New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park

This will be a rather short entry. The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park seems to be the homeless relative of the official NPS sites. It does not have any space it can really call its own.

As I mentioned in other posts about this current trip, severe back issues have translated into weakness in my legs and a lot of pain when walking. That’s the perfect combination not to have when visitng New Orleans. Nonetheless, I was able to hobble to a streetcar stop, transfer to a bus, and be dropped off across the street from the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park French Quarter Visitor’s Center. This building is shared by the New Orleans Jazz NHP, as shown by an 8.5×11 laser-printed notice on the door.

This park isn’t about a person, or a place, but about a thing – jazz music. The visitor’s center provides information about live jazz performances in the city and some history of jazz. Apparently, there was a separate Visitor’s Center for New Orleans Jazz NHP in the recent past as one shows on the park brochure, located about 6-7 blocks east, and the one sharing Jean Lafitte NHP is labeled “temporary”. Given that status, I expect there was more information at the other Visitor’s Center.

I got the Passport stamp for New Orleans Jazz, but in my mind, I didn’t really visit it. I had planned on taking in some of the live jazz music during my evenings in New Orleans, but as mentioned above, I was not up for much walking. Other than this one photo of a drum set inside the Visitor’s Center, I didn’t get any other photos for this park.

Instead, this will be a revisited site on a future date. I may incorporate it into a trip back into Texas, or just come visit New Orleans as a single trip. There was much of this and Jean Lafitte NHP that I missed and want to see.

Steve