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.

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.