A Saturday Morning in the Bywater Neighborhood of New Orleans

Every so often, my husband and I heed the call for culture and decide to make the short journey to visit a place we once called our home town, the city of New Orleans. It is invigorating to return back to the city to seek out all of the new progress and attractions that are popping up all over.

Originally, I had intended on featuring a newly opened hotel located in the Warehouse district (I will save that one for a later date). My decision changed after my husband took me to the Bywater neighborhood one Saturday morning to see two particular new places of interest- St. Roch Market and Crescent Park.

First, if you don't know anything about this area, you are not alone. As far as tourism goes, it has previously been off the radar but as of recently, it is starting to get national attention. The Bywater refers to an area that is East and just down the river from French Quarter. The locals in New Orleans have done a pretty good job of keeping this area a secret from the world. That could possible change as we begin to see more businesses and developement in the area.

This particular neighborhood has always fascinated us because it is so eclectic and diverse. At the moment , the area is going through a transformation that's making it a more hip, trendy area to which people and businesses are flocking.

One such business is St. Roch Market. It's a renovation of an older market that existed back in the late 1800's. It was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina but now has been restored to a spectacular state .

http://www.strochmarket.com/

When we walked in, I was immediately struck by the white walls and columns made it feel modern and upscale. The openness makes it a perfect place for people watching and on this particular Saturday, the place was packed with locals enjoying the food and spirits. The different food vendors were located on the perimeter of the market with plenty of seating in the middle. There is also outdoor seating.

The market highlights local chefs and their diversity. This definitely shines through in the eclectic variety of food vendors present. It was a pleasant surprise to see such diffent ethnic foods as Korean and African along with some of the other traditional New Orleans favorites such as raw oysters and creole food.

As far as liquid refreshments go the choices were plentiful! This is New Orleans after all.... What what you expect? From fancy cocktails to beer and wine, the selection did not dissapoint us.

There is also local produce, coffee, juice bar, pastries, as well as a snowcone booth right outside.

The next place on our radar was the newly constructed Crescent Park. The main entrance was hard to miss featuring a large iron rounded stairwell. The "rusted rainbow" as the locals like to call it represents to me two contradicting themes running through the Bywater. One Is the "rusted" oldness resulting from past hardship of this area (also refered to as Ninth Ward) and ironically, I feel it represents new life and energy that is being infiltrated back into the Bywater neighborhood.

Walking up the steps of the rounded arched stairway, your view of the park is initially blocked by the high walls of the narrow entrance. As you get to the top, it opens up and you get an amazing view of the Mississippi River and of the downtown skyline.

Ascending down the stairway, your attention is diverted to the beautiful landscape that borders the asphalt trail helping to give the park a vibrant feel.

The park is linear and runs 1 1/2 miles in its length. On one side, the train cars serve as kind of a barrier or wall shielding the park from the streets. The Mississippi River borders the other side giving you a chance to view the large freight ships as they pass.

Our walk through the new park was exactly what we were hoping for in that it helped us relax, unwind and enjoy a new perspective of the city that we both love so much.

My husband and I shared in the appreciation of both St. Roch Market and the Crescent Park. It is our hope that these two points of interest will continue to flourish and even serve as magnets to draw similar places to the Bywater neighnorhood to make it a thriving, prosperous area that the city can boast of for a long time to come.

#bywater #neworleans #market