November and December are wonderful months to discover New Orleans. The oppressive summer heat has loosened its grip, hurricane season is winding down, and the city has room for a different kind of magic.
Good memories are made on Esplanade Avenue every day. I see them unfold.
Esplanade is one of the great streets of New Orleans. All day long, bus tours and bicycle tours pass by, while visitors stop to photograph the houses. The avenue is beautiful during the day. Lit up at night, it's enchanting.
La Belle Esplanade puts you right here, in a neighborhood where there's always something to discover.
Walk one way and you'll find a goat down the street at Lost Coyote, along with a swimming pool. Kermit's Mother-in-Law Lounge is two blocks beyond that. Late nights under the Claiborne Avenue Overpass belong to another world of New Orleans culture.
Head in the other direction and there's the New Orleans Museum of Art and its sculpture garden, St. Louis Cemetery No. 3, and Bayou St. John. Saint Mother Cabrini once lived up the street. Venerable Henriette DeLille worked out of St. Augustine Church in Tremé, home to the oldest Black Catholic parish in America.
The Degas House is on the next block, as is the Musée de f.p.c., devoted to the history of Free People of Color. The Tremé Petite Jazz Museum and the Backstreet Cultural Museum are within walking distance, too.
And then there's everyday New Orleans.
A cigar bar. An Ethiopian restaurant. A bakery. A coffee shop operating out of a little Chinese Pagoda. A Cuban fellow running the corner coffee and sno-ball stand, and another coffee shop with more shade. There's Discount Express, the Church of I Am that I Am, Community Bookstore, and whatever happens to be going on in one of the little vest-pocket parks scattered around this part of town.
The live oaks are here all year. So are the unexpected details, the neighborhood characters, and the little discoveries that never make it into a conventional sightseeing itinerary.
November and December bring their own pleasures to New Orleans, from holiday traditions and seasonal celebrations to evenings made for wandering the city streets. You can spend your days exploring museums and historic neighborhoods, find a favorite café, listen to music, or simply see where the afternoon takes you.
You don't have to chase every attraction. You don't have to follow a tour guide holding up an umbrella. You can settle in, take your time, and experience the city at your own pace.
If you open your eyes in New Orleans, you're opening yourself to possibilities.
La Belle Esplanade is your headquarters while you stay. Come discover New Orleans this November or December.
Visit like you live here.