Going
(March 2023)
Going: New Orleans, The Southern US City Where Jazz Was Born
The Southern US City Where Jazz Was Born
Lavinia Spalding
If there were a contest for most unique American city, New Orleans would be a shoo-in, considering its European history, distinct cuisine, and notorious “laissez les bon temps roulez” spirit.
It might also be a contender for most recognizable, since even people who’ve never visited can likely summon an image of the French Quarter (or at least a gaggle of bead-wearing Bourbon Street partiers). Others might conjure up Mardi Gras floats, hulking steamboats on the Mississippi River, or live oak trees draped with Spanish moss. Perhaps they can’t forget the devastating images that followed the federal levee failure after Hurricane Katrina. But for anyone who’s spent time in New Orleans, it’s probably more than sights that linger.
It’s the taste of gumbo, the scent of jasmine, the unmistakable sound of a brass band coming down the street, and the general feeling of being somewhere really special. A place so special, in fact, it could also win most mythologized, since its lure seems inseparable from its lore (countless tales of voodoo queens, haunted cemeteries, even vampires). But New Orleans is much more than the tropes that attempt to define it. It’s one of the world’s most important cities, historically and culturally. And yes, it’s one of the most fun, too.
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