Biking is easier in the Big Easy

by Gadling Staff on

New Orleans is a magnificent city by bicycle. It’s flat, temperate for much of the year, has lots of streets with slow or no traffic, and, as reported in the Times-Picayune, a growing number of bike lanes (about 30 miles and counting). To tap into the local biking scene, start with the Metro Bicycle Coalition. From there you might check out the monthly New Orleans Critical Mass ride, and the racing group New Orleans Bicycle Club.Rent some wheels from any of several services throughout the city. I got a comfy coaster bike from Joy Ride Bike Rentals (504-982-1617). $30 gets you a bike, helmet, and lock-all delivered to and picked up from your hotel or other location anywhere in the city. That was the cheapest and most convenient of the services I looked into, but others include Mike the Bike Guy in the Touro district (4411 Magazine St., 504-899-1344); or in the Faubourg Marigny district, there’s Bicycle Michael’s (622 Frenchman St., 504-945-9505).

Now, what to do once you’re on your bike? There’s ample information online about the city’s famous French Quarter, Garden District, and other areas. For information on these and other districts, visit NOLA.com, or check the comprehensive listings offered by the alternative weekly Gambit New Orleans. That said, let me highlight a couple less well-trafficked neighborhoods, both of which happen to be just north of more famous and touristy areas.

Cruise around Central City (just north of the Garden District) and look for signs for the “I-Witness” project. Dial the main number on the sign (504-265-1116), punch in the code for that spot, and you’ll hear a story from a local about what the neighborhood used to be like, or maybe a jazz funeral that took place there. Stumble upon stories at random, or check the website for a map. (I must reverse myself to say just one thing about the Garden District. A lazy trip on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, which runs through the district, is one of the most sublimely pleasant experiences I’ve enjoyed in the city. You might consider taking the streetcar-or your bicycle-all the way out St. Charles Avenue to Audubon Park, which is also home to the city’s zoo.)

Just north of the French Quarter, it’s fun to cycle around the Trem (“Tre-MAY”) district, which is the setting for the HBO series of the same name. I’m a fan of the Backstreet Cultural Museum (1116 St. Claude Ave., 504-522-4806), a house museum about the Mardi Gras Indians and other black New Orleans traditions. Just a few blocks away is the New Orleans African American Museum, with small but strong art and history exhibits (1418 Governor Nicholls St., 504-566-1136). A short ride north of that is a veritable gallery of murals (commissioned by the African American Museum) painted on the pillars supporting the I-10 overpass, on North Claiborne Ave. between Orleans and St. Bernard Avenues. After your exertions riding around, go have a po’ boy sandwich or the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet at Li’l Dizzy’s Café (1500 Esplanade Ave., 504-569-8997).

A ride to the gorgeous City Park is well worth the effort (northwest on Esplanade Ave. from the Tremé, or zigzag on smaller streets). Take a relaxing ride or stroll among the oak trees that populate the park, or take a boat ride (weather permitting), or visit the New Orleans Museum of Art. For cheap eats, visit the Parkview Café. If you’re in the mood for something more upscale, try Ralph’s on the Park (900 City Park Ave. 504-488-1000), a pleasant spot for drinks (I had their tasty lychee margarita) or a meal.

New Orleans, of course, has ample festivals for bicyclists to ride to. Check complete listings here. The Mardi Gras season kicked off on Twelfth Night, January 6, and continues through Fat Tuesday, which falls on March 8 this year. Throughout the season, there are parades and parties for nearly every taste (not just those drawn to the famously raucous French Quarter). For complete Mardi Gras coverage, go here.

Eager to get deeper into the city’s culture? For a street-level look at New Orleans (and some inspiration about places to ride your bike), be sure to pick up one or more of the excellent books published by the Neighborhood Story Project, available online or at many bookstores and other shops throughout the city.

For the soundtrack to your trip, tune in to New Orleans’ “Jazz and Heritage” station, WWOZ, 90.7 FM. For safety’s sake, don’t listen on headphones while biking. Instead, check the website for listings of live music, and don your safety gear for a ride to clubs where some of the city’s superlative musicians will transport you beyond where your bike can go.

Top 10 travel spots in the United States

by Tom Johansmeyer on

So, Orbitz noted when we like to travel … but where do we go? The top 10 destinations in the country were mostly predictable, with big tourist-magnet cities dominating the list. There were a few surprises, according to the information supplied by Orbitz: Boston, for example, didn’t make the list, after having ranked ninth in 2009. Los Angeles, fifth in 2009, also fell off in 2010. New Orleans and Honolulu debuted last year.

In the top 10 U.S. destinations last year, average daily hotel rates rose, yet some spots, like Las Vegas and San Diego, still offered great bargains, with rates well below 2008 levels still.

So, which cities are among our 10 favorites? Let’s take a look below!

1. Las Vegas, Nevada: Vegas was hit hard by the financial crisis – expect to see some deals there for a while

2. New York, New York: how can the Big Apple not be an ongoing favorite?

3. Chicago, Illinois: the top city in the Midwest just had to make the list!4. San Francisco, California: forget Los Angeles, this is the place to see out west

5. San Diego, California: again, this is a great alternative to Tinseltown

6. Orlando, Florida: remember that there’s more to Orlando than the theme parks

7. Honolulu, Hawaii: if you’re going to spend some time on the beach, do it right

8. New Orleans, Louisiana: it may have taken a while, but the recovery following Hurricane Katrina is definitely under way

9. Washington, DC: the allure of the nation’s capital can never be resisted

10. Miami, Florida: where else can you see and sample so many great bodies in one place? You have to check this out!

[photo Fabrizio Monaco via Flickr]

Bowermaster’s Adventures: Checking in on the BP spill cleanup

by Jon Bowermaster on

Reports last week from the beaches of Alabama and Mississippi suggest that the post-BP gusher cleanup continues, with varying degrees of success, and that new oil continues to show up.

Near the Alabama-Florida border, a placed called Perdido (Lost) Key, BP-contracted crews have been sifting sand for more than six months to try and get rid of tar mats buried nearly three feet beneath the sand.

Having suffered 50 percent losses in tourist’s dollars last summer, the effort is being made to insure the areas renowned white sand beaches are pure white by the first of the New Year. The idea is to next move the process west along the coastal islands of Mississippi and the marshlands of Louisiana, using slightly different systems.

But locals in Perdido Key tell the Times that while a BP spokesman says he expects to eventually get “99 percent of what’s out there,” all the sifting and shifting of sand is not getting rid of the oil, just spreading it around.

Near Harrison, Mississippi, crews have been cleaning oil and tar balls off the beach for 200 days and the work continues, with expectations that it will last through next summer. A BP spokesman there says each crew is picking up 20 to 30 pounds of tar balls a day, by hand, since machinery has proved inefficient against the “small, oily clumps.” Along with the visible tar balls scattered along the shore, there is also concern about possible sub-surface oil buried beneath a layer of sand.Just offshore Harrison, the low-lying sand barrier called Horn Island took the brunt of the oil spill; heavy machinery is still being used there to try and clean it up.

Suggestions that the oil from the spill and its long-lasting impact is mostly gone seem to be exaggerated. About 135 shrimp and fishing boats are still at sea aiding in the cleanup; another 1,200 boats are waiting to be scrubbed clean and decontaminated at more than 20 dry docks across the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 9,000 square miles of federal Gulf waters remain closed to fishing; bad weather has kept crews from getting enough species to sample and decide whether to reopen some of that area. It’s estimated that the daily cost of the cleanup has dropped to $27 million, from a high of about $67 million … a day.

Different cleanup concerns are being voiced about the Chandeleur Islands at the mouth of the Mississippi River off Louisiana. That’s where Governor Bobby Jindal and his troops attempted a quick fix at the height of the spill, bulldozing thousands of tons of sand in an effort to build-up berms to try and prevent the oil from reaching the marshes and shores.

Unfortunately, according to my friend Ivor van Heerden, a coastal restoration expert who’s been monitoring the impact of the spill since the very first day, that berm-building process buried oil as deep as seven feet. Since it was halted no effort has been made to retrieve that buried oil. He predicts normal winter erosion will unearth it and send it on to the shoreline.

He is concerned that local politicians may be purposely dragging their heels on proper clean up as a way to keep attention – and federal dollars – focused on the state.

“A few weeks back I had the opportunity to speak to some researchers at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and in their opinion Louisiana has become a ‘victim’ state. It cannot manage its resources well enough to generate sufficient income; instead it looks to get ‘payout’s’ from time to time. They also pointed out that this is a very slippery slope for a state.”

Flickr image via GT51

Bowermaster’s Adventures – Measuring the extent of oil spillage

by Jon Bowermaster on

With the six-month anniversary of the BP spill now in the rear view mirror the company as well as a variety of officials both federal and state would like the world to believe the oil is gone.

But photos and first-hand accounts from Barataria Bay recently show the opposite – oil still reaching high into the marshy grasslands, baby crabs and adult shrimp covered by crude, slicks on the surface.

If you didn’t know it was November the scene is reminiscent of July, the height of the spill, with haz-mat suited workers rushing around in small boats, booms and vacuums still being deployed in attempts to clean up what is clearly still a mess. According to P.J. Hahn, Plaquemine Parish’s coastal zone director, more than 32,000 gallons of oil were sucked out of nearby marshes in just the past 10 days. “People think it’s over, but look around,” says Hahn.

This oil plaguing Barataria Bay is not newly arrived, but has rolled in since the well was officially capped on September 19th. While the Louisiana coastline considered “heavily oiled” (more than half an inch) has decreased from 54 miles in early July to 28 miles today, the total amount of Louisiana shoreline impacted by oil has grown from 287 in July to 320 miles today.

“In some ways it’s worse today,” Hahn said, “because the world mistakenly thinks all the oil has somehow miraculously disappeared.

“That’s simply not the case.”

%Gallery-107702%

Best college restaurant: Good Morning America wants your vote

by Sean McLachlan on

For most of us, college was a low period in our culinary lives. Ramen, macaroni and cheese, beer for breakfast. . .ah, the memories!

When we got tired of contributing to our freshman fifteen with junk food, there was always that one place that served up something a little better, a little special. If you’ve been to college, or even if you haven’t, I bet you just thought of that place right now.

As an undergraduate in Tucson my favorite was a grimy dive bar called Mike’s Place. It served its last under-aged drinker years ago, closing down in the face of “urban renewal”. In graduate school in Columbia, Missouri, my fave was Shakespeare’s Pizza, which serves up delicious pizza right next to campus. It’s the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve been to Rome. Even The Pizza Files gave it a good review.

Now Shakespeare’s is one of four finalists in Good Morning America Weekend’s Best Bites Challenge. On this Saturday’s show they’ll announce the finalists and tell you how to vote for your favorite. They’re not very good at keeping secrets over at ABC, because the Columbia Tribune revealed the finalists to be Sandwich University in Morgantown, W.Va.; Öl Stuga in Lindsborg, Kan.; Camellia Grill in New Orleans; and Shakespeare’s.

Personally, I know Shakespeare’s is the best because I’ve never been to those other places. How can they compete?

What was your favorite college hangout? Reminisce in the comments section!