Magic In New Orleans a Travel Overview

Esther’s writing prompt: March 18 : Magic

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Image is showing a man with skull face wearing a black top hat and he is surrounded by flames.
Voodoo shaman, african wizard man conjure, 3D illustration. Shutterstock Asset id: 2048753030 by artshock

We just came home from a trip to New Orleans, which is truly a magical city. New Orleans is not very far from Dallas, where we live, and we’ve been to New Orleans several times. However, it was a fun family trip with a theme. The theme we chose for our trip was Magic, including Vampires, Voodoo/Hoodoo, ghosts, pirates and St. Patrick’s Day. We also went on a ghost tour. Below are some photos from the Voodoo Museum, and miscellaneous voodoo, witches, vampire and pirate stores.

A skeleton wearing a black top hat. The skeleton has several cigarettes in its mouth.
From the Voodoo Museum.
Automated fortune teller in a glass box.
I used an automated fortune teller who told me to watch out for stepping on people’s toes. That is kind of strange since we hardly ever go dancing.

Photo Tile with photos from the Voodoo Museum, a Hoodoo Queen, vampire art, pirate, and witch store.

We also ate at a restaurant that has a ghost. The Muriel’s Jackson Square restaurant is allegedly haunted by a ghost that sits in the chair. The ghost is a former owner by name of Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan.

It is a photo of a table that is already set. There is an empty chair between my daughter and my son’s girlfriend.
The ghost is sitting between my daughter (right) and my son’s girlfriend (left).

What is Voodoo ?

Voodoo is a religion blending African traditions with Catholicism. It is originating from enslaved people in Haiti and Louisiana. It focuses on serving spirits and honoring ancestors and connecting with nature. It is not black magic. However, I admit I’ve made fun of the so called voodoo dolls. Marie Catherine Laveau was one the most prominent practitioners of voodoo. She was born a free woman of color in New Orleans’s French Quarter, Louisiana, on September 10, 1801. We saw her house. Below are photos from the Voodoo Museum.

Photo Tile from the Voodoo Museum

Vampire Café

We also did some vampire related things. New Orleans is often called the Transylvania of America. Author’s such as Anne Rice have brought attention to New Orleans and its vampire legends. I read a book with 40 short stories about vampires while we visited New Orleans. The book was Vermillion Highways by David Lee Summers and Lee Clark Zumpe. I will make a post about that book in a couple of days. We visited vampire stores and the famous Vampire Café. See the photos below.

A white sign stating Vampire Café.
Vampire Café
I am sitting on a chair in front of the Vampire Café drinking from a blood bag with a straw.
Me drinking (pretend blood) from a blood bag at the Vampire Café.
I am sitting on a chair in front of the Vampire Café drinking a glass of wine (Pinot Noir). The glass says Vampire Café.
Me drinking a glass of Pinot Noir. The name of the wine is Vampire, and it says so on the glass.

Photo Tile from Vampire Café.

I should say that we did other things as well. We visited the aquarium, rainforest, and insectarium, which is quite impressive. We celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day, and we made a couple of visits to the famous Pat O’Brien’s Pub. We all had a good time.

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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

47 thoughts on “Magic In New Orleans a Travel Overview”

    1. Thank you so much Esther for doing the prompt. New Orleans is something different. The French Quarter, Bourbon Street, the bars, the jazz bars, the parades, Mardi Gras, the ghosts, the vampires, and Voodoo, which is still widely practiced, the markets, the alligator tours, the old steam river boats, the river walk, Cajun French entertainment, so much fun to do. Unfortunately, hurricane Katrina destroyed so much of the city that is still not back to what it once was.

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  4. What a fun trip, Thomas! 😃 Thanks for the tour. Could you feel the presence of the ghost in the restaurant? 😄 Voodoo is fascinating and the museum looks very interesting. The Vampire Café does as well. Anne Rice’s vampire novels were gripping!

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    1. Thank you Debbie. I don’t seem to be picking up the presence of ghosts very easily. My son’s girlfriend on the other hand is into ghosts and she knows a lot about voodoo. However, I don’t think she saw the ghost either. The ghost is allegedly up in the attic too and we went there. I only saw paintings but no ghost. I wonder if people are imagining. I have not yet read Anne Rice’s vampire novels. I should do that.

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    1. Yes my guess is that you would like it Barbara. You have ghost in your wordpress name. If you like ghosts, voodoo, vampires and pirates, this is the place to visit. There are ghosts everywhere but I did not see any. They are hiding from me.

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  6. Java Bean: “Ayyy, our Mama and Dada have never been to New Orleans and will probably never get there, but they watched the show Treme on HBO and Mama said that was like making a vicarious visit.”Lulu: “Our Dada has never read those Anne Rice books, but he has a Concrete Blonde song called ‘Bloodletting’ which about them and also takes place in New Orleans.”

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    1. Java Bean and Lulu, that is very interesting. I guess if Mama and Dada wants to visit New Orleans they have to get a dog sitter for you. We had to get a dog sitter for Rollo and he was not happy, but it is better than a dog hotel.

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    1. Thank you so much Sara. New Orleans is a city with a lot to offer tourists. Last time we visited in 2019, we took a cruise on an old steam boat on the Mississippi river. It lasted a few days. The rest of the time we focused on historical sites in New Orleans. This time we decided to have a magic/haunted theme. Dallas, where I live, unfortunately does not have a lot to offer tourists.

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        1. When the kids were young we went bird hunting several times and it was a lot of grassland to walk around on. Texas is almost entirely private land so you have to do it on a private ranch or share with lots of other people on the few public land spaces there are. You had to wear boots because of the risk for rattle snakes. New Orleans is indeed a lot of fun.

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            1. That’s modern Texas, 94% of all land is private, and no-trespassing laws. Texas is no longer a place where you a free to roam as you want. That freedom was lost long ago. Quite different from Sweden (where I grew up) where you can roam/camp/hike/pick-berries/fish anywhere you like on both public and private land.

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              1. Whoa that is wild. I did not know so much of the land is private. At least I know in advance so I wouldn’t be chased off someone’s land. LOL Sweden sounds nice where you can explore anywhere.

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                1. Yes Sweden (and Norway/Finland and I Denmark) there is a law allemansrätten or freedom to roam, which make it so that everyone has the right to walk/hike/fish/camp/pick-berries-mushroom on all land at any time, public as well as private. You just have to stay 200 meters away from a dwelling. In Texas, if you think that you can roam anywhere you’ll end up with a slug or another shotgun load in your behind. That’s the way it is now.

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  11. I’m delighted to hear about your trip to New Orleans and that you had the opportunity see the St. Germain fortune telling machine at Boutique du Vampyre. I love the Voodoo Museum and my family and I have had the pleasure of dining at Muriels on a few occasions. I’ve sampled many delightful items at the Vampire Cafe as well. I hope Vermillion Highways enhanced your visit to the Crescent City!

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      1. I just saw the review on Amazon. Thank you! I don’t know if you looked over at the bookshelf at Boutique du Vampyre, but that’s one of the places in New Orleans you can typically find my books. As far as I know they don’t yet have Vermillion Highways though, since that came out after my last visit.

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