Fair Grinds Opens 2nd Location

January 2, 2014 by Charlie London

Quoting Fair Grinds Coffeehouse

fairgrinds-rathkeDear Fair Grinds Community,

Happy New Year!

At the end of the year we were asked to headline a mobile phone app for www.stay.com, which asked us to list a bunch of our favorite coffeehouses and breakfast spots in other parts of the city. It was exciting to put together such a list, but humbling to realize how vital coffeehouses are to so many neighborhoods and to the life of the New Orleans community generally, and how fortunate we are to be part of all of your lives as well and a small part of the cultural and nonprofit vibrancy of the city as well.

Speaking of support, thanks for all of the good wishes as we put the pieces together for Fair Grinds on St. Claude, which will be our second location and a chance to be part of the vibrant Marigny-Bywater neighborhoods. The address is 2221 St. Claude, a couple of yards away from the intersection of Elysian Fields and St. Claude Avenues, where the extension of the new streetcar tracks will end. I wish I could say now when we will open, but that’s as much up to various city agencies as it is in our hands. We’re making great progress though throughout the building as well as where the coffeehouse will be located. The actual space is a big smaller
than Ponce de Leon, but offers us other opportunities so we’re hoping to combine the best of PDL with some things that are a bit extra. With fingers crossed I’m praying we open before Mardi Gras, but we’ll see, and I’ll keep you in the loop.

Spread the word!

There’s always something happening at Fair Grinds! Check the Fair Grinds calendar.

Look for Fair Grinds Coffeehouse at www.fairgrinds.com for more details on what’s happening and new things that jump on the schedule unexpectedly. And, yes, we’ll continue to do Affordable Care enrollment through March 31st so watch for the notices!

Here’s hoping we all have a great New Year in 2014!
Fair Grinds Coffeehouse
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: coffee, Fair Grinds, faubourg st john, New Orleans, ponce de leon

Sunday Shooting

September 24, 2013 by Charlie London

Fair Grounds area stunned by violence

By Danny Monteverde | New Orleans Advocate | [email protected]

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 |  A sense of unease hung in the air Monday in the Fair Grounds neighborhood, a day after a man was shot during a botched armed robbery attempt as he walked back to a friend’s home from a neighborhood grocery store.
 

At about 6:25 p.m. Sunday, a man on a white bicycle rode up to the 36-year-old victim in the 3000 block of Ponce De Leon Street and demanded his wallet, several neighbors and a friend said.

Whether the victim refused or something else happened is unknown. But within moments, the man on the bicycle opened fire, striking the victim in the chest and leg, police said.

The gunman, who has dreadlocks and wore a black shirt and black shorts, pedaled away southbound on Ponce De Leon and disappeared.

The victim was still in the intensive care unit at Interim LSU Public Hospital on Monday. While police said he was rushed there in critical condition, a friend said the wounds did not appear to be life-threatening.

“It sounds like it might be a long recovery because of the stomach wound, but he’s doing well,” said the friend, who asked not to be identified. “It’s not life or death at this point.”

The victim, a plumber’s assistant from Gentilly, had been visiting that friend to watch the New Orleans Saints play the Arizona Cardinals.

A little while after the game ended, the victim took a stroll to the nearby Canseco’s Market at Esplanade Avenue and Ponce De Leon.

The victim encountered his would-be robber as he walked back to his friend’s home while he carried a case of beer.

His friend became concerned when the victim did not return.

Meanwhile, word of the shooting spread quickly among neighbors who live near the scene.

Those who knew the victim realized who it was when they saw his cap and the beer on the ground, near where he lay.

“This is a neighborhood where this sort of thing does not happen. I think the whole neighborhood is really upset,” the victim’s friend said. “It was pretty devastating. I don’t know if I’ll fully process this.”

Some neighbors on Monday appeared to go about their lives as usual, with a number of people jogging, walking dogs or taking their children for walks in a stroller.

Sue Gaden, who lives a block from where the shooting happened, said there was an expected mix of emotions about what happened.

There was little panic or fear, she said, but some people were concerned about the headline-grabbing crime in a neighborhood that usually is in the news only when it hosts the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

“You have to look over your shoulder” when crimes such as a botched robbery happen, she said.

Some were frustrated that the city’s unyielding cycle of violent crime had hit their neighborhood.

“Nowhere is safe. … For somebody to get shot in the neighborhood is unheard of,” said Joseph Griffin, a cook at Liuzza’s by the Track. “When you leave the house in the morning, you have to have the mind-set anything can happen.”

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: ponce de leon, shooting

Bastille Day Celebration

June 30, 2013 by Charlie London

toussaint-photobyToryTaylor-2013july13

Allen Toussaint at the 2013 Bastille Day Celebration in Faubourg St. John. photo by Tory Taylor.

Bastille Day Celebration
in Faubourg St. John.
photos below by Laura London

click on any thumbnail for a better view


bastille2013poster1
Norbert Slama and Raphael Bas (Manouche Musette) will perform from 5 – 7 and Johnny J and the Hitmen from 7 – 9. Cynthia Scott will sing the Marseillaise at 5:30. Ukulele Jake will perform at the Bastille Day Celebration too!

Come on out from 5 pm to 9 pm on Saturday, July 13th and enjoy the Bastille Day Celebration in Faubourg St. John. Generously brought to you by the Faubourg St. John Merchants Association.

(3100 block of Ponce de Leon just off Esplanade)

Please join us for the annual Faubourg St. John Merchants Association Block Party on Ponce de Leon Street between Esplanade and North Lopez.

 

Saturday, July 13, 2013 | 5 PM – 9 PM | Le Marseillaise will be sung by Cynthia Scott

 

Come dance in the street at our annual Bal Populaire! | Local merchants will sell food and beverages on the street. | Art market with local artists | Children’s activities and fun for the whole family! | This event is sponsored by the Faubourg St John Merchants:

Cafe Degas | Fair Grinds Coffee Shop | Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association | Maple Street Book Stores | Nonna Mia | Pal’s Lounge | Santa Fe Restaurant | Swirl Wines

In addition to a cool art market and great kids’ table there will be plenty of food, drink and dancing in the street at the Bastille Day Celebration in the 3100 block of Ponce de Leon on Saturday, July 13th from 5 pm until 9 pm. Plan to join the fun! It’s free!


*******************************************************************

Norbert Slama and Raphael Bas will perform at the Bastille Day Celebration in Faubourg St. John on Saturday, July 13, 2013. More soon!

Johnny J will perform at the Bastille Day Celebration in Faubourg St. John on Saturday, July 13, 2013.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 3100 ponce de leon, art, band, bastille, bastille day, bayou, bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, block, block party, bookstore, business district, Cafe Degas, canseco's, celebration, city, creole, day, esplanade, faubourg, faubourg st john, french, grocery, jacob, jacob windstein, jake, kids, liuzza's, maple street bookstores, market, merchants, music, neighborhood, New Orleans, new orleans best neighborhood, nonna mia, pal's, party, ponce de leon, rock, rock-n-roll, roll, swirl, terranovas, ukulele, ukulele jake

Go Ride the Streetcar

June 1, 2013 by Charlie London


Riding the St. Charles streetcar down its historic line is a great opportunity to see different areas of New Orleans, including the mansion lined Garden District and oak tree canopied university area of Uptown. A single ride is $1.25, or purchase a day pass for $3for unlimited rides.

GoNOLA TV is a regular video segment on New Orleans food, music, shopping and nightlife. Visit http://www.gonola.com for all the best places to eat, drink, shop and play in New Orleans or head on over to http://www.neworleansonline.com and plan your vacation today!
***
photos below by Charlie London (originally posted at FSJNAdotORG on May 24, 2012)

Upon returning from the May 10th BlightStat meeting, I had the opportunity to, once again, ride New Orleans’ fine public transportation.

Click on the map for a larger view

If you haven’t taken a ride on a New Orleans streetcar or bus lately you really are missing out.

The streetcar operator told me each one of these refurbished streetcars cost 1 million dollars!

Get a great view of New Orleans’ architecture. Take the bus or the streetcar!

Architectural Vignettes
New Orleans, with its richly mottled old buildings, its sly, sophisticated – sometimes almost disreputable – air, and its Hispanic-Gallic traditions, has more the flavor of an old European capital than an American city. Townhouses in the French Quarter, with their courtyards and carriageways, are thought by some scholars to be related on a small scale to certain Parisian “hotels” – princely urban residences of the 17th and 18th centuries. Visitors particularly remember the decorative cast-iron balconies that cover many of these townhouses like ornamental filigree cages.

European influence is also seen in the city’s famous above-ground cemeteries. The practice of interring people in large, richly adorned aboveground tombs dates from the period when New Orleans was under Spanish rule. These hugely popular “cities of the dead” have been and continue to be an item of great interest to visitors. Mark Twain, noting that New Orleanians did not have conventional below-ground burials, quipped that “few of the living complain and none of the other.”

One of the truly amazing aspects of New Orleans architecture is the sheer number of historic homes and buildings per square mile. Orleanians never seem to replace anything. Consider this: Uptown, the City’s largest historic district, has almost 11,000 buildings, 82 percent of which were built before 1935 – truly a “time warp.”

The spine of Uptown, and much of New Orleans, is the city’s grand residential showcase, St. Charles Avenue, which the novel A Confederacy of Dunces aptly describes: “The ancient oaks of St. Charles Avenue arched over the avenue like a canopy…St. Charles Avenue must be the loveliest place in the world. From time to time…passed the slowing rocking streetcars that seemed to be leisurely moving toward no special designations, following their route through the old mansions on either side…everything looked so calm, so prosperous.”

The streetcars in question, the St. Charles Avenue line, represent the nation’s only surviving historic streetcar system. All of its electric cars were manufactured by the Perley Thomas Company between 1922 and 1924 and are still in use. Hurricane Katrina flood waters caused severe damage to the steel tracks along the entire uptown and Carrollton route and had to be totally replaced and re-electrified. The cars themselves survived and are included in the National Register of Historic Places. New Orleanians revere them as a national treasure.

Creole cottages and shotgun houses dominate the scene in many New Orleans neighborhoods. Both have a murky ancestry. The Creole cottage, two rooms wide and two or more deep under a generous pitched roof with a front overhang or gallery, is thought to have evolved from various European and Caribbean forms.

The shotgun house is one room wide and two, three or four rooms deep, under a continuous gable roof. As legend has it, the name was suggested by the fact that because the rooms and doors line up, one can fire a shotgun through the house without hitting anything.

Some scholars have suggested that shotguns evolved from ancient African “long-houses,” built here by refugees from the Haitian Revolution, but no one really knows.

It is true that shotguns represent a distinctively Southern house type. They are also found in the form of plantation quarters houses. Unlike shotgun houses in much of the South, which are fairly plain, New Orleans shotguns fairly bristle with Victorian jigsaw ornament, especially prominent, florid brackets. Indeed, in many ways, New Orleans shotguns are as much a signature of the city as the French Quarter.

New Orleans’ architectural character is unlike that of any other American city. A delight to both natives and visitors, it presents such a variety that even after many years of study, one can still find things unique and undiscovered.

This material may be reproduced for editorial purposes of promoting New Orleans. Please attribute stories to New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau. 2020 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130 504-566-5019. http://www.neworleanscvb.com/.

Filed Under: HISTORY, More Great Posts! Tagged With: bayou, bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, desoto, esplanade, faubourg st john, fleurty girl, fortier, fortin, grand route, historic, history, lopez, moss, New Orleans, new orleans best neighborhood, new orleans streetcar, park, parks, ponce de leon, preservation, recreation, rolling history, streetcars, trolley, Ursulines

Two Zoning Issues in Faubourg St. John

May 13, 2013 by Charlie London

by Greg Jeanfreau, Zoning Committee Chairman

zoning2013may13a
3127-PonceDeLeon
On Friday 5/10/13, I spent time at City Hall speaking with a staff member for the City Planning Commission. I was able to obtain the file for 3127 Ponce De Leon as it pertains to the BZA meeting on Monday 5/13/13. The parking waivers were approved last and the reason they are re-applying is that their building permits expired after a year and therefore they have to re-apply for the parking waiver. The staff is recommending approval. There is also some documentation of neighbor support.

What is most interesting is that on the second page of the staff report (and I confirmed this with the young lady I spoke with) there is a footnote stating that Ice Cream shops are considered “standard restaurant” uses similar to that of coffee shops. This has been the slippery slope fast food question regarding whether an ice cream shop would create a precedent for fast food chains to move into the neighborhood.

Therefore, my understanding is that this and/or Tutti Fruitti would not be considered fast food and would not set any sort of precedent. I mentioned the Tutti Fruitti location and the CPC staffer confirmed this was the case with that project also. If it were considered fast food, the project would have required variances and applying for a conditional use prior to obtaining their building permits as Fast Food is a different use with heavier requirements. Tutti Fruitti does have their permits, FYI.
3042-UrsulinesAve

Filed Under: Zoning Issues Tagged With: bayou, bayou st john, faubourg st john, New Orleans, ponce de leon, Ursulines, zoning

Faubourg Photos

December 22, 2012 by Charlie London

photos courtesy Paul Broussard
xmas2012a-paul-broussard

If you haven’t driven by the 3200 block of Ursulines, make a point to do so. Neighbors there have put up a glorious display.

Paul Broussard sent in some great shots of the area around Ponce de Leon and Maurepas Streets. Enjoy!

click on any of the thumbnails below for a larger view

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: bayou, bayou st john, best, christmas, eclectic, faubourg st john, hannukah, holiday, kwanzaa, lights, maurepas, neighborhood, New Orleans, paul broussard, photos, ponce de leon

Breakfast Anyone?

December 2, 2012 by Charlie London

Some neighbors have lamented that there isn’t a business dedicated to serving breakfast in Faubourg St. John. However, there are breakfast options available on a daily basis and on Sunday two options for brunch that should not be missed.

Breakfast sandwiches like this and full breakfast meals are prepared daily at Canseco’s. Get there early for the best selection! Canseco’s opens at 7 a.m.
Everyday, one can buy a variety of quick breakfast options that are ready to go at Canseco’s Market. Pictured here is the ham, egg and cheese biscuit but grits, eggs and sausage are also available in full meals that are hot and pre-packaged ready to go.

And, at Fair Grinds there is all manner of fair trade coffee with a variety of ready to eat muffins waiting to be heated up for you.

But, the pièce de résistance for breakfast in Faubourg St. John is only available on Sundays. Both Cafe Degas and Santa Fe restaurants offer a Sunday brunch that should not be missed.

This meal, featuring home made biscuits, meat from Terranova’s all wonderfully prepared is only available from Santa Fe and only on Sundays!

Sunday brunch served 11am-3pm at
Santa Fe Restaurant at 3201 Esplanade.


Grillades and Grits consisting of veal cutlets with creole gravy, peppers, tomatoes, organic stone ground grits is just one of the many top quality offerings for Sunday brunch at Cafe Degas.
Click on the photo for a menu!

Sunday brunch at Cafe Degas
served 10:30am – 3:00pm at 3127 Esplanade.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: breakfast, Cafe Degas, canseco's, esplanade, Fair Grinds, ponce de leon, restaurants, santa fe

Improvements at Fair Grinds

August 21, 2012 by Charlie London

August 21st, 2012

Dear Fair Grinds Community,

PARDON OUR DUST!
That’s what the construction signs usually say, but actually it’s not going to be that bad, and in fact I think all of you will find this special bulletin welcome news.

We’re fixing the balcony, “waterproofing” the outside patio, and preparing to open up more chairs, tables, umbrellas, computer electricity outlets, and space in our open area. How about that for an exciting addition as we prepare to celebrate our second year of “great coffee for a change?”

Here’s more than you want to know about what’s happening. We’re shoring up and replacing some of the piers and supports for the balcony. We’re replacing all rotten wood and redoing the decking on the balcony. We’re raising the wrought iron fencing on the balcony to the required 42 inches to assure safety for our customers. We’re surfacing the balcony so that rain doesn’t pour into the patio scurrying our customers when we’re facing our current deluge. We’re adding gutters to the balcony so that when the rains come then it will drain to the back, rather than spill over our sides.

Our contractor making these repairs is going to work in sections, so that only a couple of feet of the patio is unavailable at any time during the construction and so that in fact there really isn’t dust or disturbances on the first floor. Furthermore, this should be a quick process finding Labor Day back to normal with the balcony “open for business!”

Frequently asked questions include:

Will the common space be affected?
No. We will continue to operate the common space as usual.

Will dogs be allowed on the balcony?
This is a matter between you and your dog, as long as the dog is not a jumper!

What about smoking? The front sidewalk is not our property, so smokers will continue to enjoy this space. The patio though is going to move to a non-smoking area whenever practicable. Children and others run free in the patio and too often smoke clouds are trapped under the stairway making it less than ideal space. Instead we are going to make the balcony open to smoking, which actually means that our smoking customers will have MORE space to smoke and drink their coffee than they have now! “Whenever practicable” means that the community is self-policing, so when it is raining or inclement, then of course there’s going to be some smoking in the patio, but during the normal wonderful New Orleans weather, it’s balcony rules!

What about music? No music is planned for the balcony because we want to continue to be good neighbors while continuing to welcome musicians to give their time and offer enjoyment to our customers and, I’m not sure that would qualify.

We’re super excited about this huge improvement and its ability to open up more space for our more people who are joining the Fair Grinds community every day! Some pain, but lots of gain!

Thanks as always for your support!

Filed Under: More Great Posts! Tagged With: bayou, bayou st, coffee, construction, esplanade, Fair Grinds, fairgrinds, faubourg, faubourg st john, food, hangout, john, music, neighborhood, New Orleans, ponce de leon, rathke, wade

Bastille Day in Faubourg St. John

July 11, 2012 by Charlie London

CLICK HERE to view photos and video from the
2012 Bastille Day Celebration in Faubourg St. John!

bastille2013poster

***

Please join us for the annual Faubourg St. John Merchants Association Block Party on Ponce de Leon Street between Esplanade and North Lopez.

Saturday, July 13, 2013 | 5 PM – 9 PM | Le Marseillaise will be sung by Cynthia Scott

Come dance in the street at our annual Bal Populaire! | Local merchants will sell food and beverages on the street. | Art market with local artists | Children’s activities and fun for the whole family! | This event is sponsored by the Faubourg St John Merchants:

Cafe Degas | Fair Grinds Coffee Shop | Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association | Maple Street Book Stores | Nonna Mia | Pal’s Lounge | Santa Fe Restaurant | Swirl Wines | Terranova’s Grocery

In addition to a cool art market and great kids’ table there will be plenty of food, drink and dancing in the street at the Bastille Day Celebration in the 3100 block of Ponce de Leon on Saturday, July 13th from 5 pm until 9 pm. Plan to join the fun! It’s free!

Check out the great music lineup below. Come dance with us!

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 3100 ponce de leon, art, band, bastille, bastille day, bayou, bayou st john, block, bookstore, business district, Cafe Degas, canseco's, city, creole, creole stringbeans, day, esplanade, faubourg, faubourg st john, french, grocery, jacob, jacob windstein, jake, kids, liuzza's, maple street bookstores, market, merchants, music, neighborhood, New Orleans, nonna mia, pal's, party, ponce de leon, rick olivier, rob savoy, rock, rock-n-roll, roll, stringbeans, swirl, terranovas, ukulele, ukulele jake, zazou, zazou city

FSJNAdotORG week in review

June 27, 2012 by Charlie London

This week’s posts at FSJNAdotORG


***
Faubourg St. John neighbor, Richard Sacher, owner of American Aquatic Gardens, supplies the plants and maintains the pond in front of the New Orleans Museum of Art. Dean Burridge supplies the fish.
https://fsjna.org/2012/06/magical-mystery-tour-20/

***

On June 23rd, 2012, ten neighbors worked hard to make Kennedy Park even more beautiful.
https://fsjna.org/2012/06/kennedy-park-warriors/

***

Check out the video to see the retrieval of a vehicle from Bayou St. John.

https://fsjna.org/2012/06/vehicle-retrieved-from-bayou/

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Look for a Postcard from Home every Sunday at FSJNAdotORG

https://fsjna.org/2012/06/postcard-from-home-29/

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Bastille Day is going to be a blast. Plan to be on Ponce de Leon on Saturday, July 14th.
https://fsjna.org/2012/06/great-bastille-day-lineup/

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A headwashing ceremony is held every year on June 23rd on the Magnolia Bridge.
https://fsjna.org/2012/06/st-johns-eve-2/

***

The Magical Mystery Tour continues every Wednesday at FSJNAdotORG. Do you have something you would like
to share?

https://fsjna.org/2012/06/magical-mystery-tour-18/

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Miniature Golf to be ready in City Park in 2013.

https://fsjna.org/2012/06/putt-putt-park/

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Last week’s review of posts at FSJNAdotORG

https://fsjna.org/2012/06/plenty-to-see-at-fsjnadotorg/

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Charlie London – making FSJNAdotORG the place you want to visit.

Filed Under: Week in Review Tagged With: american aquatic gardens, bastille, bastille day, bastille day celebration, bayou, bayou st john, dean burridge, esplanade, faubourg, faubourg st john, kennedy park, magical mystery tour, New Orleans, park. car in bayou, pocket, ponce de leon, postcard, richard sacher, triangle, washington

Great Bastille Day Lineup

June 21, 2012 by Charlie London

In addition to a cool art market and great kids’ table there will be plenty of food, drink and dancing in the street at the Bastille Day Celebration in the 3100 block of Ponce de Leon on Saturday, July 14th from 5 pm until 9 pm. Plan to join the fun! It’s free!

Check out the great music lineup below. Come dance with us!

ZAZOU CITY from 5 pm until 7 pm


UKULELE JAKE from 7 pm until 7:30 pm


CREOLE STRINGBEANS perform from 7:30 until closing



Click on the flag for a PDF of the poster.
Print one for yourself and your friends!

Please join us for the annual Faubourg St. John Merchants Association Block Party on Ponce de Leon Street between Esplanade and North Lopez.

Saturday, July 14, 2012 | 5 PM – 9 PM | Le Marseillaise will be sung by Cynthia Scott

Zazou City | Ukelele Jake | Creole String Beans

Come dance in the street at our annual Bal Populaire! | Local merchants will sell food and beverages on the street. | Art market with local artists | Children’s activities and even Napoleon! | This event is sponsored by the Faubourg St John Merchants:

Cafe Degas | Fair Grinds Coffee Shop | Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association | Maple Street Book Stores | Nonna Mia | Pal’s Lounge | Santa Fe Restaurant | Swirl Wines | Terranova’s Grocery

Filed Under: More Great Posts! Tagged With: 3100 ponce de leon, art, band, bastille, bastille day, bayou, bayou st john, block, bookstore, business district, Cafe Degas, canseco's, city, creole, creole stringbeans, day, esplanade, faubourg, faubourg st john, french, grocery, jacob, jacob windstein, jake, kids, liuzza's, maple street bookstores, market, merchants, music, neighborhood, New Orleans, nonna mia, pal's, party, ponce de leon, rick olivier, rob savoy, rock, rock-n-roll, roll, stringbeans, swirl, terranovas, ukulele, ukulele jake, zazou, zazou city

Magical Mystery Tour

June 20, 2012 by Charlie London

Many streetlights have been repaired throughout Faubourg St. John.

This scene used to be much darker until the streetlights were fixed recently — just in time for next month’s Bastille Day Celebration on Saturday, July 14, 2012!

Do you have a recent picture or a historical one of any aspect of Faubourg St. John?

Send it to [email protected] and it will get included in the weekly Magical Mystery Tour! The Magical Mystery Tour continues every Wednesday at FSJNAdotORG.

Filed Under: Magical Mystery Tour Tagged With: bayou, bayou st john, business district, esplanade, faubourg, faubourg st john, New Orleans, ponce de leon

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