When You Can’t Visit The French Quarter in Real Life…

by Kavella Maa | February 5, 2010 | No comments

On the subject of New Orleans and the Saints, I wanted to share with y’all one of my favorite places in both Second Life and “First Life”: The French Quarter.

Sadly, I haven’t been there yet in First Life; I started developing a sore throat in Chicago and by the time I arrived in the Crescent City it was a full blown cold with fever and crap like that. (This would be my sob story excuse for not posting this blog entry sooner.) But, sick as the proverbial dog or not, visiting the French Quarter on Innovation Infoisland is always an option.

So right now my avatar is sitting in one of the green cafe chairs at the Cafe du Monde, drinking a cafe au lait and munching on some beignets. (The beignet-eating animation is so cute. With every bite you get this particle explosion of powdered sugar.) I first heard about the location when one of the writerly groups I belong to sent out an event notice about some storytelling event there. I didn’t end up attending, but I held onto the landmark because a Second Life Cafe du Monde analog is too cool.

Just south of the Cafe is a park that looks a bit like Jackson Square (without the Andrew Jackson statue or the Saint Louis Cathedral, admittedly) where Virtually Speaking with Jay Ackroyd host events. A placard near the stage cycles through a current calendar of upcoming events. I’m especially interested in February 14th’s “Culture of Truth and Avedon Carol.” Apparently this will also be the site of the Handheld Librarian Online Conference on February 17 and 18.

Leaving the park/amphitheater by the west gate, you come to a replica of the Cabildo, the home of the Music Island Museum of Music. Again, look for the cycling billboard for concert schedules. Don’t miss the exhibit, inside and upstairs, of virtual musical instruments.

Speaking of music, follow the street south and look to your left for Preservation Hall. Pass through the doorway at #72, then turn left halfway down the hallway, and you’ll find yourself in at an old concert stage with plaster peeling off the brick and posters lining the walls.

Across the street from Preservation Hall is a library. Down the street in the other direction, back past the Cafe du Monde, is the Storyteller’s Guild (go in there! click on the children’s drawings!), the OPLIN (Ohio Public Library Information Library) office and meeting room, the Azire Library, and myriad other group offices around the same lines.

I continue to be amazed by the work here. Just look at the pink building on the corner of St. Ann and Bourbon Street. Look at the cracks and discolorations low down on the wall, the plaster texture, the shading like uneven paint brush strokes on the green shutter doors. It’s gorgeous. It looks real. Whoever designed this is well familiar with the real thing. Obviously they haven’t replicated the entire French Quarter. There’s just three of four blocks, a compact sort of “essence of Quarter.” But the concern for detail and verisimilitude is obvious and bespeaks a great affection for the real thing–which, with any luck, I’ll be at Sunday afternoon for the big game.

This weekend: something or other to do with the Superbowl. I have no idea what. Hooray for surprises!