Monday, November 02, 2009

Running in New Orleans

One of my real pleasures. I love to get up right around sunrise and go out and run through the French Quarter and Marigny streets and down along the river.

I had to take it easy this trip because I'm coming off of a foot injury, but I still got out every other morning for a nice run. The typical run wove through the Quarter and into the Marigny and then down to the Governor Nicholls wharf.(Click on the pictures to make them larger.)Gotta love Governor Francis Nicholls. Before he fought in the Civil War, he was a lawyer. Fighting as an officer for the CSA (Confederate States of America for you yankee readers), he lost his left arm at Winchester. But he kept fighting and went on to lose his left leg at Chancellorsville. After the war, he returned to the practice of law, and in 1876, he ran for governor as a Democrat, but a good one--one who championed smaller government and lower taxes.
He won the election, served two terms (1876-1880 and 1888-1892) and then became Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court and held that position for 19 years, from 1892 until 1911. Not bad for a guy with one arm and one leg. Now he has a street named after him and in 2009, another lawyer with one leg runs on it whenever he gets the chance, just because.From the Governor Nicholls Wharf, I ran along the river to the ferry crossing at the foot of Canal Street.Then I ran up the neutral ground on Canal (that middle strip between the traffic lanes, where the street cars run) to Dauphine St. and back into the Quarter for a return to our hotel, the excellent Hotel St. Marie. (I cannot say enough good things about this hotel.) All told, I put about ten more miles on my running foot, and it now sports it's own French Quarter Parking Permit.

I like to think that Governor Nicholls would be impressed.

And of course, once the healthy activity for the day was out of the way (and after I showered), we spent the rest of the day dining, drinking and sightseeing. I think Nicki will be writing a review on the various Bloody Marys served at each bar in the area. She typically started drinking them at breakfast and finished up around midnight or so.

She also ate oysters, both raw and broiled, something that she once said that she'd never do.

4 comments:

  1. Zachariah4:10 PM

    My parents and I went to New Orleans last March. We stopped at Drago's and ate oysters and lobster.
    Best restaurant in the city, in my opinion.

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  2. Cafe Du Monde and "healthy run" both in the French Quarter?

    C'est impossible!

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  3. Actually Ed, the nice folks at Cafe Du Monde have been kind enough to give me water when I run through. I then repay the courtesy by returning for Cafe Au Lait and Beignets later. It's all good in the end.

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  4. Anonymous5:17 PM

    your pictures bring back fond memories, I was there last year and one other time when the heat was unbearable the the srefreshments were great but that's another story

    pop

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