This week’s Photo Friday (#FriFotos) theme is PARKS. Pictured above is Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, the oldest bar in New Orleans (and possibly one of the oldest in the US). It’s named for Jean Lafitte, the famed pirate and privateer who supposedly used the bar, on Bourbon Street in the Lower French Quarter, as a base of operations from 1772 and 1791.
So you are probably thinking, “Hey, that’s a bar, not a park.” Well, yes, the Blackshop Shop lies inside of a park, as the French Quarter is one of six sites making up the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park & Preserve.
The other five sites include:
- Acadian Cultural Center – Lafayette
- Prairie Acadian Cultural Center – Eunice
- Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center – Thibodaux
- Barataria Preserve – Marrero
- Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery – Chalmette
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Very Cool New Orleans is one of the places I most want to visit in the US when I next return. Thanks for sharing
Iain – if you need some tips, please let us know. Chris spent 7 years in New Orleans working as a reporter for the Time Picayune paper, and I spent 4 years in Baton Rouge, just one hour northwest of New Orleans. The food there is outrageously good!
I would love to travel to New Orleans sometime soon. Maybe next summer!! Thanks for sharing this information!
Jenn – summer is VERY hot and humid in NOLA. If you can handle dripping wet humidity, even at night, then you are ok. I think the best time to go and see the city is April. Weather is nice (unless there is rain) and the Jazzfest is at the end of April. Mardi Gras is fun, but maybe not for a first timer who wants to see the city without the crowds. However, there are always people there, since it’s a fun destination.
Cool! New Orleans was my first trip abroad. Would love to see the city through grown-up eyes.
@Sophie – New Orleans is awesome! Definitely go.