from cemetery to culinary

So, there are big things happening on my tour guide agenda these days!  

I’ve officially started guiding tours for Save our Cemeteries in Lafayette Cemetery no.1 (every 1^st Wednesday of the month & every Tuesday at 10:30am, except the 3^rd Tuesday of the month).  I’m having a ball, I love this cemetery, it’s like visiting a park…lined with oak & magnolia trees, rows & rows of above ground tombs, & burials of some pretty significant historical figures.  This cemetery is the 1^st & oldest of the city owned & maintained cemeteries in New Orleans, established in 1833.  The tour for SOC is a little over an hour, which is my only problem…I have a really hard time editing out fun facts & skipping certain tombs that I really want to show my tour guests.  So, I’ve got the material down, I’m just working on trimming down my tour time.  Of course, if tour guests want to stick around for a few extra tid-bits, I’m always happy to!  I’ll be guiding this tour tomorrow morning…come on out and join me! 

On to my new explorations in the world of culinary tours, I’m joining the New Orleans Culinary History Tours team.  I’m thrilled, I love tours, I love history & I love food, so what can be bad about this equation, right?!  I’m beginning my “tag-alongs” tomorrow with other guides to learn the tour before I begin guiding the tours myself.  The French Quarter Tasting tour is offered daily & lasts 3 hours, with some fabulous stops, including Antoine’s & Tujague’s (the 2 oldest restaurants in the city).  NO Culinary History Tours also offers a New Orleans’ Classic Drinks tour, which I’ll probably guide, as well, once I’ve got some more experience under my belt with this company.  The owners are a great married couple & native New Orleanians.  I’ll let y’all know once I’m officially on the schedule & guiding culinary tours on my own. 

Spring is an amazing time in the Crescent City…too many festivals to choose from, amazing weather (perfect for city tours), & flowers blooming.  Sadly, somehow I managed to miss both the French Quarter Fest & the Ponchatoula Strawberry Fest, so I HAVE to make up for it with Jazz Fest!  I’m currently reviewing the schedule for musical acts, conferring with friends to see what days they’re planning on going…there’s a science to mapping out your jazz fest experience.  No question, I’ll make it at least one day each weekend.  Now, if I could only figure out a way to score free tickets (they ain’t cheap)…shouldn’t being a tour guide get me some sort of discount?!?!