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!

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.

Warning: this is really depressing.

When Katrina hit back in 2005, it drowned Six Flags - New Orleans. Drowned it completely, ruined 80% of the buildings and irreparably damaged all the flat rides. Some rides were rescued and taken to other parks, but others are sitting and rotting where they were left.

Six Flags - New Orleans is considered an abandoned park.

I was doing some research on abandoned parks recently -- there are dozens listed on Wikipedia alone. I can't think of many things that are more depressing.

I'll be visiting NOLA in April and spending time at Carousel Gardens; can't wait. Part of me feels like taking a taxi out to the graveyard of Six Flags. But I just don't think I see the point.

Katrina impacted so many people and changed the lives of those who live in the area for ever. I honor the survivors and hope this abandoned park can either be re-opened or that the land can be used as a fresh green space, a new source of life for the Crescent City.

So much time and so little to do - strike that. Reverse it.

Willy Wonka knew what he was talking about. Perhaps, unbeknownst to us, he was planning a vintage amusement park journey as well. I've always thought he was bequeathing the chocolate factory to Charlie because he himself was terminal or something (think back to the final scene in the original film, where Wonka sits in his half room. Was this a reflection of how he saw himself: half a man, ready to die? Always wondered...)

ANYWAY -- I've visited 15 parks thus far; I've got 25 to go. But where and how do I narrow my focus? What I'm loosely planning is to tackle them in groups wherever that's possible: a group of eastern PA parks, NY state parks, parks that dot New England, and, of course, southern CA parks. But scattered about the country are parks who, like the chesse, stand alone. Carousel Gardens in New Orleans. Flintstones' Bedrock park in Custer, SD. Two parks that are drawing me like flies to molasses up in OR.

So in the next few weeks, an actual schedule will be assembled. And Cotton Candy Twins will Unite again!!

Snowy blowy...

Woke up to around 5 inches of snow. Knew I had to manage rush hour morning traffic, but was only driving to Wheaton, so that's a lot less intimidating than trying to circumnavigate going into the city. Made it to my audio book session in record time, no worries.

But stepping foot out into the tundra got me fixated on warmer climes, warmer times and more amusement parks in the future. I took a gander at my pin map; I have a huge map on my western office wall, filled with pins. Black and white for the places I plan to visit, and blue, red, green or yellow for those I've visited and written about. Right now, the earliest opening park I could potentially visit, if I get a really good deal on Hotwire or somesuch site, would be Carousel Gardens in New Orleans (opens weekends starting in March). I'm just chomping at the bit to go there: dates back to 1906, and FDR did a lot to rejuvenate the space. It's listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.

Beignets, Cajun music, and a ride on a vintage carousel. THAT'S spicy!!