Cemeteries

When I go back to New Orleans someday (sans kid), I will check out the cemeteries. I had plans during this trip to go on a cemetery tour, but I hesitated to take Ellie on one and the tours I read about were part of a longer walking tour that took 2 hours. I knew Ellie and a 2-hour walking tour would not mesh. So I didn't end up seeing the cemeteries. I wish I could have. I got a glimpse a couple as we drove by on the bus to the swamp tour and in the cab from the airport, and they are so intriguing.

I still want to talk about them and show you a few pictures from the internet, because they are so unique.

The cemeteries are filled with above-ground tombs, some of which resemble small houses. They are lined up next to each other so they form little neighborhoods with streets in between, and some of the tombs even have fences in front of them. They are known as cities of the dead.

Are they tombs in a cemetery or garages along an alley?

If you're lucky, you get a tomb with a view of a palm tree.

Lovely, isn't it? And yet another reason to believe that there are ghosts in New Orleans. I bet no one who dies in New Orleans ever follows that white light into eternity. After all, when you die you get your own place, hopefully some nice neighbors, and whenever you want to you can float over to Bourbon Street for some dinner and dancing. New Orleans is the best place in the world to be dead.

The reason all these tombs are above ground is because if you dig down just a few feet, you hit water. When they bury coffins, the coffins just float up again. So they have to bury people above ground. And we tourists are mighty glad they do.


But on to our day...