The Algiers Ferry - New Orleans, LA

Crescent City Connector

I took the ferry to Algiers the other day.  I could have taken the bridge (pictured above) but it's so darned windy up there on my little motorcycle, and there is nothing really to see.  I prefer the ferry, which costs the same.  The toll to get to the West Bank of the Mississippi River is nothing.  To get back to the East Bank, it costs a dollar, whether you choose bridge or ferry.

This isn't to say that the bridge does not offer panoramas.  It does.  It is wiser to pay attention to the cars and trucks zipping by, and the road conditions, than it is to enjoy the landscape below.

New Orleans World Trade Center

Notice that I refer to the East Bank and the West Bank of the river.  The ferry runs from New Orleans to New Orleans.  Algiers is a neighborhood within the city, though it is separated by a wide ribbon of water.  It's a different world over there, but one that I feel comfortable in.  It is New Orleans.  The bridge has an Algiers exit, and then the highway runs through Jefferson Parish, which includes the City of Gretna, and then miles and miles of unincorporated places.  As a New Englander, I have little patience or respect for unincorporated places.  Jefferson Parish is wide and vast, and if the people who live there cannot be bothered to form a government, I have a hard time taking that seriously.

Of course, the views from the ferry are beautiful.  Another photo, that would be fit for a tourist brochure:

Saint Louis Cathedral.

There is some talk about doing away with the tolls on the Crescent City Connector because the dollar is too much an imposition for the people on the West Bank.  Crimminy!  A dollar!  When I paid the first time, I almost got off the Little Ninja and danced a jig!  From East Boston to Boston through the Big Dig Tunnel costs $3.50 the last I remember, and they are both part of the same city.  To get into Boston from the Massachusetts Turnpike is even more.  The last time I crossed the George Washington Bridge in NYC, it cost nine bucks!

People will disagree, but I think if you want to live in the suburbs and pay your property taxes there, while working in the city, you should pony up a little to keep up the infrastructure and opportunity to continue to do so.  Yes, it does cost five dollars to spend a work week in New Orleans, or elsewhere on the East Bank.  That is the equivalent of a draft beer and a tip that gets spent in thirty seconds.

Let's meet our New Orleans City Council

The following images and designations were taken from the New Orleans City Council website, this morning.  Its address is .com vs. .gov for some reason.

City Council President (according to the website)

City Council Vice President (according to the website)

District A

District B

District C

District D

District E

I don't want to put too fine a point to this photo essay.  The reader can make his or her own conclusions.

The most important two-wheeled tip

Kymco 2011 Like 200i

The lady of the house is taking the Motorcycle Safety Course to get a motorcycle endorsement on her driver's license.  I recommend everyone take it, and, yes, take a refresher from time to time.

I took it several years ago, and should take it again, so I don't remember the acronym that stands for being alert and aware all the time.   The lady of the house asked me what is the most important thing you can do while riding.  My reply:

"Always look.  Look six inches in front of you, then look ahead.  Look from side to side.  Look for anything that may be a hazard.  Anticipate hazards before they come into your path.  You can make eye contact with everyone else on the road, but that only means you see them, not that they see you.  They do not see you.  Expect that.  Look in your rearview mirrors, but don't let someone behind you distract you.  Look ahead.  Always keep looking and gauging the risks ahead.  When you let your guard down, that is when disaster will strike."

I think that is good advice.

Ninja 250XR, 2006 model in City Park, New Orleans, LA.

I took the Littlest Ninja out after two weeks of riding the motor scooter exclusively.  The Ninja's engine was coiled like a spring, ready to roar.  It felt quite intimidating after two weeks of lazy puttering around town.  Fifty miles from home base, and I was in the groove again, leaning into curves at reasonable speeds, and shifting intuitively.  The whole time, I was looking, always looking for the next disaster.

The power that a motorcycle grants needs to be treated respectfully by the driver, because no one else knows what powder kegs reside between a motorcyclists legs.

Drive safely.
Baleanius Rex!
WK

Finding a good reuben in New Orleans.

A good reuben.

A good reuben sandwich is a thing of beauty.  New Orleans has a long history of active and robust Jewish community, but the kosher fare, or even a good Jewish deli, is hard to come by.

There is Stein's Deli on Magazine Street.  They make a good sandwich, but I haven't tried their rueben.  Stein's is pricey, and they tend to go heavy on the meat.  This isn't a bad thing, as any New Orleanian will tell you, but I prefer balance over a heavy hand at the slicer.  For this reason, and for this reason alone, I have resisted the temptation to try Stein's reuben.

You might think that I would also avoid Parkway Tavern's reuben sandwich, but you would be wrong.  While Parkway is famous for its messy, overstuffed sandwiches (as I have happily reported elsewhere in the archives), the corned beef is mellow and savory, and everything else is added in just the right amounts.  A reuben is the sandwich I order most often at Parkway.  This hasn't stopped me from looking farther afield.

We went to the Kosher Cajun today, at 3519 Severn Avenue in Metairie today.  Already, my New England fustiness about what constitutes New Orleans, disqualifies the Kosher Cajun's sandwich from being the best in the city, but other people are not so particular about municipal boundaries.  It is a nice deli, don't get me wrong, but like anything, some things get lost in translation.  The bagels, for instance, are frozen and flown down from the New York metropolitan tri-state area.  I'm not saying which state is their point of origin, but it isn't the Empire State, and it isn't the Nutmeg State.  There is nothing wrong with this, but, being the stickler I usually am, if I get a New York bagel, I expect it to originate in Queens.  So it goes.

The Kosher Cajun makes a good reuben.  It isn't the best I've ever had, and I still prefer Parkway's.  I will certainly be going back to this deli when I am in the neighborhood.  That is a rare occurrence, but it does happen occasionally.  They do carry the full line of Dr. Brown's soda, and I love to slake my thirst with a Cel-Ray, so there is icing on this cake.

Celery tonic.  Cel-Ray refreshes!

I have heard rumors that the best reuben in New Orleans can be found at Cooter Brown's in Riverbend, of all places!  They take their beer and their oysters seriously.  There is no reason to think they don't take their pastrami seriously.  From what I can gather, Cooter Brown's uses pastrami rather than corned beef.  This is not a concern.  Rumor has it that the pastrami is shipped special delivery, COD from New York City on a regular, weekly basis.  I don't see the reuben listed on Cooter's menu, but you never know until you try.  I foresee an exploratory errand in my future.

Credit where it is due:  The first illustration, of a reuben, is courtesy of stickygooeychef.  That, my friends, is a really good sandwich.

Don't play with firecrackers!

WPA poster

I am briefly out of commission due to a mishap.  I should have read that poster more carefully.

Balaenius Rex!