St. Peter House Hotel

French Quarter Photos

by Ewingjr98

"Shoegate!"

"Iron balcony"

"Entrance to a courtyard"

"Night in the French Quarter"

I think this i sthe Napolean House

"House on Rampart St"

"Flowers in the French Quarter"

"View from the St. Peter House"

"Courtyard on St Peter St"

Louisiana

by Rusty_1954

"New Orleans and the French Quarter"

In the month of April,2003,packed up,I began another long journey,
the destination being New Orleans.The trip from my hometown,Pottsville,to
Louisiana took about eighteen to twenty hours. I made reservations at the
St. Peter House,a charming little Hotel on St. Peter street.The rates were
reasonable for that time of the year,around $89 per night for the one bed
room suite I stayed in.Free parking was avaiable at a nearby hotel affiliated
somehow with my hotel. It's located at 1005 St. Peter St.,just 2 blocks from
Bourbon St.I chose it because it was in a quiet area of the French Quarter,
yet reasonably close to everything.Once unpacked I head out to explore the French Quarter. New Oreans was founded by a Frenchmen, Sieur de
Bienville,in 1718.In the beginning the town was populated by unsavory
types such as convicts and prostitutes,who were let out of prison if they
would relocate to New Orleans.Meanwhile other immigrants and African
slaves came by the boatloads.A generation later the Creole came to be.
After the French colonized the area for nearly a century the Spanish came
to rule for twenty years or so.Thus explains how the French Quarter has become influenced to make it what it is today. Streets named in French
and Spanish,balconies with ornate iron railing work,courtyards with banana
trees, fountains and shuttered windows are a familiar sight.
The first thing I did was to get a plate of spicy gumbo.I went to the Gumbo
Shop which is located at 633 St Peter St.It's a casual atmosphere,but the
gumbo was great. One of the many things that were must-dos on this trip
was a ghost tour. I always had a fascination with ghosts,hauntings and
tales of the macabre.Before leaving my home I looked some tours up on the net and found one I wanted-Haunted History Tours. I found out at Reverand Zombie's Voodoo Shop on St. Peter St. that the tours met next
door to their shop at 8:00 PM. The tour began soon after schedule.Gen-
rally the guide took us to places that were well known to be haunted and
told us about the haunting.Who was haunting it,why,etc. The history behind the hauntings I found to be the most interesting part.I enjoyed
the tour and returned the following morning at 11:00 to take their cem-
etery tour. Again we met at the designated meeting place and were escorted to the St. Louis Cemetery #1 just outside of the French Quarter to the north.Our guide explained the cemetery as well as about the Voo-
doo Queen of New Orleans,Marie Laveau.I'll get more into these in the following chapters. Throughout the rest of my stay in the Quarter I shopped,had beignets and cafe au lait at the Cafe DuMonde,ate at
countless restaurants to sample French,Cajun and Creole dishes,took
a tour of the Garden District,the Voodoo Museum and a few swamp tours
which I'll go into detail later. My stay at the St Peter House was only for
a few nights due to my budget so I checked into The Creole House on
St. Anne St.,another small guest house in the Quarter.Upon leaving
there I headed out of town southward to the Bayou Segnette State Park's
campground approximately thirty minutes away from New Orleans.Here I
set up camp and stayed the last few nights in Louisiana. While there I took
a day trip in my car on what's known as Plantation Alley or the Great River Road. Heading west along the Mississippi this road runs from New Orleans
to Baton Rouge,however I went only as far as Vacherie then north over
the river onto Rte 10 eastbound to New Orleans.Along this route (Rte 18)
are oil refineries,trailer parks, and plantations. Upon reaching each plan-
tation I stopped and photographed them. My destination, Vacherie,was the location of Laura Plantation and Oak Alley Plantation. Being late in the
afternoon I only had time to visit one, so I chose Laura. I'll get more into detail in another chapter.The following day,my last,I headed southward
to the Barataria Preserve.Once there I visited the Jean Lafitte National
Historic Park and the town of Jean Lafitte. The trip was superb!

"Cemeteries and Voodoo"

When I visited New Orleans in 2003 and 2004 I took several tours of the cemeteries.St Louis Cemeteries #1 ,#3 and Lafayette Cemetery.The tombs
at all the cemeteries in the greater New Orleans area are above ground.