Over da river
There’s a ferry at the base of Canal Street, near the aquarium, that crosses the Mississippi River to Algiers Point. It runs every half hour from 6am to 9:45pm during the week, and from 10:45am to 5pm on weekends. Until recently, it was free, but now it’ll run you $2 each way. The pleasant, breezy ride is a short five minutes. When visitors ask what there is to do at Algiers Point, the joking response is, “Turn around and come back.”
In fact, there are actually several good restaurants and pubs on the point as well as a ton of history and charm. Algiers is the second-oldest neighborhood in New Orleans, after the French Quarter. Slaves, arriving from Africa, used to be held there until they were parceled out. Algiers was also once the hub of slaughterhouses for the city. The first ferry was established in 1823, and by the early 1900s, there were six boats shuttling back and forth, one large enough to carry railroad cars and livestock.
Info
Address Board the ferry to Algiers Point at One Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, www.nolaferries.com; the Jazz Walk of Fame runs along the levee to your right as you exit the ferry at Algiers Point. | Hours Ferry runs every half hour; check website for schedule| Tip Old Point Bar in Algiers (545 Patterson Dr) has been featured in countless movies because it personifies Hollywood’s idea of a neighborhood bar. The small stage hosts some of the city’s better musicians, but the headliner is bartender Patti Pujol. She also seems right out of central casting, with her perpetual cowboy hat and an attitude that perfectly balances the line between sweet and smartass.
During this time, Algiers also developed a dynamic music scene, with 36 performance venues and dance halls operating by 1911. Many of the top musicians who played the then “newfangled” jazz lived there, including Henry “Red” Allen, Oscar “Papa” Celestine, and Elizabeth “Memphis Minnie” Douglas. New Orleans residents and visitors flowed across the Mississippi to hear live music. Spending an evening there was commonly referred to as going “over da river.”
The vast majority of the jazz joints in Algiers have long since disappeared. Most of the saloons are all but forgotten. A “Jazz Walk of Fame,” designed with individual honors for 16 pioneering musicians, such as Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton, has fallen into disrepair. Their portraits were originally illuminated by streetlamps along the levee, but unfortunately, most are now damaged. Even so, the Jazz Walk offers one of the best views of New Orleans’ skyline, especially at sunset.
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