Celebrate Arbor Day with a Visit to New Orleans' City Park and Carousel Gardens!

http://neworleanscitypark.com/

Thanks to my Facebook pals, I was reminded it is Arbor Day!  Which is super, because I'm going to have time today to work on our garden, prune the Ginkgo tree, and spruce things up in general (no, no spruces are involved, unfortunately).  But it got me thinking about the parks we visited for the book (which can be purchased directly from CreateSpace, because of course you want to do that: https://www.createspace.com/3840248 ) and I immediately was festooned with images of the beautiful-doesn't-fully-describe-it Carousel Gardens, part of New Orleans' magnificent City Park.

For those who've never been, City Park is huge, it contains all manner of entertainment and amusement, including an art museum, concerts, a dog park, recreational facilities of all sorts, and Carousel Gardens and Storyland.  Storyland is totally kiddie-sized, featuring various fairytale scenes and characters for kids to romp around in and around. 

Ben, my over-sized kid, making his way through the ACTUAL child-sized entrance to Storyland.

Mother Goose, herself. Avec goose.

 

 

Carousel Gardens is the amusement park, which contains wondrous things, like the ride it's named after, their gorgeous carousel, which battled the flooding from Hurricane Katrina, and WON.

The plaque, witnessing how the carousel WON.

Close-up of carousel horse.

There's also a miniature train ride, which circles the south end of the park, extending from the amusement park proper and into the "outside world" of picnickers and strolling couples and old folks settin' a spell under the magnificent oaks.

And about those oaks.  Here's my tribute to Arbor Day, thanks to the copious amount of photos taken at City Park.  Spanish moss drapes provocatively from nearly every branch, enveloping portions of the parks, providing cooling shade, and adding a touch of moodiness and magic.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Arbor Day.  And if you're in the greater New Orleans area, now you know where to go.

Meet a Hurricane Katrina Survivor

On August 29, 2005, we all watched in horror as Katrina bore a gaping hole into the heart of New Orleans. Survivors sat on their rooftops, waving flags in an effort to grab the attention of a rescue helicopter. Survivors moved into small FEMA mobile homes (many found to be asbestos-laden). Survivors told anyone who would listen about their trials and triumphs, lives lost and hope furtively grasped.

Since wooden carousel horses aren't exactly chatty, let me tell the story of this particular survivor. Katrina ravaged NOLA's City Park with 10 feet of water at the north end, 4 feet at the south. Luckily for the carousel, dating back to 1906, the building which housed it was raised up; 10 inches of water hit the historic landmark. Still, a flood of that depth can do a lot of damage; floor boards were warped and needed replacing, some horses were lost, but most escaped the deluge and, with some tender care, not only lived to see their 100th birthday, but are still giddy-upping today.

The Carousel Gardens carousel is a beautiful specimen, a tribute to days gone by. But most of all, it's a love letter from the people of NOLA to themselves, to their tenacity and bravery under almost unfathomable conditions. When Mother Nature decided to wipe the Park's slate clean, the people of the Crescent City stood firmly and rebuilt the park, removing hundreds of dead plantings and replacing them. It took painstaking care to refurbish the carousel (the park received some generous monetary donations, but local volunteers did the hands-on work to revive it). The result: a honey-toned, golden sunrise of a ride that delights all who visit it.

Good things come in small, itty bitty packages...

...like Storyland, part of Carousel Park in New Orleans' massive, "twice as big as Central Park" City Park. That's me knockin' on the door. Do me a favor, open the door and let me in!
Well, no one responded, eventhough I keyed in the musical combination that played Mozart (or was it Rachmoninoff?), so I continued my tour through the park, encountering a melange of storybook characters and scenarios, like Jack and the proverbial Beanstalk:

Perhaps he was escaping from the dragon who's menacing behind me in this photo:

But while I was winding up my visit to Storyland and ready to venture forth into the main amusement park, I had to quickly close the gate behind me so I didn't let out this little guy, who I believe had me mistaken for someone named "Mary" for some reason and I got this feeling that anywhere that I went he would be sure to go:

Dodged that one. Although I'm sure it would make the children laugh and play to see a lamb. I guess they're easily amused that way.

He'll sell no amusement park before its time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wTcH49N-8A&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Before I go in-depth into my maiden sojourn to NOLA this past weekend and my wonderful visit to Carousel Gardens, I just had to post this commercial from 1971 for Walt Disney World, narrated by Orson Welles. I TOTALLY remember this spot -- and how hippy trippy it was.

Happy (almost) 40th, WDW!

Pipe organs, brass rings... and Sazerac Slings.

Oh, wow. Just wow. It doesn't get much better than this.

We'll soon begin our maiden voyage to the Crescent City and our visit is shaping up to be splendid. Carousel Gardens Amusement Park in the afternoon, Muriel's for dinner, and drinks at the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone, a carousel-themed old school classic. Read the following article to learn a bit more about the bar. And its haunting.

Seriously -- for me an amusement park in a haunted, historical city and a finely-crafted Ramos Fizz to top off the evening, while my wonderful hubby enjoys a Pimm's Cup? Heaven.

Oh yeah. The bar revolves. So not too many Ramos Fizzes for yours truly.

The Wisdom of Don Draper

Soemtimes people ask me why a book about vintage amusement parks means so much to me and what's the hook, what will the general public get out of it? Recently a fellow voice actor actually came right out with this undelicate phrase: "A book about vintage amusement parks? But what would be your audience? Why would I want this book?"

Perhaps "Mad Men's" Don Draper puts it best. "Nostalgia. It's delicate... but potent":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2bLNkCqpuY

Watch and learn.

PS Ironic that this is entitled "The Carousel" and I'll be visitng Carousel Gardens in New Orleans and putting back an Old-fashioned at the Hotel Monteleone's Carousel Bar, a vintage bar originally installed in 1949, during the infancy of Mid-Century Modernism.

New Orleans' Carousel Gardens

http://neworleanscitypark.com/guides.html

Click on this link to learn about how Katrina affected New Orleans City Park and its amusement park, Carousel Gardens. Cuz I could write about it right now, but my words don't have the gravity pictures do.

Go to the Hurricane Katrina Inside Guide and then to the two-year pictorial review.

Carousel Gardens was severely damaged by the hurricane. Now, I knew this from some prior research, but I didn't investigate far enough to find this Inside Guide with the terrible photos that tell the whole story.

New Orleans is truly a miracle city. We'll be paying a visit in a week or so and I simply can't wait to take it in and to honor the park that rose up from the destruction.


A plaque recognizing the donors to the reconstruction of the amusement park, dedicated August 25, 2007.

Your fearless author tackles the unknown...

It's been one day now, almost the full 24 hours exactly, since my Kickstarter goal was achieved! Those of you who pledged, again, I thank you with the strength of a thousand smiling suns. The funds will be sent to me electronically on the 17th. And then the real fun stuff begins: planning the trips to the remaining fifteen parks. For those who are curious, here's a rough list: there's a park in New Orleans, a gaggle of parks in Southern California, a pride of parks dotting the East Coast. There's one single wan little park in South Dakota, two unique ones in Oregon, and one more park I can actually drive to up in Green Bay, WI. And there you have it.

Now, what we're coming up against, well, not soon but presently, is cold weather. Parks can't operate in cold climates - this past weekend at Silver Dollar City, plenty of signs bore witness to this, with the threat of ride closures if temperatures reached below 40 degrees. So the next parks I visit will be in warmer climes. Probably the Southern Cali parks, and that lone park in the Crescent City, a sturdy little city park, a survivor of Katrina.

I'll definitely keep you posted when the next trip is planned, which will probably happen after the Holidays, more than likely closer to February. Until then, boy oh, do I have some stories and photos to share. Like this relatively embarrassing one posted above (taken in June at Arnold's Park, IA).

Hey, what can I say? I give.