New Orleans, LA

The New Orleans Mint is reopening in October. The New Orleans mint was the mint that imprinted an O on coins. The mint shut down in 1909 but has been turned into a museum. It took some major damage by Katrina but has been renovated and is reopening for business.

For those collectors passing through New Orleans, the restored Mint Museum is well worth a visit. The former exhibit on the history of the New Orleans Mint has been totally revamped and expanded. It also now includes a section on the archeology of the Mint. The building served as both a U.S. and Confederate mint, but lack of bullion shut it down quickly under Confederate administration. Minting operations ceased once and for all in 1909 and in 1966 the landmark was transferred to the state. It opened to the public in 1981 as a state museum.

According to web sources, the old mint was built in 1835 and is the only mint in the US to server as both a US and Confederate mint.

View Larger Map

new orleans, us mint, o mint, tourism, history, museum, history, historical, numismatic

I read an article in CityBusiness this weekend, Jeff Parish plans Fat City makeover. They’re talking about a potential $300 million improvement. This is great news.

Sneed and the rest of the Council have made inroads to maximize the area’s potential. Fat City is softly bounded by Division Street to the west, Severn Avenue to the east, Veterans Memorial Boulevard to the south and West Esplanade Avenue to the north.

I used to live in Fat City. For a couple of years in my late teens, early twenties, I lived in an apartment on Edenborn. Talk about “living liquida loca”.  Anybody else remember “drinkin with lincoln?”  $5 all you can drink friday night.  I was even stabbed in Fat City once. Just a flesh wound.

Anyway, it’s been a two or three years since I was last there but it was decrepit and run down then so I can imagine what it looks like now. I’m glad they are putting some thought into renovation.

“It goes against common sense that this area, with its proximity to viable real estate like Lakeside Mall, Causeway Boulevard and Interstate 10, has been able to languish,” Sneed said. “This is clearly the best real estate in the metro area.”

They are talking about high-rises and I’m not too sure about that. Keep the high-rises in the NO CBD. Fat City should be about architecture and open air. Make it an open air, walking mall like is common in San Diego. Or make it an shop/entertainment area like Universal City Walk in Orlando.

“It’s easiest in that area to build high rises,” Sneed said. “It makes it of value to developers because it makes it financially feasible for a (building like) Lakeway Center or a Heritage Plaza.”

But anything would be good for Jefferson and for Metairie. Boot out Broussard and rebuild Fat City. The future looks bright.

jefferson parish, fat city, new orleans, metairie, party, liquor, drinkin with lincoln

From KATC, Acadiana’s News Channel, Anne Rice’s New Orleans house for sale. Anne’s massive, 9000 square foot mansion in the Garden District is up for sale. The house is going for a very reasonable, $4.5 million.

Best Quote: According to the mortgage calculator on a real estate web site, if you put $500,000 down on the house and got a 30-year mortgage at 6.63 percent, your monthly payment _ principle and interest only _ would be $25,940.21.

Sweet!

Below is an unrelated but fairly amusing interview from her pre-Christian days. Skip to 19:00 into the video to see Anne.

new orleans, anne rice, vampire, house for sale, real estate

From the eJazzNews, the #1 source jazz resource on the web, New Orleans Jazz Greats in St. Croix Fest‏; Stephanie Jordan, Donald Harrison.

Sultry sounds from trumpets, trombones, saxophones and pianos will waft through the evening air when the highly anticipated Blue Bay Jazz Fest makes its mark on St. Croix November 15-18, 2007, featuring an impressive lineup of talented local performers and celebrated musicians from the city where jazz was born: New Orleans.

This sounds like an awesome festival. Does it get any better than kicking back on a beach, having a few brews and enjoying some live jazz?

The lineup includes Donald Harrison, Jr., trumpeter Christian Scott, vocalist Stephanie Jordan and the Jordan Family, pianist Henry Butler, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, and The New Orleans Trumpet Summit featuring Kermit Ruffins, James Andrews, Marlon Jordan, Christian Scott and Troy Andrews.

In addition to amazing live shows by jazz masters, the Jazz Fest will feature local foods, arts and crafts, dance troupes, Quelbe musical groups, stilt-dancing mocko jumbies and street entertainers all weekend long, as well as fundraising events, including a “Hugo to Katrina” benefit cocktail party.

A festival sponsor, WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans’ Jazz and Heritage radio station, will broadcast live from the multi-day event.

Sounds like good times.

jazz, music, fest, festival, virgin islands, beach, st croix, blue jay jazz fest

This is an odd twist to good news. This Old House is coming to New Orleans. From the Times-Picayune, PBS series ‘This Old House’ heads to New Orleans. I haven’t watched the show in a long time but I used to watch it religiously. Norm and Kevin O’Connor will be in New Orleans on tuesday.

Quote: The mini-season will tell “a multi-faceted story about the recovery and rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina,” according to a “The This Old House Hour” news release. “The show will track several personal stories, yet will primarily focus on a historic renovation in the neighborhood of Holy Cross in the Lower 9th Ward.”

new orleans, good news, this old house