A closed restaurant. So much of New Orleans dining is not yet close to recovering, even though luxury commercial high rise buildings surround this spot and busy office workers and vacationing tourists are all nearby. Perhaps not yet enough of them. And beginning a business takes a lot of money, any kind of business. You have to be able not only to start up and open the doors but stay afloat as business builds - and that in the best of circumstances!
This is actually one of the hopeful views: a commercial high rise being renovated and restored. A small army of workers gather here every morning.
Looking into a courtyard. Moments before I snapped this picture the largest damned rat I've ever seen slithered across the courtyard. [Apologies to the sensitive types but a reporter's gotta tell it like it is.]
Here is a closer shot of the window framing from the prior post. If you really want to see the detail, click on the photo to enlarge (not because my photography merits enlargement but because detail is so fascinating... for some of us, anyway).
This has some nice detail too, even if the pic is a bit washed out.
I absolutely love the rhythms in this building. Nice proportions too.
A close-up at the restaurant. Whaddya think: should I treat myself some evening?
Here we have the Baronne Plaza Hotel, another historic building from the 1930s with its deco style. This is the one with the painted panels in its windows.
I include this because the biotech firm I worked for in Emeryville, California, was in old laboratories of Shell Oil, and we thus occupied "The Shell Building." This New Orleans edifice is now a place with luxury condos and corporate apartments. The retail portion of the building is not yet developed.
This is a fun building. The red granite portion of the facade juts out slightly at the bottom, so it all slants back as it rises. Very disorienting when we expect vertical surfaces of buildings to be plumb! I think it constitutes some really nice detail.
The next few photos are of the historic Charity Hospital of New Orleans. I especially wanted to include these because some years ago my ex's father worked here as a young doctor. When I was last in New Mexico and we were enjoying a Father's Day dinner, he inquired about it and I gave a rather blank look in response. I had not heard of it and wondered in what part of town it might be. The joke was on me when a quick check of Wikipedia (see the link above) provided the address."Oh," I responded, "I have been driving past it every night. It is just down the street from the Tulane Medical Center hospital cafeteria where I eat most of my lunches."
It is an immense facility, now empty. You can read about its history and fate at the link above.
This was a quick shot while waiting at a red light. No, I did not take photos while driving.
Here we have a courthouse, as all the bail bond sites in the neighborhood testify. Doesn't it just reek of solidity and civic power?
Actually, the central portion is rather nice with good columns. "The administration of justice is the foundation of liberty" reads the inscription. Hmm. I should rather like to see justice administered in this nation once again.That is tonight's tour. We'll see what happens this Sunday. I may play vegetable again or I may go romping about.
Shabbat shalom!
--the BB
