Algiers, that's where I want to go right this afternoon, says I, as I finish a late morning "Mae's Omelet" at Mother's Restaurant on Poydras Street. Algiers...the exotic name alone was good enough reason take the short ferry ride across the Mississippi to see what was on the other side.
545 Patterson Drive
Algiers Point
New Orleans, LA 70114-1060
(504) 364-0950
Thursday, June 24, 2010
“Good afternoon, sir, Can you tell me how to get to the ferry to Algiers?”
So it goes that a question to a man in a tour booth on North Peters Street leads me to a bar in Algiers Point across the Mississippi that I’d never have found on my own in a million years. Just another way New Orleans has of taking you by the hand and leading you to a treasure of a place filled with people who’ll make you feel right at home.
A few women from England are busy asking questions of a guide at the first tiny tour booth I stop at. I walk down to the next one a few hundred yards down the street. Simple as that, the die is cast.
“I can tell you where the ferry leaves from quarter after and quarter before the hour. And I can tell you a good place to go when you get to the other side,” the man says, and before you know it he whips out a map and starts drawing on it.
“You can take a right and go to the fancy part of town, pay five or six bucks for a beer if you want, but I’ll tell you where to go for a friendly place with a good cold beer for three bucks. I head there myself every afternoon after I leave here. When you get off the ferry, go left, walk down five blocks along the levee to the Old Point Bar. Patti’s the bartender. She’ll treat you right.”
The words have come from Roger’s mouth but this is New Orleans talking to a pilgrim searching for a piece of its soul. You don’t pass up a chance like this.
The big ferry plies the waters back and forth from the east bank to the west bank all day long. It’s a free ride. This afternoon, laborers, whole families, New Orleaneans who feel like losing an hour or two in Algiers, and tourists file onto the ferry for the fifteen minute ride.
Most of them head for the air-conditioned enclosed space in the ferry's aft cabin. I step out to the bow. This is as much of a breeze as I’ll feel on this 92-degree afternoon. The skyline of New Orleans recedes, the non-descript Algiers Point emerges. Cars and passengers debark. I take a left.
Ten minutes later, drops of perspiration are trailing down my temples and soaking my shirt as I spot the Old Point sign on Patterson Street. One step inside and I know Roger told me right.
Long on well-worn wood paneling and short on chrome and glass, this is my kind of place. Air conditioning hums, just cool enough to satisfy. Ceiling fans whir overhead.
The Old Point Bar is an unassuming watering hole with a laid back atmosphere, quiet except for world cup soccer on the two plasma TVs. The unpretentious retro interior with brown and white tile floor, tables and chairs that echo the 1950s, and memorabilia pinned on the wall above a small bandstand in the back corner tells me this place has a history. No attitude here except friendly.
A blonde haired woman chatting with a few patrons she’s serving from behind the bar comes to greet me.
“You must be Patti. Roger who works at one of the tour booths across the river told me that if I came down here from the ferry terminal I’d get cold beer at a good price served by the friendliest bartender in Algiers.”
Patti lights up with a warm smile.
“Where you from?” she asks. Down here, people ask me this question all the time. It’s not a formality. Once they find out, they figure out a way to connect some dots and pretty soon you’ve made a new acquaintance or two.
“My friend Tina is from Boston. She paints floats at Blaine Kern Mardi Gras World on the other side of the river. Tell her I sent you if you visit there,” she says. Tina came down to New Orleans from Boston 12 years ago and put her art school talent to work in one of the biggest fun houses in the world.
Rigs that haul the kinds of floats Tina works on are huge enough to pull the isle of Capri down Canal Street. Tina may secretly root for the New England Patriots but her heart now belongs to the Crescent City.
Next thing you know, you’re on a plane for another visit. That can have long-term consequences. Tina is a prime example. New Orleans is her new hometown.
Little did I know my ultimate destination would be thanks to three English tourists whose questioning of the first tour guide booth attendant was taking more time than it took to forge The Treaty of Ghent.
545 Patterson Drive
Algiers Point
New Orleans, LA 70114-1060
(504) 364-0950
Thursday, June 24, 2010
“Good afternoon, sir, Can you tell me how to get to the ferry to Algiers?”
A few women from England are busy asking questions of a guide at the first tiny tour booth I stop at. I walk down to the next one a few hundred yards down the street. Simple as that, the die is cast.
“I can tell you where the ferry leaves from quarter after and quarter before the hour. And I can tell you a good place to go when you get to the other side,” the man says, and before you know it he whips out a map and starts drawing on it.
“You can take a right and go to the fancy part of town, pay five or six bucks for a beer if you want, but I’ll tell you where to go for a friendly place with a good cold beer for three bucks. I head there myself every afternoon after I leave here. When you get off the ferry, go left, walk down five blocks along the levee to the Old Point Bar. Patti’s the bartender. She’ll treat you right.”
The words have come from Roger’s mouth but this is New Orleans talking to a pilgrim searching for a piece of its soul. You don’t pass up a chance like this.
The big ferry plies the waters back and forth from the east bank to the west bank all day long. It’s a free ride. This afternoon, laborers, whole families, New Orleaneans who feel like losing an hour or two in Algiers, and tourists file onto the ferry for the fifteen minute ride.
Most of them head for the air-conditioned enclosed space in the ferry's aft cabin. I step out to the bow. This is as much of a breeze as I’ll feel on this 92-degree afternoon. The skyline of New Orleans recedes, the non-descript Algiers Point emerges. Cars and passengers debark. I take a left.
Long on well-worn wood paneling and short on chrome and glass, this is my kind of place. Air conditioning hums, just cool enough to satisfy. Ceiling fans whir overhead.
The Old Point Bar is an unassuming watering hole with a laid back atmosphere, quiet except for world cup soccer on the two plasma TVs. The unpretentious retro interior with brown and white tile floor, tables and chairs that echo the 1950s, and memorabilia pinned on the wall above a small bandstand in the back corner tells me this place has a history. No attitude here except friendly.
“You must be Patti. Roger who works at one of the tour booths across the river told me that if I came down here from the ferry terminal I’d get cold beer at a good price served by the friendliest bartender in Algiers.”
Patti lights up with a warm smile.
“Where you from?” she asks. Down here, people ask me this question all the time. It’s not a formality. Once they find out, they figure out a way to connect some dots and pretty soon you’ve made a new acquaintance or two.
“My friend Tina is from Boston. She paints floats at Blaine Kern Mardi Gras World on the other side of the river. Tell her I sent you if you visit there,” she says. Tina came down to New Orleans from Boston 12 years ago and put her art school talent to work in one of the biggest fun houses in the world.
Rigs that haul the kinds of floats Tina works on are huge enough to pull the isle of Capri down Canal Street. Tina may secretly root for the New England Patriots but her heart now belongs to the Crescent City.
This city has a way of seeping into your blood stream. You visit. You return to your hometown. You daydream about the places you visited and how you felt when you explored the city, ate the exotic food, talked to the people.
Who needs a guide book when you visit New Orleans? Talk to people like Patti and Roger and they’ll connect you to people in places under and over the tour book radar.
Algiers Point has a good handful of historic, cultural, and architectural attractions. The Old Point Bar is a great place to plot your tour.
Next time I visit New Orleans, I’m heading for Mardi Gras World, a place where the imagination takes flight and lands in Mardi Gras parades every February.I suppose that’s how New Orleans works on you, too. One minute it’s dancing around in your imagination, the next thing you know, you’re having a cold Bud Light with Patti in the Old Point Bar in Algiers.
Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
Paul, great commentary, I can feel the place. Now I want to go with you around the old towns, I am from Louisiana (now living in Wyoming, we met at Lindas in B.R. but you find the best places!!!
Posted by: Melinda Wilson | July 07, 2010 at 11:31 AM
I am sure enjoying Paul's writings about New Orleans.
Posted by: Valerie F | July 08, 2010 at 07:14 PM
I received this on Tuesday and forwarded it to the manager to pass along. Great story! Thanks!
Posted by: Heather (web manager for OPB) | July 12, 2010 at 10:00 AM