Today, after breakfast, we started the day at Algiers Flea
Market. It’s just like most flea markets
in Missouri only with much more Latin flare.
The booths were manned primarily by Hispanics and the smell of the food
coming from the food booths was awesome.
Sadly we had already eaten breakfast and were still full. L
For the most part it was the same stuff you can find at any other flea market
so nothing special there. Oh well it was
worth a shot. We did buy otterboxes for
our phones for $20 – that alone was worth the trip.
After that we headed back to the French Quarter. We spent most of the day window shopping and
browsing stores. We picked up a few
things here and there.
We went to the Voodoo Museum lots of interesting facts.
The core beliefs of Louisiana Voodoo include the recognition of one God who does not interfere in people’s daily lives and spirits that preside over daily life. Spiritual forces, which can be kind or mischievous, shape daily life through and intercede in the lives of their followers. Connection with these spirits can be achieved through dance, music, singing, and the use of snakes, which represent Legba, Voodoo’s “main spirit conduit to all others.” Unlike the Judeo-Christian image, the Voodoo serpent represents “healing knowledge and the connection between Heaven and Earth.” Deceased ancestors can also intercede in the lives of Voodoo followers.
Marie Laveau is one of the names most commonly associated with voodoo. She was born the daughter of Marguerite Darcantrel, a Free Woman of Color and an unnamed father (presumed to be Charles Laveau, also a Free Man of Color). She was born in New Orleans on September 10, 1801. She was Baptized at St. Louis Catholic Church in September 16th, 1801.
Her first marriage ended when her husband disappeared under mysterious circumstances; her second, common-law marriage, however, lasted years and gave her 15 children. One of these children, Marie Laveau II, followed in her mother’s footsteps as a voodoo priestess and is thought to be the source of rumors that the elder Laveau lived decades longer than any mortal person should.
The main focus of Louisiana Voodoo today is to serve others and influence the outcome of life events through the connection with nature, spirits, and ancestors. True rituals are held “behind closed doors” as a showy ritual would be considered disrespectful to the spirits. Voodoo methods include readings, spiritual baths, specially devised diets, prayer, and personal ceremony. Voodoo is often used to cure anxiety, addictions, depression, loneliness, and other ailments. It seeks to help the hungry, the poor, and the sick as Marie Laveau once did.
The lovely lady there suggested a place called Coops for
lunch. We were so impressed with the
recommendation from yesterday we thought let’s give it a go! Well apparently everyone and their Mother
(literally since it was Mother’s day) thought Coops was a good idea too. We were much too hungry by this point to wait
in the line outside the restaurant so we went in search of something else.
We ended up a few doors down and were lured
in by the smells. That was false
advertising. We ended up at the French
Market Restaurant…not impressed. The
Po-Boy I had was nothing more than a chicken sandwich. The one from the day before had tomato,
onion, pickles, coleslaw and remoulade. This only had tomato, pickles and
lettuce…..I had to ask for a side of remoulade.
Nope – that is not a po-boy… just a chicken sandwich. Karl had an alligator sausage po-boy. He ate it but also wasn’t overly
impressed. I told him not to judge if he
likes alligator based on that experience.
So edible and not thing was “bad” just not great, or authentic.
We sat in Jackson Square and listened to music – saw a magic
show. Karl even participated in
that. His $5 ended up in the center of a
lemon. Pretty cool stuff.
We stopped in La Divina Café and had some Bourbon Pecan Gelato. It was pretty good.
We ended the evening with a 2 hour Haunted Houses of the
French Quarter tour.
Sbisa's Cafe
We started the tour with a building that is currently Sbisa’s Café.
Originally constructed in 1820, the building housed a ship’s chandler on the lower floors with the family residing on the upper floors. As time passed, the business broadened to address seafarers’ other “essential” needs such as a bar, a bank where sailors could stash their wages, and an upstairs brothel.
We
heard the story of Mary who was a working woman who
became pregnant. When she discovered she was pregnant she wanted to leave and offer her child a better life. Since the the owner allowed these women "free room and board" they needed to pay him back for the time she lived there. When Mary asked her boss he said to buy her way out she would need to pay $1000 and an additional $500 for her child.
became pregnant. When she discovered she was pregnant she wanted to leave and offer her child a better life. Since the the owner allowed these women "free room and board" they needed to pay him back for the time she lived there. When Mary asked her boss he said to buy her way out she would need to pay $1000 and an additional $500 for her child.
Mary saved for 3 years and was finally able to pay the $1500. When she presented the money to the owner he said she could leave but her daughter could not. The owner said the child would cook and clean until she was old enough to become a “working woman” herself. To save her daughter from this fate, Mary took her young daughter to the courtyard and drowned her. She then went back to her room and hung herself.
(Picture to the right is the corner Mary hung herself in)
Mary messed with the chandelier
as it flickered. None of my pictures came out clear for some reason.
Here is someone else's picture and it appears there something floating near the chandelier. You be the judge.
There was a man who loved Mary and visited her daily. Mary did not share his feelings. The story is that he
still haunts the place to protect Mary in the afterlife. He didn't show up in any of our pictures, however we saw other’s
pictures of the “angry man” who appears as a black shadowy figure. Here are two images of "angry man".
LaLaurie Mansion
(some scenes portrayed in American Horror Story)
(some scenes portrayed in American Horror Story)
The origin of the ghostly tale dates back to 1832 when Dr. Louis Lalaurie and his wife, Delphine, moved into their Creole mansion in the French Quarter. They became renowned for their social affairs and were respected for their wealth and prominence. Madame Lalaurie became known as the most influential French-Creole woman in the city, handling the family’s business affairs and carrying herself with great style. Her daughters were among the finest dressed girls in New Orleans.
Madame Lalaurie was considered one of the most intelligent and beautiful women in the city. Those who received her attentions at the wonderful gatherings could not stop talking about her. Guests in her home were pampered as their hostess bustled about the house, seeing to their every need.
But this was the side of Madame Lalaurie the friends and admirers were allowed to see. There was another side. Beneath the delicate and refined exterior was a cruel,cold-blooded and possibly insane woman that some only suspected.... but others knew as fact.
The finery of the Lalaurie house was attended to by dozens of slaves and Madame Lalaurie was brutally cruel to them. She kept her cook chained to the fireplace in the kitchen where the sumptuous dinners were prepared and many of the others were treated much worse.
(The separate building pictured here was the kitchen. They often built the kitchen separate from the house to avoid fires)
It was the neighbors on Royal Street who first began to suspect something was not quite right in the Lalaurie house. There were whispered conversations about how the Lalaurie slaves seemed to come and go quite often. Parlor maids would be replaced with no explanation or the stable boy was suddenly just disappear... never to be seen again.
Then, one day a neighbor was climbing her own stairs when she heard a scream and saw Madame Lalaurie chasing a little girl, the Madame’s personal servant, with a whip. She pursued the girl onto the roof of the house, where the child jumped to her death. The neighbor later saw the small slave girl buried in a shallow grave beneath the cypress trees in the yard.
(2nd story balcony that the child jumped from)
A law that prohibited the cruel treatment of slaves was in effect in New Orleans and the authorities who investigated the neighbor’s claims impounded the Lalaurie slaves and sold them at auction. Unfortunately for them, Madame Lalaurie coaxed some relatives into buying them and then selling them back to her in secret.
The stories continued about the mistreatment of the Lalaurie slaves and uneasy whispering spread among her former friends. A few party invitations were declined, dinner invitations were ignored and the family was soon politely avoided by other members of the Creole society.
Finally, in April of 1834, all of the doubts about Madame Lalaurie were realized.....
A terrible fire broke out in the Lalaurie kitchen. Legend has it that it was set by the cook, who could endure no more of the Madame’s tortures. Regardless of how it started, the fire swept through the house.
After the blaze was put out, the fire fighters discovered a horrible sight behind a secret, barred door in the attic. They found more than a dozen slaves here, chained to the wall in a horrible state. They were both male and female.... some were strapped to makeshift operating tables... some were confined in cages made for dogs.... human body parts were scattered around and heads and human organs were placed haphazardly in buckets.... grisly souvenirs were stacked on shelves and next to them a collection of whips and paddles.
(The space between the top of the 3rd story windows and the roof is the attic where the slaves were kept and tortured.)
It was more horrible that anything created in man’s imagination.
According to the newspaper, the New Orleans Bee, all of the victims were naked and the ones not on tables were chained to the wall. Some of the women had their stomachs sliced open and their insides wrapped about their waists. One woman had her mouth stuffed with animal excrement and then her lips were sewn shut.
The men were in even more horrible states. Fingernails had been ripped off, eyes poked out, and private parts sliced away. One man hung in shackles with a stick protruding from a hole that had been drilled in the top of his head. It had been used to “stir” his brains.
The tortures had been administered so as to not bring quick death. Mouths had been pinned shut and hands had been sewn to various parts of the body. Regardless, many of them had been dead for quite some time. Others were unconscious and some cried in pain, begging to be killed and put out of their misery.
The fire fighters fled the scene in disgust and doctors were summoned from a nearby hospital. It is uncertain just how many slaves were found in Madame Lalaurie’s “torture chamber” but most of them were dead. There were a few who still clung to life.... like a woman whose arms and legs had been removed and another who had been forced into a tiny cage with all of her limbs broken than set again at odd angles.
Needless to say, the horrifying reports from the Lalaurie house were the most hideous things to ever occur in the city and word soon spread about the atrocities. It was believed that Madame Lalaurie alone was responsible for the horror and that her husband turned a blind, but knowing, eye to her activities.
Passionate words swept through New Orleans and a mob gathered outside the house, calling for vengeance and carrying hanging ropes. Suddenly, a carriage roared out of the gates and into the milling crowd. It soon disappeared out of sight.
(The double black doors are where the carriage came from)
Madame Lalaurie and her family were never seen again.
Of course, the same thing cannot be said for her victims.....
The stories of ghosts and a haunting at 1140 Royal Street began almost as soon as the Lalaurie carriage fled the house in the darkness.
After the mutilated slaves were removed from the house, it was sacked and vandalized by the mob. After a brief occupancy, the house remained vacant for many years after, falling into a state of ruin and decay. Many people claimed to hear screams of agony coming from the empty house at night and saw the apparitions of slaves walking about on the balconies and in the yards. Some stories even claimed that vagrants who had gone into the house seeking shelter were never heard from again.
Nicholas Cage owned the mansion for a short time, until didn’t pay taxes. The current owner bathroom sink turns on by itself and kitchen on 2nd
floor door slams. They have had several people in to fix it and a few days later it starts again.
The real Mansion was not used in American Horror Story, however the house that was used was just a few doors down.
Here is the door in this scene.
Usuline Convent & The Casket Girls
Legend has it that in the 1800s, in an attempt to help populate the then
somewhat seedy French Quarter with more educated, well bred denizens,
French families were enticed to send their daughters here to marry.
However, these families were much misled to believe handsome deserving
gentlemen where waiting here for them.
The nuns of the Ursuline convent intercepted the girls at their arrival and put them up at the convent.
The girls had arrived with their trousseau which in France are called
Casquettes. People in the French Quarter were quick to jump to
conclusions and ignorance had them believing that these girls traveled with
coffins. So, mockingly the girls acquired the name of casket girls.
Their trousseau were placed in the third floor attic of the convent, and were not
retrieved until a proper suitor was found for each girl.
However, when the trousseau were retrieved they were mysteriously found
empty. Superstitious individuals of the time claimed that they girls had
smuggled vampires here to the French Quarter.
Well, that's the legend in a nut shell. But if this is just a legend, then why
does the convent to this day seal each upstairs window with blessed
screws? And every so often one of the windows will shoot open for no apparent reason, and immediately the convent once again seals it shut.
However, when the trousseau were retrieved they were mysteriously found
empty. Superstitious individuals of the time claimed that they girls had
smuggled vampires here to the French Quarter.
Well, that's the legend in a nut shell. But if this is just a legend, then why
does the convent to this day seal each upstairs window with blessed
screws? And every so often one of the windows will shoot open for no apparent reason, and immediately the convent once again seals it shut.
Yellow Fever
Records show that 7,849 people died in New Orleans in 1853 due to yellow fever. The total between 1817 and 1905 was in excess of 41,000.
It took a long time to combat this disease because people did not understand what exactly caused the fever or how it spread. After the particularly deadly epidemic of 1853, in which 7,849 people died, the city strove to find ways to counter Yellow Fever. One method included burning tar, which was supposed to purify the air. The municipal government also ordered the city's cannons to be fired, supposing that the vibrations would shake the disease out of the air
Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre and Tableau
Located at the corners of St. Peter and Chartres Streets in the historic French Quarter, LePetit Theatre du Vieux Carre is a well-known New Orleans landmark and a destination for tourists and local theatre enthusiasts alike.
The Le Petit of today is a jumble
of reception rooms, dressing rooms, offices, two theatre spaces, and cavernous
attic space.
This older building was destroyed in the Great Fire of New Orleans (1794)
and rebuilt in 1797 as a residence for the last Spanish Governor of Louisiana,
Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemas.
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the building passed through
numerous owners and saw many uses; it was even used as a barracks for occupying
Union soldiers in the Civil War. Union Gen. Benjamin Butler kept rooms in the
building within sight of Jackson Square. As the 19th century dawned and the
depression era hit, the building and the surrounding Quarter fell into
disrepair. When it was acquired by the Drawing Room Players in 1922 it quickly
became the centerpiece of an urban and artistic revival in the old city.
Many of the reported ghostly sightings stem from the period of Union
occupation during the Civil War. Soldiers have been seen in the hallways all
around the complex, including perhaps the most poignant that of a meticulous
dressed Union officer sighted primping in front of a now-blank wall where once
a mirror might have hung. He is said to adjust his gloves and turn his head
from side to side before disappearing completely.
There is the ghost of a nun that
terrified the cast of one of the longest running comedies in Le Petit’s
history, “Saturday Night Catechism.” One cast member commented that the
apparition is seemingly so real that it at times was mistaken for the play’s
star who dresses in a full nun’s habit for each performance. One secretary, on
an errand inside the theatre during rehearsals for the play, claims she was
“slapped hard” on the back and, upon reeling around, caught the amorphous form
of a black habited nun just as it faded to nothing. Unbelieving co-workers
nonetheless had a hard time explaining away the red mark discovered on the
secretary’s back.
One well-known account tells of an
older actress who worked with the theatre briefly in its early years and who
still haunts the backstage area today. The story goes that the actress, while
involved in a particularly torrid lovemaking session with a maintenance
employee on the catwalks high above the main stage, fell to her untimely death,
tangled in wiring and curtains far below. She is reported to have died on
impact of a broken neck and relatedinjuries, the
sagging curtain the only cover for her nakedness. The maintenance man was never
located; a supposed drifter who had no family, he disappeared from the theatre
after the horrid event. This has led many to speculate over the years whether
the fall was accidental or a deliberate act of violence, but this seems of
little consequence to those who have encountered what they believe is the
anguished spirit of the dead woman. Her earthbound spirit has been sighted on
the cat walks above the stage and moving in the semi-darkness of the backstage
area of an otherwise empty theatre. Most troubling of all perhaps, is the icy
cold that precedes these sightings and the unearthly billowing of the heavy
theatre curtains as if pressed into motion by cold, unseen hands.
Then there is the Gentleman Ghost who always appears as a well-dressed –
if out of fashion
– audience member. He
attends rehearsals and performances tirelessly and always watches from the same
dark spot. Some employees have said that the smell of a rich pipe tobacco
always announces his arrival; sometimes the scent of heavy bay rum cologne is
mixed with it. He has been spotted most frequently in a seat next to the sound
booth. Many have speculated that he may be the ghost of a producer or agent
from the theatre’s early days, but others think of him as a kind of “permanent
fan,” since he has been known to hiss or applaud depending upon his opinion of the
work in progress. Strangely, his opinion is always reflected in the reviews
that follow. If he applauds the show is usually a later success.
Bourbon Orleans Hotel
In 1817, entrepreneur John Davis hoped to make his mark on New Orleans' rich social scene, and built the Orleans Ballroom: the oldest, most historic ballroom in New Orleans. When it opened, the ballroom became the setting for the most select affairs in New Orleans. Events held here were masquerade balls, carnival balls and the forever famous Quadroon Balls, at which beautiful fair-skinned African-American women, or quadroons, were selected to be the mistresses of wealthy Creole gentleman.
In 1964, the entire block was bought by a local developer and for the
past 47 years, the historic building on Orleans Street has been home to
the elegant Bourbon Orleans Hotel.
The hotel has been restored to reflect the architectural traditions of
New Orleans and the French Quarter. And today, this ballroom still
hosts grand masquerade balls and carnival functions as well as weddings,
dinners and receptions.
The Bourbon Orleans Hotel is locally owned and committed to preserving
the history and character of the 194 year old building for generations. Stories of the rooms and corridors of the Bourbon Orleans Hotel being haunted are about as old as the hotel itself. Prior to the hotel's existence, the site was home to the historic Orleans Ballroom and Theater before being converted into a convent in the late 1800s. Ghosts who roam the halls and rooms of the Bourbon Orleans today lived during many different eras of this building's history. The Bourbon Orleans Hotel ranks as one of New Orleans' top haunted hotels.
The Confederate Soldier: There is the story of the Confederate Soldier or "The Man" that surrounds both the sixth and third floors.
Children & Nuns: A yellow fever epidemic struck New Orleans during the time the the hotel was convent and orphanage. The ghost children and female apparitions found at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel are most likely from the era of the Sisters of the Holy Family's convent, girls' school, medical ward and orphanage. The most frequently told tale is of a little girl rolling her ball and chasing it down the sixth floor corridors. Light footsteps can often be heard in the hallways.
Orleans Ballroom: The famous Orleans Ballroom, home to the grandest social events of the nineteenth century, is also home of a lonely ghost dancer, seen dancing underneath the ballroom's crystal chandelier. Several reports have been made of the rustling and a person hiding behind the draperies in the ballroom, without a window open or person actually there.
The Zach Bowen and Addie Hall Murder/Suicide
In late October of 2006, police responded to a call from the Omni Hotel
in New Orleans regarding a jumper. A man had apparently leapt off the
roof of the building and landed five stories down on the hotel’s parking
garage roof. When the police got there, it was clear that the man died
on impact. It seemed, at first, that this was not a job for homicide.
What did they have to do with a man who took his own life? The answer
was in the deceased’s front pocket in the form of a several page long
suicide note. In it were instructions on how to find pieces of his
girlfriend.
On the top of the building to the left you can see people (two small heads) on the terrace that Zach jumped from.
When Zack was 18 years old, he met a 28-year-old stripper named Lana
Shupack. The two married and, according to some sources, Zack joined the
military in order to support her and the two children their marriage
bore. He rose to the rank of Sergeant in the U.S. Army over the course
of a tour in Kosovo and a tour in Iraq. Some of his time in Iraq was
spent at Abu Ghraib. At least one of his friends told Bowen’s biographer
that he seemed to change while overseas. He was less happy and wanted
to come home.
Zack Bowen got his wish to come home via a general discharge. Because of
the less than honorable conditions of his departure from the Army,
despite an alleged honorable recommendation from his commanding officer,
Bowen was left bitter. Still, he managed to keep enough of a smile on
to become a bartender in the French Quarter of New Orleans after he came
home. He and his wife separated not long after his return, leaving Zack
single in a city full of eligible women.
Bowen eventually set his sights on another bartender. Her name was Addie
Hall. The two had one important thing in common, they both liked to
drink — a lot. When Hurricane Katrina hit, the two holed up in their
apartment together and rode out the storm. They were two of very few
people who did not evacuate. This gained them media attention in the
wake of the storm, partly because Addie had a habit of baring her
breasts at police officers when they drove by. The two were also known
to make cocktails for visitors to the damaged neighborhood.
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was like a camping trip to the young
couple. They lived without electricity, drank what they had, traded
booze for water and lived a life without responsibility beyond survival.
Many would later say that it suited them and going back to real life
had been the tragedy for the pair. Hall was known for being a mean drunk
and abusing her boyfriend when she was in the mood. Once things started
getting back to normal in the French Quarter, she reportedly told their
landlord that Bowen was cheating, so she was going to kick him out. It
is hard to tell if these accusations were based on drunken delusion or
reality.
What Zack did next was cook what he managed to get on and in the oven. He reportedly said that he was trying to “separate the meat from the bone.” It is likely that this was an attempt to get rid of the evidence. There is nothing to suggest that the man was trying to consume Addie Hall’s remains. What he did cook was so charred as to be unrecognizable. While the police knew who the victim was before they even entered the home more than a week later, it took some time to i.d. her because of the condition of her remains. Some sources also state that Bowen had sex with her corpse. Police adamantly denied this claim.
After the murder, Zack Bowen spent some time in the apartment, writing messages on the wall in spray paint and penning the five-page note that would eventually be found with his body. When he wasn’t there, he was out drinking, getting strippers and doing drugs with his friends. All of this was evidently in an effort to numb the shock of what he had done, as evidenced by what he wrote and eventually did.
The letter in Zack Bowen’s front pocket at the time of his death told police where he lived, where they would find Addie and why. His keys were also in his pocket, as was the name of his landlord, who would eventually let the police into the apartment. On the walls of the apartment, in spray paint, they found these messages: “please call my wife. i love her. i’m a total failure. look in the oven. please help me stop the pain.” There were also burns on his body that left a message. He stated that he burned himself with a cigarette for every year of his life as punishment for his failures.
There are those from the French Quarter and
elsewhere who think this was more than just the story of tumultuous
love, drugs, alcohol and murder. There are those who believe Zack Bowen
may have been influenced by a demonic presence emanating up from the
voodoo shop above which the pair made their home. Whether this theory
holds any water is a matter of opinion. However, the owner of the Voodoo
Spiritual Temple is well known and respected in the French Quarter.
Whether or not that has any bearing on her hosting a demon in her shop
is another matter of opinion.Another possible explanation for this bizarre crime is that Zack’s experiences just caught up to him. Perhaps he had some lingering issues from his two tours overseas. Maybe Addie really was as abusive as they say. Maybe all of this added up to him feeling so much like a failure that, after he snapped and killed his girlfriend, he first tried to hide the evidence and then took his own life.
It's said that at night you can see an orb move from the terrace to the red parking garage where Zach landed. There are also stories of patrons to the bar at the Omni Hotel being served by Zach.
There is a book about this story as well as a documentary:
http://zackandaddie.com/index.html
We personally didn't see or experience any ghosts but this town is rich with history. There is so much more I would love to hear.
Now we are packing up in preparation for our cruise tomorrow. New Orleans has been a blast – we will be back.
http://zackandaddie.com/index.html
We personally didn't see or experience any ghosts but this town is rich with history. There is so much more I would love to hear.
Now we are packing up in preparation for our cruise tomorrow. New Orleans has been a blast – we will be back.
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