Happy Halloween!

BRIDEZILLA!

WEDDING WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Friday, October 22
• Rehearsal Dinner (for some of us): 6:30 pm, Hotel Monteleone River Room
• Get Together (for anyone who wants to get together): 10 pm or so, All-Ways Lounge, more info below

Saturday, October 23
• Wedding: 3 pm, Truck Farm (our back yard!), enter between 3014 and 3020 Saint Claude Avenue
this will flow into:
• Wedding Party: 7 pm, Truck Farm
this will flow into:
• Wedding After-Party: 10:30 pm, Saturn Bar (across the street)

Notes:
Don’t eat a big lunch. We’ll be having dinner around 5 pm.

This is a long day, and you should stay only as long as you want to. The wedding becomes the wedding party at 7 pm -- when lots of our New Orleans friends will join us. (We’re told this is called an “Irish Wedding.”) At 10:30, we’ll move across the street to The Saturn Bar, for more festivities and another one of our favorite bands, The Geraniums. There we’ll be until Eric and Bailey (the father–daughter dynamic duo of the Saturn) make us leave…or until you call yourself a cab, hop on your bike, or otherwise depart. United Cab is a good one to call: 504-522-9771 and 504-524-9606.

Sunday, October 24
• Brunch: 9 am to 1 pm (come whenever), Hotel Monteleone Royal Salon
• Music: Jeremy Lyons and the Deltabilly Boys (one of whom is the groom!), 10 pm, d.b.a., more info below

FAVORITE THINGS, PLACES, AND EATS IN NEW ORLEANS

One of our favorite things to do in New Orleans is bike around and stare at everything – houses, trees, people, street names, flowers. All the neighborhoods along the river – from Downtown, where we live, all the way through Uptown and up to Carrollton are great for this. Biking up Esplanade to Bayou Saint John and City Park is also GREAT. If you don’t want to bike, take the street car up St. Charles. Don’t forget to get off and wander around in the direction of the river.

Listening to music is essential, and the easiest thing to say is: go to Frenchmen Street (between Royal Street and the River.) We also recommend going to Preservation Hall. They’re open every night, 8 -11 pm, St. Peter Street in the Quarter. WWOZ (90.7 FM) plays great music and broadcasts who’s playing where on the odd hour, as well as on their website, wwoz.org.

Eating wise, we LOVE breakfast and lunch at Satsuma (Dauphine Street, near Piety, Bywater). We also love Cake Café for food (corner of Spain and Charters, Marigny) -- which serves breakfast and lunch till 3pm every day but Monday. Coffee can be found at Sound Café (Port and Charters, Marigny), Orange Couch (Mandeville and Royal, Marigny), Café Rose Nicaud (Frenchmen near Royal, Marigny) and Croissant d’Or (Ursulines, near Chartres, Quarter). Beignets and café au lait at Café Du Monde (Decatur Street near Jackson Square, Quarter) are SO worth it. Adolpho’s (above the Apple Barrel on Frenchmen near Charters) is one of our favorite places to eat dinner. Across the street, at 536 Frenchmen, our friends just opened a great tapas restaurant called Three Muses, serving dinner every day but Tuesday from 4 to midnight. Coop’s Bar (Decatur at Ursulines Street in the Quarter) has yummy New Orleans food of all varieties. You can get a good po-boy anywhere. Really. Any corner store will do a good job. Get it “dressed” and we recommend shrimp or oyster, if they're local. Napolean House (St. Louis and Charters in the Quarter) is great for food and Pimm’s Cups. If you want BBQ, our friends Pete and Jenny can feed you pork at The Joint (Poland and Dauphine Streets, Bywater.) You’ll need a car to get to Crabby Jack’s on Jefferson Highway, but it’s well worth it. Also accessible by car are our favorite Vietnamese restaurants on the West Bank – Pho Tau Bay and Kim Son. You can get yummy food in two Marigny bars -- Vietnamese food is served at Love Lost Lounge (Dauphine and Franklin, Marigny), and right down the street, in the upstairs of Mimi’s (Dauphine and Royal, Marigny) you can get yummy tapas.


Looking for a good place in the French Quarter to get brunch?
Folks just love Eat and the Green Goddess. All the information is right here:

http://www.greengoddessnola.com/
http://www.eatnola.com/

THE TRAIN, THE TRAIN!

So, we live really near some train tracks. It is very common for a train to park itself across Saint Claude Avenue (alongside Press Street, two blocks from our house) and just, well, sit there. Apparently this is necessary for some reason. We have our ways of getting around it, but if this fate befalls you, we recommend just waiting it out. It’s a New Orleans experience, after all.

TOASTS

There will be time for short (2 – 3 minutes) toasts at the wedding. The eloquent and delightful Lauren Weber will be presiding as our toast master. Obviously, there won’t be time for everyone to make a toast, but if you’re interested, you can talk to Lauren at the wedding!

FRIDAY NIGHT GET-TOGETHER, October 22

On Friday night, our talented friends from New York, Jan Bell and Will Scott, will be playing at the All-Ways Lounge (2240 Saint Claude Avenue) starting a 10 pm. (This time is a slight change!) We can therefore think of no better place to get together and see folks. There’s no cover, so don’t forget to tip the band; it’s the New Orleans way.

Also on Friday night, the groom’s long-time musical collaborator and friend, Jeremy Lyons, will be playing at d.b.a (618 Frenchman Street) with the Members of Morphine. The bride and groom will probably head over there on the late-night side. If you’re up for it, you should join us! $10 cover.

SUNDAY BRUNCH CHANGE

The location of the Sunday brunch has changed slightly. It’s still in the Hotel Monteleone, but it’s now in the Royal Salon, still from 9 am to 1 pm.

MUSIC TO SEE ON OTHER NIGHTS

If you’re in town on other nights… let’s hang out! Here’s where we’ll probably be:

note: Sometimes, I find the music in some clubs a bit too loud, but with a pair of foam ear plugs, it's perfect! I recommend throwing a pair in your pocket/purse/what-have-you.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT
The Treme Brass Band gets the entire Candlelight Lounge (925 North Robertson Street) grooving around 10 pm on Wednesdays. This is one of the last clubs in the Treme. It may now cost $5 to get in, but it is well worth it.
and
Our friend and neighbor Alex McMurray will be playing in one incarnation or another at d.b.a. at 7, followed by the very funky and well dressed Walter “ Wolfman” Washington at 10. This also has a $5 cover.

THURSDAY NIGHT
(The birthday of friend and luthier extraordinaire, Matt Rubendall!)
If you’re in town and prone to dancing (or just prone to enjoying great music) join us at the Hi Ho Lounge (2239 Saint Claude Avenue) to hear the Stooges Brass Band. This is one of my favorite brass bands. They start playing around 10 pm. I showed up at 10:30 last week and the joint was jumping. By 11 it was smoking, inside and out –where there was BBQ cooking! It’s ladies night, which means a mere $2 for ladies to get in; guys are a few dollars more. If you want a small taste of their sound, listen to this mp4.



SUNDAY NIGHT
If you are still in town, you do not want to miss Jeremy Lyons and the Deltabilly Boys play at d.b.a (618 Frenchman Street). Not only are they great, but you will get to see a very cute deltabilly boy (the groom!) on the upright bass-- one of his most entertaining incarnations. $5 cover.

HOW TO DRESS FOR THE WEDDING

We -- the bride and broom – are going to look GREAT. We will be wearing a dress and a suit, respectively (and both tailor made for our bodies!) We hope you plan to look smashing too. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable and like what you're wearing. Also, don't forget to check the weather! It could be in the 80's; it could be in the 60's. (Lately, it’s been dry with highs in the low 80’s. In other words: gorgeous.) If it looks like there’s going to be a lot of rain, you will probably want your rain boots.

PARKING

Our wonderful neighbor Didi is letting us use the parking lot of her store for folks who will be driving to the wedding. Her store is on the corner of Saint Claude and Montegut Street, right next to the Truck Farm. The entrance to the lot is on Montegut, which is a one way street going toward Saint Claude. An easy way to get there is to pass our house, make a right on Clouet Street, go two blocks, make a right on Burgundy, and make a right on Montegut. Just before you’re back at Saint Claude, make a right into Didi’s parking lot. If the lot is full, find street parking.

GIFT INFORMATION

In case you can’t find the card we put in your invitation, here’s what it says:

Please don’t feel obligated to give us a gift. And, as a general rule, please do not buy us anything; we have enough stuff (though our artwork-by-friends collection is rather dismal!) If you are bound and determined to give us something, we will happily accept donations to us or to:

Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program
Working to save our precious and much maligned coastal wetlands – our nation’s most quickly vanishing landscape and the estuary which drains 2/3 of the nation’s sediment.
http://www.supportbtnep.org
Ask for your donation to go to “restoration plantings.”

Farm Forward
Working to change the course of farming so that it is more sustainable, less environmentally destructive, and less cruel to people and animals.
http://www.farmforward.com/

Or plant a tree where you live or anywhere else. Feel free to send us a picture!

SOME OF OUR FAVORITE BARS

The following are bars, and not necessarily musical venues. To hear music, in addition to all the places we’ve mention on this blog, a good bet is to cruise down Frenchman Street between Royal Street and Esplanade Avenue. Music is literally coming out of the doors. Also, check out WWOZ’s Livewire Music Calendar for a comprehensive list of who’s playing where each day: http://www.wwoz.org/new+orleans+community/music+calendar
But onto the bars…

French Quarter:
Carousel Bar, inside the Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal Street
Sip your cocktail while you go round and round
Bar Tonique, 820 North Rampart Street
Yummy cocktails in a really nice space
Cosimo’s Bar, 1201 Burgundy Street
Great neighborhood bar
Molly’s on the Market, 1107 Decatur Street
Fun, young, busy

Marigny:
Buffa’s, 1001 Esplanade Avenue
a lovely dive
Lost Love Lounge, 2529 Dauphine Street
A great bar complete with trivia night, a library, & Vietnamese food
Mimi’s in the Marigny, 2601 Royal Street
Play pool downstairs; listen to music and eat tapas upstairs

Bywater:
Markey’s Bar, 640 Louisa Street
One of our favorite neighborhood dives
Saturn Bar, 3067 Saint Claude Avenue
We love it here, another dive.
Bacchanal Wine Bar, 600 Poland Avenue
Sip your wine in the garden… often to music
BJ’s, 4301 Burgundy Street
Great neighborhood bar
Vaughan's Lounge, 4229 Dauphine Street
Another great neighborhood bar, where Kermit Ruffins plays on Thursdays

Getting to New Orleans from the Airport

A cab will cost $33+ one way, to many parts of the city. If you’re staying at the Lion’s Inn or Sweet Olive, it’ll be a little more because it's $33 to a street called Elysian Fields, and then for the few blocks beyond that, they'll turn on the meter.

More information about cabs can be found here: http://www.tripsmarter.com/neworleans/info/info7.htm

There is a shuttle bus, but it has limited service. It goes to the French Quarter hotels. Round trip is $38; one way is $20. If you’re staying in the Marigny, you can easily catch a much cheaper cab to your final destination from one of the hotels.

Here's the link:

http://www.airportshuttleneworleans.com/services-rates.html

Sadly, public transportation from the airport isn’t the greatest. There is a bus – the E2 – which will take you to downtown New Orleans, to the corner of Loyola and Tulane. From there, you can walk to the French Quarter, or take another bus or catch a cab to your final destination.The bus claims to take about 40 minutes, costs $2, and claims to run rather regularly. You catch it on the airport’s upper (Departure) level, at the end of the median, nearish Jet Blue. There’s no bus stop posted.

All the information you need is here:

http://www.jeffersontransit.org/schedules/E2Airport-Map.htm

If you’re staying in the Marigny (at Sweet Olive or Lion’s Inn or Elysian Inn or elsewhere)… from Tulane and Loyola, walk to another bus, the #88, which claims to run every 20 minutes. It leaves from Rampart and Canal (2 blocks away). Go to this link and click on the #88 bus, to see schedule and route information:

http://www.norta.com/error.php?page=maps_schedules

If you’re staying at the Elysian Inn, get off at Elysian Fields. If you’re staying at Sweet Olive or the Lion’s Inn, get off at Spain or St. Roch. Walk away from St. Claude (don’t cross St. Claude) toward the river.

For help with the buses:

The RTA Rideline, 504-248-3900, is available weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for live assistance with routes and schedules. In addition, the Rideline can also now be reached via e-mail at rideline@norta.com.

Favorite Places to See in New Orleans

We are so happy that you all will get to spend some time in the magical city of New Orleans. Many of you won’t have time for much outside of the French Quarter and our backyard. Lucky for you, both of those things are really special. If the only sight-seeing you have time for is a stroll in the Marigny of French Quarter, fantastic! Make sure to walk through Jackson Square and the Quarter’s residential blocks – which are the blocks closer to Esplanade Avenue – on the opposite end of where the Hotel Monteleone is. Esplanade Avenue is a wonder. Stroll along the Neutral Ground (known in other locals as the median.) I highly recommend sitting down for a beignet and a café au lait at Café Du Monde, one of my favorite places. It’s really touristy, which is somehow PERFECT. There’s a staircase right next to Café Du Monde which will take you to the Mississippi River – an oddly difficult body of water to get to.

There are plenty of museums in the Quarter, but one of the most unique is the Back Street Cultural Museum, which exhibits New Orleans’ most unique traditions: Mardi Gras Indians, Jazz funerals, and Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs. It’s a few blocks outside of the Quarter. More info can be found here: http://www.backstreetmuseum.org/

Also, the National Park Service has a French Quarter Visitor Center which runs programs. More information can be found here: http://www.nps.gov/jela/french-quarter-site.htm

For those of you with a little more time, who have a car, we highly recommend going to the Barataria Preserve. It’s so beautiful. More information can be found here: http://www.nps.gov/jela/barataria-preserve.htm Stop by at one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants while you’re over there on the West Bank (of the Mississippi River).

For those of you with a little more time, but without a car, there are several wonders relatively close at hand that you can bike to (or, of course, drive and walk to). Click on the bike routes for more information. The Green Bike Route will take you to a little beach on the Mississippi, and the Blue Bike Route will take you to Holy Cross – which offers a fabulous vista of New Orleans.

If you’d like to see the part of the Lower Ninth Ward most effected by the flooding following our 2005 levee failure, bike/drive around Jourdan, Deslonde, and Tennessee Streets bordered by Claiborne and Florida Avenues. You’ll see lots of new and amazing homes built by Brad Pitt’s Make It Right organization. This neighborhood is a really interesting place to explore. Just keep in mind that, prior to August 29, 2005, this neighborhood was as densely populated as ours!

A good way to get to this section of the Lower Ninth Ward if you’re coming from the Blue bike route is to bike along Caffin Avenue – past Fats Domino’s House, near St. Claude Avenue. You can’t miss it. At the end of Caffin, where it meets Florida Avenue, is another jewel. Follow the path (and read the billboards) which will take you up to Bayou Bienvenue. (On the map, this is called “Main Outfall Canal.”) Bayou Bienvenue is a really special place. If you do an internet search under “Bayou Bienvenue” you’ll find information and pictures.

Note: if you’re biking, you should bike over the Saint Claude bridge – which is bike friendly – and not the Claiborne Bridge.

The Backyard

Listen to the story Eve made two years ago about her backyard:

Downloadable maps

*October 14 update: these printable maps don't have some of the recent map additions: blue bike route, bars, record shops, restaurants 21-24*

Click here to download a 1 page map and accompanying location list. This map includes everything but restaurants 11-13 and the bike routes.
Print it front and back and you've got 1 page to tuck in your pocket!

Click here to download the full map, complete with bike routes. It clocks in at 13 pages, including the location list! Tape those pages together (top row: 1-4, mid row: 5-8, bottom row: 9-12) and start pedaling or drive out to Gretna for some pho.

Need a bike?

Want to see the map online?

Where to Stay for Greg and Eve’s Wedding

Because October in New Orleans is gorgeous and wonderful (following the oppressiveness of summer) places tend to fill up quickly. So we suggest figuring out where you are going to stay and booking it sooner rather than later. The wedding is Saturday, October 23, 2010.

First, a bit of geography. We live in Bywater, just on the edge, near the Marigny. The wedding will be here, in our back yard, which is known in these parts as “The Truck Farm.” There will also be a Sunday breakfast in the French Quarter at the Hotel Monteleone, and a Friday get-together at a bar, probably in the Marigny (stay tuned to the blog for details!) These three neighborhoods -- Bywater, Marigny, French Quarter -- are all in a row, all along the Mississippi River, all historic and beautiful, and we recommend staying in one of them. You can easily bike from our house into the Marigny or the Quarter. Roughly, from our house, you can walk to the Quarter in 25 minutes, bike there in 10, and drive in 5. Biking and walking to the Marigny is even closer. Other nearby areas are Treme and Esplanade Ridge; parts of Mid-City are also close and quite lovely. Nothing here is that far away. For map references, our address is 3030 Saint Claude Avenue.

A bit on transportation:
On the day of the wedding, there will be a bus bringing folks back and forth from the Hotel Monteleone, in the French Quarter. Cabs are abundant and inexpensive. That said, we HIGHLY recommend renting or borrowing bikes while you’re here, if you’re into that sort of thing. Biking here is fun and easy (if you manage to avoid the potholes) and a great way to soak in the gorgeousness of New Orleans.

If you B&B/hotel doesn’t have bikes, here are some options for BIKE RENTALS:

Our favorite bike repair shop plans to be renting bikes come fall, so it's worth a try. These guys are so nice.
Gerken's Bike Shop
2703 Saint Claude Avenue
504.373.6924

This place delivers:
Confederacy of Cruisers
http://confederacyofcruisers.com/bicycle-rentals
504.400.5468

They are conveniently located at Frenchmen and Royal Streets, but they are closed on Sundays:
Bicycle Michael's
622 Frenchmen Street
http://www.bicyclemichaels.com/
504.945.9505

This place delivers:
Joy Ride Bike Rentals
http://www.joyridebikerentals.com/
504.982.1617


PLACES TO STAY:

BYWATER
There aren’t a lot of places to stay in our neighborhood. Our friend Shawn Hall is currently renting two bedrooms and a third room (which has no door and leads to one of the bedrooms) in her house. There are four beds in all. Prices are negotiable -- something like $65/room or $125/all. This is about four blocks from our house and across the street from one of our favorite cafes. Email Shawn at shall@pietystreet.com if you’re interested.

MARIGNY
The Marigny is between Bywater and the French Quarter, and we live on the edge of it. Plus, it has a LOT of places to stay. With the thought that part of the fun will be visiting not only us but also others journeying to New Orleans, we’ve reserved a few bed & breakfasts in their entirety. All of them are in the Marigny, and therefore all of them are within walking distance – though some are slightly more of a walk than others.

Sweet Olive
2460 North Rampart Street
You can see the place and the rooms at http://www.sweetolive.com/ but you need to call David at 504-947-4332 or 877-470-5323 to book a room because they’re all blocked to online registration for us. The rooms will be held until September 1. There are 6 of them. Mention that you’re booking for Eve Abrams and Greg Schatz’s wedding.

Royal Street Courtyard Bed and Breakfast
2438 Royal Street
Some of their rooms were already booked by the time we got to them, but there are sill 6 left for folks coming to our wedding. Check them out at http://royalstcourtyard.com/default.aspx but call Phillip at 504-943-6818 to reserve, for the same reason as above. Mention our wedding! These rooms will be held until June 15. This place is super close to a bunch of cafes we love.

E l y s i a n F i e l d s I n n
9 3 0 E l y s i a n F i e l d s A v e n u e , N e w O r l e a n s , L A
The innkeeper here, Leigh, couldn’t be nicer. She’s offering a 15% discount to our guests. Just say you’re with the Eve and Schatzy wedding: 5 0 4 -9 4 8 - 9 4 2 0.
There are 8 rooms, all really nice. The rooms will be held until September 1, and again you need to call. This place is a little further from us than the two above.
Check out the place here: http://www.elysianfieldsinn.com/

Also noteworthy is the Lions Inn Bed and Breakfast. They wouldn’t reserve the place for us, but right now no one has booked for that weekend. The location is GREAT, there’s a pool and a hot tub, and there are 10 rooms total, some with shared baths (which are cheaper) and some with private baths. Call 800-485-6846 or 504-945-2339 or reserve online: http://www.lionsinn.com/

There are many more, smaller and quite lovely B&Bs in the Marigny (as well as other neighborhoods!) Check them out at http://www.bbnola.com

FRENCH QUARTER
Most family will be staying at the Hotel Monteleone. This is a big and lovely, family owned hotel where we’ve reserved 30 rooms. After September 21 any unbooked rooms in our block will be released to the general public, but if you want to stay there, you are encouraged to book early (in case we need more rooms than we’ve reserved).
Rooms for two people (either two double beds or a king bed) are $159 plus tax ($2 plus 13%). Rooms can accommodate up to 4 people; the rate for 3 people is $184 and for 4 people $209. A two night stay is required.
When reserving rooms refer to the Abrams and Schatz wedding. Reserve by calling 800-217-2033 or 504-523-3341, by faxing 504-528-1019 or go to
http://hotelmonteleone.com/

Of course, there are MANY places to stay in the French Quarter, which you can find online. One lovely and pricey option is the Cornstalk Hotel. Check it out: http://www.cornstalkhotel.com/index.html

FREE
Finally, we have a small number of very generous friends who are lucky enough to have guest bedrooms, and would like to offer them to you all. Two are in the Bywater, one is in the Marigny, and a few others – in Mid City and another part of the Ninth Ward – may be available depending on roommate situations. Let us know if this is an option you want to explore.

PLEASE call or write us with ANY questions. We want to help in any way we can.

Once again, feel encouraged to come for as long as you can! A good resource for finding a more long term rental is Craigslist.com for New Orleans.

And finally, please let us know where you end up deciding to stay – especially if it’s one of the B&Bs we reserved (we don’t want them to get screwed.)

Much love,
Eve and Greg

The Wedding Map!

Click on the link below to go to a full size version of the map, along with descriptions of hotels, restaurants, bike rentals, wedding location, and more!

View Eve and Greg's Wedding: Saturday, October 23, 2010 in a larger map

COMING SOON: a printable PDF of the map!