Dreamcube forges documentation into art, bringing history alive to recreate an immersive experience, so visitors can sense the urgency, grasp the complexities, and feel like a participant in the moments that gave birth to the Civil Rights movement.

Here we learned about the 105-mile march from Bogalusa to Baton Rouge, and what led up to school desegregation in New Orleans, and how the city continues to process the outcome.

School Desegregation

We also visited two schools we saw on national news in the 1960’s as they initiated the agonizing national work of desegregation.

On November 14, 1960, four African American girls changed school systems nationwide.

Gail Etienne, Tessie Prevost, and Leona Tate walked into McDonogh 19 Elementary School to attend their first-grade classes, effectively integrating the traditionally all-white school.

On the same day, six-year-old Ruby Bridges walked into William Frantz Elementary School.

Some say that Louisiana was slow to jump on the Civil Rights Trail. We say, “when it’s time, it’s time.” And what better place than New Orleans to discover the meaning of Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness!

The Wrap up

We’ve been to New Orleans many times and this was, by far, the longest time we’ve ever stayed, and the most authentic experience we’ve ever had. We never felt rushed and we stayed on budget. The state parks located in old suburban neighborhoods are less touristy – places where the locals go to camp and fish.

Something keeps calling us back to The Big Easy. Each time we return we feel more like locals with a better understanding and appreciation for the cuisine, the music, and the most unique cultural history in America.

You can see our exact route on this map.

*Photos in this post, unless otherwise noted, were taken and copyrighted by Living in Beauty.

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