If you lived on Felicity, whether you lived in the Garden District or the Irish Channel depends on which side of Magazine street you lived. Closer to the river is the Channel. Prytania Street is definitely Garden District, or just Uptown once you cross Louisiana Avenue.
The Pair A Dice, the C-Note Lounge, and the Polka Dot Lounge? No, I never went into places like that, but I know what you're talking about. Too many hard luck cases in places like that, people who are down on their luck and don't expect to ever get back up.
New Orleans is the only place I am aware of in the US where the dichotomy between rich and poor is so stark. There's a middle class in the suburbs, but not much in the city proper. And it doesn't take a lot of money to live like you're rich in New Orleans, although of course there are the truly rich people who live in those mansions near Audubon Park. But people who are cultured, musicians, painters, writers, architects, historians, have a special place in New Orleans society, maybe because they present such a stark contrast to the vast population of illiterates and semi-literates, maybe something about the French culture? I've heard that Paris is like that, too.
I just ran across this, a web site for a gallery that a friend of mine has on Julia Row, which is the street I was talking about yesterday, where you had to be careful where you stepped because of the winos. It's mostly art galleries now. I think he's pretty good. George is one of the people who saved Julia Row - and he sings in the New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra. Did you ever hear them play?
georgeschmidt.com
louisianamusicfactory.com
Here's another gallery on Julia Row, belongs to my father's third wife's first cousin.
lemieuxgalleries.com
So that's what happened to the wino district - art galleries. |
