Tag Archives: French Quarter

New Orleans: Proud to Kill at Home

She Said:

Albert Glover

Joshua Lewis

Gisela Dagmar

Alba Valladares

Do any of these names ring a bell? If not, they should.  Each person listed was murdered in our city streets. In 2010, there were 175 individuals killed in New Orleans. Men, women, children, the elderly, locals, and visitors are represented in that number. As of a month ago, we had already lost 145 in 2011, 43% of whom were male and under the age of 25.

Would you be sickened if I told you the murder rate in NOLA is five times the national average? Don’t worry, that was just a hypothetical question.

Our murder rate is actually ten times the national average.

1000%

Chew on that for a minute Continue reading

Fear and Prudence: Safety in the French Quarter

He and She Said:

Just how dangerous is this city?

A moment’s Google search will give you more information than you ever wanted about safety (or lack thereof) in the French Quarter. Much of it, however well intended, via tourists whose grasp of the rhythms of the Quarter is suspect by definition.  There is this, for example, from Virtual Tourist:

When walking, try not to dress up too, too much unless you are armed. It’s actually a good idea to be armed at all times.

And this, from Yahoo Travel:

I’ve been in the military and served overseas and have only felt this same sense of personal threat from areas hostile to the US. I was walking down Burboun Street around 2 a.m. and it was like a scene out of the old movie, Escape from New York. I never saw so many thugs, dealers, and street walkers in my life. Not a place to take children nor is it safe for anyone – female or male.

As you can imagine, we’re not in agreement with those assessments. That said, you’d have to be a fool not to recognize that, sadly, NOLA can be a frighteningly violent place, and there was an armed robbery on Governor Nicholls last week.

We’re NOLA natives, and we have a residence in the Quarter, so we thought we might share our perspective on the issue.

Continue reading

Everyone Had Their Clothes On: Candy Bar

He Said:

Absolutely, positively, no one got naked. I swear it.

Candy Bar, 908 Bourbon, has been open since September. Hmmm…Candy Bar. Hmmm…Bourbon Street. We divide things up at this blog, so I told my wife I’d handle Candy Bar. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Imagine my shock when I discovered desserts, sweets, and specialty foods. We were nosing around, checking things out, and I was all, ‘So is anyone gonna like, get naked or anything?’ The situation was made even worse by the fact that my wife was actually with me at the time.

So, no strippers here. Despite the absence of visible thongs this place is really very interesting. Check them out right away, because I don’t know how long  they’ll keep their doors open.

Continue reading

Things I’m Loving

She Said:

I’ve  had the fortunate opportunity to partake in a whole slew of adventures over the past 9 months and it would be impossible to include them all in this blog based upon my recent slacking tendencies.  Instead, I’ve decided that maybe it would suffice to highlight those experiences/things that stood out.

In true rant fashion, there is no rhyme or reason to the order of my list.  If I offend anyone with the below opinions, well, I do have a very finite take- just ask my husband.  By the way, this does not necessarily reflect his perspective either.  I’m just sayin’.

Continue reading