Welcome to the Roaming Yeti Podcast, where we share stories and tips to inspire you to roam your neighborhood and the world. I am your host and Head Yeti, Beth Schillaci.

In today’s episode, I speak with Sally Asher about New Orleans, specifically the history and stories of their cemeteries. Sally Asher is the owner and operator of Red Sash Tours, which is a top-rated tour provider on Trip Advisor. Sally is passionate about revealing the unusual, outrageous, and untold stories of New Orleans. An award-winning writer and professional photographer, Asher believes history (especially in New Orleans) doesn’t have to be stuffy and isn’t merely listing dates and facts but the gentle collision of truth and narrative – scandals and all!

Are you ready? Let’s Roam.

Find Sally online at:

Website: https://www.redsashtours.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sallyasherarts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redsashtours
Twitter: http://twitter.com/redsashtours

Transcript

Here is a transcript of the podcast. Please keep in mind this was done via AI, so there are typos and mistakes. I tried to catch as much as I can, but it is definitely not perfect.

Beth  0:02  

Welcome to the roaming Yeti podcast where we share stories and tips to inspire you to room, your neighborhood and the world. I am your host and Head Yeti Beth Schillaci. In today’s episode, I speak with Sally Asher about New Orleans, and specifically around the history and stories of their cemeteries. Sally is the owner and operator of red sash tours and is passionate about revealing the unusual, outrageous and untold stories of New Orleans. And award winning writer and professional photographer Ashley Asher believes history doesn’t have to be stuffy and isn’t about merely listing dates and facts. You ready? Let’s Roam. Welcome back, everyone to this week’s episode of the roaming daddy podcast. I am really lucky to have Sally Asher with us. She is a she’s from New Orleans city guides this week. She is from New Orleans. She is a local writer, and author. And she also owns and operates red sash tours, which I’m going to definitely have her tell us more about. And I will make sure that I have the link in the show notes for everyone. So you can check her out on your next trip down there. Sally, thank you so much for joining me today.

Sally  1:24  

Thank you for having me.

Beth  1:25  

Absolutely. So today we’re talking New Orleans. Did you I forgot to ask earlier like How long have you grown up in? Have you Are you a lifelong resident of New Orleans or?

Sally  1:40  

I am a I was born and raised in Washington State. I’ve been here since after school since 94. And I can’t believe it’s been that long. It was supposed to only be a couple years. It kind of grew on me unexpectedly and I I’ve been here ever since.

Beth  1:58  

I feel like that’s easy for New Orleans to sort of grow on you and and bring you into

Sally  2:04  

it is I do tend to meet most people come to New Orleans and they get this really emotional reaction. And they go home, they quit their jobs. They sell everything they own. They come back. It’s like it was love at first sight. You know, this is karma. This is where I’m supposed to be. Mine was not that way. I enjoyed it. I liked it. But for me it was kind of like falling in love with your best friend. Like years later it dawns on you like Hey, I love you and imagine being anywhere else. So while I enjoyed it and I liked it it was it was supposed to be a short time gig. And it did sneak up on me and definitely got its its roots in me. But there are many, many people I’ve met. Come here one visit. And that’s it. It’s all over. That’s it. Yeah.

Beth  2:49  

See everyone you’ve been warned.

Sally  2:53  

If you come in the summer, that will probably not happen.

Beth  2:59  

Fair enough. I’m still let’s say it is our first time in your city. Are there any must do touristy things before we get into the fun sort of niche kind of stuff.

Sally  3:12  

There is. The French Quarter is a must do I unfortunately, Bourbon Street is a must do. It depends on how much you want to do it. Whenever I have friends come into town. They’re always like I’m really really sorry. Can you see can you please take us on Bourbon Street. And I always say I will take you once you get one time one shot you have to see it. You know some people are happy and fine just walking down in the daytime other people want to do it at night. But I will only do it once but it’s like going to Las Vegas and not seeing the strip you kind of have to you have to see it. But there’s so many different other parts of the French Quarter that are beautiful and lovely. But the French Quarter is absolutely a must do.

Beth  3:57  

Yeah that I I’ve been once and it was for a football ballgame my senior year in college and it was over a New Year’s Eve and it was okay, I’ll do it once I’ll do Bourbon Street once that’s

Sally  4:14  

all you need once is I mean for me once once is once enough but then you get off and you go down you know where else street or you know Espeland eight or some a lot of the side streets and you really get into the quarter and the architecture and the iron work and the stores and the history and the beauty but you do kind of I hate to admit it you do have to do that sticky stroll down at least once to say you did

Beth  4:40  

at least once um Are there any touristy things that you you suggest just skipping I mean we’ve done Bourbon Street but is there anything we can we can sort of skip?

Sally  4:51  

I would love to say skip Bourbon Street but but you can’t you kind of have you kind of have to do it. No, I mean you’re We’re talking about New Orleans is one of the things that I love about it. It’s just it’s different. It’s a different experience for everyone. Just like Mardi Gras. There’s so many different ways that you can that you can celebrate it. I hate to say skip the BAS at Cafe demand bin yeas are so my favorite. If you have time and you’re going to do it, I always recommend the Cafe Du Monde and city park. The one down in the French Quarter, you’re sometimes standing there for an hour in line. It’s not the best smelling there’s people kind of standing around and they hassle you for money. If you have to do it, do it. If you have time, take the streetcar take an Uber up to city park. It’s the same owner the cafe demand, there’s gazebos, it’s outside, it’s indoors. Also, you’re gonna have live oaks, trees, ducks, it’s much more pleasant, much more much more mellow, the exact same thing. So if you want to get your ba ba fix in, I would recommend city park on the weekends, pretty much from the morning, into the afternoon it’s going to be it’s going to be packed. Wow. Get up early if you want to go to some of the local places because on the weekends, locals really don’t show up until around 10. So if you are early riser, and you want to get some famous local places, try on the weekends try and get in there at least before like 930. That’s when the locals kind of wake up and come in after. After that

Beth  6:25  

just depends how long you spend on Bourbon Street the night before.

Sally  6:30  

And the great thing about Katherine DeMont and city park, this is one of my highest recommendations is the sculpture gardens there. And it’s by the art museum and it’s free. And it’s fabulous. And it just expanded doubled in size during COVID. So you can come in and there’s these beautiful live oaks one is the dueling oak, which is where all the famous not famous but high society Creole men would slash each other or shoot each other to death underneath this giant oak tree, take a walk around the sculpture garden. And then it’s just a Gosh, three minute walk to cafe demand. So you can spend your you know, get some Bas and coffee, and then go to the sculpture garden which is free and absolutely gorgeous.

Beth  7:13  

Very cool. So I know I gave you sort of some themes to where I’ve been introducing this roaming Yeti day off, sort of choose your own adventure in your city kind of thing. And I know we were talking and I think you have a very interesting sort of niche and something that people are going to be very interested in. So what what did you What are we talking about here,

Sally  7:42  

talking to cemeteries. I am a cemetery nerd. The cemetery culture in New Orleans is beautiful and it’s it’s unique. It’s very special. cemeteries are definitely a part of our lives. I have I started doing these tours because I wrote a book on them. I’m on the board of several cemeteries I lecture on New Orleans history. And I would frequently be in the cemeteries doing my research and watch people, you know, come into the cemeteries and stand in front of a specific tomb have no idea what they are looking at it, or the significance or the symbolism behind it. And I found myself kind of not attacking them, but just kind of going up and started giving them tours, whether they wanted it or not, you know, telling them about the tombs and about the people about the people who live in there and the different symbolism that’s involved. They are each cemetery. That’s the one thing I try and impart on my tours is each cemeteries is so different in so many unique in New Orleans. And there’s all these beautiful different ones to explore. And they are like outdoor museums, it has art, it has history, it has scandal, it has symbols, it has all the things that that I enjoy it it kind of checks everything off the box,

Beth  8:58  

how many how like, how many cemeteries are there that can be visited within New Orleans.

Sally  9:04  

There’s 42 cemeteries, there’s different types, some are launched some you have to get access through a licensed tour. Other ones are closed to the general public. If you know someone usually I know almost all the, the sextons and the superintendents and the grave diggers so I myself can get into a lot of them. But even the ones there’s there’s a lot that are open and available. Everyone tends to flock to St. Louis number one. Lafayette number one, which is run by the city has been closed since 2019. And they’re just getting ready to reopen again. And they’re going to have very kind of specific restrictions and guidelines to go in and visit. But most cemeteries tend to be open to the general public, but I do advise taking a tour it really opens your eyes up to really gives you a better understanding of the culture and the history in New Orleans.

Beth  9:59  

I mean, could you obviously because we’re not looking at anything, but like, could you sort of explain the some of the cultural significance of, of the New Orleans cemeteries.

Sally  10:10  

Also, New Orleans was founded in 1718. And we are below sea level. And so the earliest barrels, they just kind of happen along the Mississippi River, we just kind of tuck the body in. First cemetery was in the French Quarter, and 1725, which was St. Peter Street. And this was when the French Quarter was the entire city of New Orleans at the time, which most people still think the French Quarter is the entire city of New Orleans. Like it’s not, it was below ground burials. So during this time, after digging a couple of feet waters coming up, they have records of people standing on the coffins trying to get the coffins to go down, they had a very short lived plan, and we should just roll drill holes in the coffin to get them to sit down. But nobody likes to think of dad, you know, kind of being in this swampy mud, you know, muddy coffins, and that didn’t really last very long. But then they’d have a heavy rain and, and grandma would literally pop up and float down the street. So during this time period, they thought, dead bodies, dead animals, rotting fruit, emitted all these poisonous vapors that cause diseases like yellow fever and cholera. So they shut it down. And they moved it outside to St. Louis number one in 1789, which is our oldest existing, and that’s where we started doing primarily above ground burials. And that not only has to do with disease, but it has to do a lot with our, with our European and our Caribbean influence. And originally, they’re very simple and kind of basic, more functional than form. But then this French architect named Jacques de PUE, he comes over from Paris he brings a sketchbook of perilous says the famous cemetery there, everyone’s easy sketches kind of flips out loses their mind. The Mississippi River and the railroad open up, which allow us more access to different types of material. The highest point in Louisiana is Mount Driscoll, which is like a whopping I think it’s like 525 feet tall. So USANA has no natural stone, everything has to be, you know, import, you know, import it in. And then you have immigrants that are coming in from all over the world, and bringing their own artistic and aesthetic, you know, values to the city. So it kind of built up from from there. So you have these really elaborate gorgeous marble mausoleums, to your very kind of simple brick tombs, to these different sculptures and symbolisms that are involved. I always like the kind of more modest tombs that that tell the tell the story. And that’s kind of how I first became interested, I was always interested in cemeteries. But doing some research, I found a lot of the books tended to be based on architecture and a little dry, were these beautiful photos that would just say, a mayor was, you know, is buried here, or he was a businessman? Well, that’s interesting. I started out to really tell the stories of the people buried in this tomb. And I’ve kind of evolved where I’m working on a book on symbolism and in New Orleans cemetery, which is my latest obsession.

Beth  13:17  

And we’re the sorry, I feel like these questions are probably very elementary, but no, I don’t I don’t know anything about them. So we’re like certain cemeteries for like the wealthy or a fluent or like, how, how or was it based on where you were living or a lot? Well,

Sally  13:36  

a lot of it’s based on your live in your neighborhood, because people tend to stick to the same neighborhoods, right. So a lot of the tomb designs will look very similar in certain cemeteries, you’ll see certain tomb designs and certain symbolism, like St. Vincent, DePaul, a lot of Germans and a lot of Italians there. They have more examples of weeping variations of weeping wolves carved on the front of their tombs than any other cemetery. And there’s some symbols that you find some cemeteries that you don’t send, find in others. And some of that’s just the trend. I kind of liken it to like shag carpeting and track lighting is just a style and a trend. And so certain symbolism you might find, or tomb styles in some cemeteries, you don’t really find in others. It has to do with who was the to the tomb builder was, what the neighborhood was, what you know, what supplies were necessary and what you know what trends were happening during the time period when the cemetery came up.

Beth  14:34  

That’s it’s really fascinating. Do you have a favorite cemetery?

Sally  14:39  

It’s like whichever one I’m standing in. My favorite I have I do live memory cemetery. Memory cemeteries the only which is in New Orleans, by the way. That’s one of the biggest fallacies I guess I would say. So there used to be a canal. vettery cemetery was the dividing line between New Orleans and memory when they feel the canal and for the Interstate in the 50s. For some reasons, nobody really knows why I’m sure money changed hands. It changed the boundaries of the city of memory. So now memory starts behind memory cemetery, still called memory cemetery. So people are like, well, I want to see a cemetery in New Orleans. You are in New Orleans. Oh, Veterans Cemetery. But mentary cemetery is the only rural park like cemetery that we have in New Orleans. It’s 150 acres, over 1000 oak trees, more million dollar Muslims probably than all the other cemeteries combined. And rice is their owl Copeland, the founder of Popeye’s chickens. There’s some Storyville Madams, there’s just the stained glass, the mausoleums, the sculptures, the stories that promised my favorite and their shade, which is an added bonus, but there’s not a lot of shade in the cemeteries. So it is probably the most, you know, rural park like cemetery, which is based off of, you know, Paris started the rural cemetery, it’s the most influential cemetery probably in the world cemeteries. So do like strolling around memory. It’s much more like a park website.

Beth  16:16  

It sounds beautiful. And I guess, you know, I, I don’t know if this falls into sort of what your expertise but you know, I read a lot about sort of dark tourism. And I would think this falls into that and how has certain people don’t find the reverence in it, and they sort of act? I’m just gonna say stupid. Yeah.

Sally  16:46  

With norms, we have a lot of, you know, ghost tours and voodoo tours and haunted tours and murder tours. And it honestly depends on the company or the tour guide. I’ve been really good ones. And then I’ve been on some that are just awful. I always find my background is literature. So I love details. I was never really a history fan until I came to New Orleans. And then when I learned that, you know, truth is stranger than fiction, New Orleans is very, very much like that. So I do get a little irritated when tour guides or people will just kind of get lazy with story and make stories up or add embellishments because you really don’t need to. The history is just absolutely amazing. And there is such an interesting culture to New Orleans. But you do have that we have the you know, vampires live here. Then there are slime convent. And you know, there’s some grisly murders and some hauntings in New Orleans is supposed to be the most haunted city in New Orleans. And I believe there is some truth to some of that. But you really have to kind of pick your tour and pick your tour guide wisely. If you’re interested in something that’s authentic, if you want to be entertained. While I can’t have somebody tell you wild stories may not be true, then you know, take your pick in right

Beth  18:09  

yeah, I mean that’s it’s funny when I for some reason when I think in New Orleans and I feel like literature and in history are just very intertwined. They’re like it’s it’s because there’s so many stories but they are historical stories. Like it’s yeah,

Sally  18:30  

they are and and we do tend to latch on to anyone who comes in we know we do have the guy house. Guys, I got I think he was only here for a few months. His brother’s house, but we’re like the guy was here. Um, you know, but we do the people like Faulkner in Tennessee Williams and people actually stayed and lived here for you know, for quite a while and may influence in Anne Rice who passed?

Beth  18:58  

Oh, she would be it’d be two years

Sally  18:59  

this December? No, two, yeah, two years this December. She’s probably had the most the most influence. And I like taking people to her to him and telling some personal and write stories and had varying degrees. They’re her fan club has the vampires ball. Oh, great. Believe every sits the Saturday before Halloween, which they do every year. And then they had it this year. And then they had a second line for her for the first time, the Sunday after I was in the cemetery giving tours. And for the whole week leading up to that every time was in the cemetery. There’d be some random vampire walking around, would run into me and asked me for directions to places too. But we came there. My daughter came there right after the second line and there was probably about 20 or 30 people that her tomb was just covered a lot of vampires. A lot of people dressed in hooded cloaks, who are kind of kneeling and you know, praying and touching her tomb. And I remember this guy on my tour was like I wish this be put down all the ways you can get a picture. And I’m like, That’s the photo. The picture, you’re not gonna see that again. And her assistant was there and I ended up talking to her assistant and, but Anne Rice’s team is, has probably become tie for the angel of grief for the call the Weeping Angel prompted him to visit a tombs and in memory cemetery. But you do have that dark influence and there’s things offerings left to and races on and races to muzzling him all the time. Yeah, I

Beth  20:31  

bet. Yeah, she, I, I didn’t realize she that’s where she was buried. But yeah, I mean, some of her her books and just her writing and stuff i i can see that people would would definitely pilgrimage there to see that.

Sally  20:47  

There’s a lot of pembridge I’ve had people react very differently. I had one girl, woman, she had come on my tour, she was fairly it probably like early 20s. I hate to say girl, sorry. She’d come on, on my tour. And, you know, are we gonna see MRI system? And I said, Yes, that’s that’s part of it. And she told me that her dad used to read an MRI stirs bedtime stories. And her father had just passed recently, we got to Android Studio, she just burst into tears. And she’s like, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I was like, no, no, it’s my it’s totally, it’s totally fine. She just became very emotional overwhelm, you know, a father just died right around the same time that and rice had died. And it was such a big part of her, you know, childhood and growing up and, and rice has definitely done her influence by bringing attention to New Orleans and, and kind of sharing her her love of the city and its mysteries.

Beth  21:37  

Yeah, exactly. That, that. That’s a interesting choice for bedtime stories. It is it is I applaud them. But I don’t know that work in this house.

Sally  21:52  

But she told me that so I was like, Oh, well, that’s, you know, a first and that’s a great thing also about drawers because people tell me things, you know, from people on my tour as well, which is nice.

Beth  22:04  

Yeah, it’s how long? Like if you’re going for a tour with you, like how long do you How long is a tour? What would people expect?

Sally  22:13  

The different tours, they tend to run? I do one that’s about an hour and 15 an hour and a half memory tends to be to two and a half hours and honestly depends on the group and the group size. I like to keep it as personal as possible. So I always ask people, What do you want to see? What are you interested in? Sometimes I’ll get a group that, you know, maybe just want to see something different or interested in you know, stained glass. So I’ll be around that. Some people have lots of questions I did. A few weeks ago, I ended up doing a my hour and a half hour 15 minute tour ended up being a little bit over two hours, because I had this couple who had done about 12 tours, like they were serious. And I was their last one. And then I said, Well, if Hey, if you hear any misinformation, if I’m telling you anything different I’d be very curious to hear. So that it kind of opened up this floodgate. This is this truth? No, no, that’s the transistor. So it averages about an hour and a half to about two hours. But I just I remain flexible with what people want. You know, what do they want to learn? What do they want to see and try and, you know, kind of mold it around? Around them?

Beth  23:27  

That’s, that’s cool. Are there any, like other museums that are sort of related to this subject? Are there any other places that that if this is what someone’s coming down, they’ve taken your tour, that there’s other places that they can go learn about the stories and, and architecture and so forth?

Sally  23:47  

Not so much in the cemeteries, but the backstreet Cultural Museum is probably one of my favorites that has to do with a lot of like Mardi Gras, Indians, African American culture in New Orleans, Mardi Gras, Indian costumes, artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, the World War Two Museum, which is not New Orleans, but it is an amazing, amazing museum. And my biggest tip is sometimes want to do the afternoon tour. And it gets at about three o’clock and people will look at their watch and be like, Oh, I can do the you know, World War Two Museum for a couple hours now. No, I’m like, No, you can’t Don’t Don’t do it. You need it minimum half a day. I would say try and give yourself at least four hours to go through that museum. And even then you’re just going to be you know, scratching the you know, scratching the surface. But the backstreet Cultural Museum and the World War Two Museum. Like I said, the sculpture again the sculpture garden, which you can do on your own I don’t think they offer any tours of that just just beautiful. Just kind of immerse yourself in the, in the culture, which is great.

Beth  25:02  

So to mean you want to keep yourself fed and fed and beverages as well. Um, you know, are there. Are there good places around?

Sally  25:14  

Oh, good places everywhere. Yeah, there’s good places everywhere. I tend to go with the places that I tend to go to over and over again. We have a that have been here for decades. I now have friends and my boyfriend especially he loves to go to new restaurants and I’m kind of like, what why don’t we just go to one that I know is going to be good. So we get we compromise a lot with with that. I would say so my favorite restaurants. One is creating a new, which I’ve been going to as long as I’ve been in New Orleans, it’s uptown, small little restaurant French restaurant. They have a crawfish crepe and a crab meat and spinach crepe. It’s just small, intimate. They just started taking reservations a few years ago before it was kind of first come first serve. And every time I go there I see somebody that I know. And it’s just a small little it’s small restaurant when you see a restaurant where locals are going to stand outside for an hour to get in, you know, you know that it’s good, right? Uptown. It’s kind of offers Tanya street so it’s not really on people’s radar. I also love Lola’s, which is another small restaurants a Spanish restaurant on Esplanade Avenue. If you love garlic, like you walk in there and you open the doors and just garlic just just oh my god, it’s amazing. They have really great pie and fedewa. And they do grilled calamari, which I’ve never seen anyone else do. And then also in that neighborhood by the fairgrounds, I always recommend before after my my tour of St. Louis number three, which is why uses by the track. I don’t want to say it does anyone say that? But it’s not fancy. Let’s just say that. All the locals go there. Amazing food you can get like at Fey and shrimp roll Milan and Gumbo and some July you can also get some poor boys there barbecued shrimp poboy. That’s where my brother goes. Every time he comes into town. They keep their beer mugs in the freezer. You beer mugs which is really big. All the cops eat there. So you know, you know you know that it’s good. Just a great small little local restaurant. That would probably never be on people’s radars. There’s two la uses, but la uses Liu. ZZ as by the track is is my favorite to go. Those are kind of my favorite Mainstays and then superior seafood. Yeah, I could talk about food a lot. On Napoleon on St. Charles Avenue, across St. Napoleon. Great, happy hour. And they have my favorite grilled oysters. Happy hours every day. I can’t remember if it’s 430 to six or four to six. But it’s every day it’s even Saturday and Sunday. And it’s $1 Raw oysters which unfortunately they don’t eat. And it’s I think you could have it’s priced off beer and wine. And you can get their large frozen drinks or French 75 or their I believe it’s the basil pomegranate frozen drink for the large for like a regular. Oh, wow.

Beth  28:24  

That’s a good happy hours. And all all week. That’s impressed. Yeah. Every day. Nice. What I mean, I think you’ve already mentioned a bunch of them, but like what food is that quintessential New Orleans food that people really should try to eat when they’re there visiting.

Sally  28:43  

It’s hard. So for me, it’s it’s not just the quintessential New Orleans food. It’s the quintessential New Orleans experience. I love crocodiles. I’m kind of famous for them among my friends like I don’t make any friends. I’m elbowing like little ladies a little children out of the way to get to the table. It’s really bad. But the crawfish boil, it’s you have your friends and you get together and you bought the crawfish and you usually dump it out lay newspapers on on a on a big table outside and just dump the pot onto the table and some people put my friend as his with pineapple in it, which is just amazing and whole heads of Garston. Really, really good. And then you have potatoes and the sausage and the corn but I only eat. I only like to have room in my stomach for the crawfish. So of course that seasonal, it tends to start around Mardi Gras and it’s just ending now around May. But the crawfish boil if you can actually go to one it’s it’s just everybody stands around and drinks and you know peels off the crawfish it’s great. But for the food for me. Easy Food would be a poor boy. I definitely have a poor boy and I love The Love Ha, crawfish, Agfa and gumbo. Let’s see a cup of gumbo.

Beth  30:11  

Now getting around the city, like, what’s the best way to do it like walking public transportation ride share.

Sally  30:21  

So I a few years ago, and I’m doing an updated version right now i co wrote and photographed this book called 11 things 11 places not to miss in New Orleans. And they’re a European country and our company. And they have guidebooks all over the world that they do like you not to miss it Chicago and Key West and Paris. And every book has a specific format. And then it’s like how to get to these things by public transportation. And the other writer and I were like, Yeah, that’s just not possible. You’re, and they’re like, you have to do it, because this is our format. And we finally convinced them we’re like, yeah, it’s not really the best. It’s not our New Orleans is very small, and it’s very flat, so it’s easy to get around. But even then, if say you’re going to catch a streetcar and you want to go to magazine street, you’re gonna get the streetcar and you’re gonna walk. Gosh, what 5678 blocks. The streetcar system I mainly use the streetcars for entertainment is one of my favorite things to do. And I bring friends on it. Get on the streetcar uptown or or down off Canal Street and Ride the streetcar down St. Charles Avenue. And just look at the beautiful oak trees and the mansions and the architects or architecture architects standing on the street.

Beth  31:40  

Well, there could be you don’t know, it’s, it could

Sally  31:42  

be standing there. But that’s one of my favorite things to do. But to rely on it. Speedy, not the best, but you can get an RTA pass. I believe it’s I think it’s $3 a day, and it gets you on and off. So if you don’t if you’re not someone who’s going to be scheduled within an inch of your life, and you have to be more specific time. Streetcars great. And it’s and you look at it as an adventure and fun. But really not you know, it’s not like we have in some of the buses only go in certain areas. But you can catch an Uber or Lyft pretty pretty easily. And if you’re in the French Quarter, you just you walk right. Yeah, so a lot of times you can get places get dropped off and just walk wear comfy shoes and hydrate. Yes, hydration,

Beth  32:33  

alternate water, Hurricane Water hurricane right. Is there. I always asked this question. Is there a souvenir that people should should bring home?

Sally  32:51  

Gosh, I Well, we were talking about this earlier, when I travel, I always like to go to local independent bookstores. And all the bookstores we have in New Orleans in Orleans Parish are independent. So I always like to go in and buy children’s books. I like to see what are some local local authors. But that’s that’s me. I would say there’s a lot of local artists there’s Dutch alley Co Op, which is in the French Quarter, which has over 25 local artists, you can get everything from you know jewelry, to ceramics to painting, textile art, kind of everything their block prints, which is great. I like to get mine from local artists. There’s also multiple mass shops, some are better than others. Most definitely. People tend to like to get the T shirts and the N and the beads, which is fine. But I always like to go for the local the local artists and Dutch Alley is probably the best place that you can find local art very inexpensive to use. Nice, fairly inexpensive.

Beth  33:57  

Yeah, I think I always I’ve come to that where I’m I’m looking for something different or something that is more related to what we did on a trip to bring home. Yeah, rather than you know, anything that you would normally see in a normal gift shop. So I love that idea of going to to a bookstore or the local market and and supporting some of the local artists which is because then you have a one of a kind kind of thing at home to you do

Sally  34:30  

you do like we just we just ended Jazz Fest here. And that’s one of my favorite things to do is hit the artists booth and the food. We really just just eat at Jazz Fest basically and then try and burn off by dancing. But yeah, they have a lot of the contemporary arts and the local artist, a lot of artists from all over so it’s also a great place to support your local artist.

Beth  34:57  

I love that. So I have Do I always have a few questions at the end that I don’t send ahead of time? It’s sort of my fun pop quiz for everyone. So don’t worry. It’s it’s easy. What are your favorite? If you’re going on a road trip? What snack Are you taking with you? What’s your Road Trip snack? Go to?

Sally  35:21  

Oh, gosh, um, Diet Pepsi. I don’t know if that water stay away because I, I road trip a lot. When I go on really long road trips. I mean, we’re talking four or five days I drive cross country, okay. I sometimes like to take sunflower seeds, like in the shell, because it can keep me entertained. Like spitting them out the window, which is kind of gross. And I always if I go for more than eight hours anywhere, I always like to go through and get a Dairy Queen. Soft Serve. I feel like I deserve it. Yeah, I’ve heard it even though I’ve done nothing but sit in a car and drive. And I also love grapes. But that’s hard to keep it. That’s kind of like early trip. You know, first day first morning, first day I plan ahead and I have my cooler and everything nice and neat. And then by like day three it’s just a disaster.

Beth  36:23  

No, I have a philosophy that road trip food has no the calories don’t count. So absolutely does not count. I think the Dairy Queen is is I’m we have gas stations up here called sheets, and I’ve become a big I get milk shakes when we stop on road trips now like so.

Sally  36:44  

Well, our gas stations here are famous for their fried chicken. Okay, that’s a whole underground thing here. A lot of people go here to gas stations to get their fried chicken. It’s a whole kind of

Beth  36:58  

do buches stations down there?

Sally  37:01  

I don’t think so. I think the boyfriend told me he’s like, Oh, we’d heard that one was coming up or something. know, when I road trip I try and because I’ll drive sometimes from New Orleans to Seattle, Washington. And it’s it’s quite a trip with my dog. And I try and go for the loves gas stations because they usually have a pet area. So I can get him out of the car, take him off his leash. And he can you know, roam around and smell and I can kind of sit and be caught. So I always look for the loves gas stations when I

Beth  37:35  

when I travel. That’s good. Good. Is there a favorite trip that you’ve taken in your your lifetime?

Sally  37:43  

Well, I just went to I’ve taken a lot of really great trips just in the last six months. I went to Paris during Thanksgiving this year, and spent a lot of time in the cemeteries are amazing. And then we went to Cuba in February, also went to the cemetery there, which I hate to say this but hands down the sculpture in Havana. The cemetery is the best I’ve ever seen. Interesting. Absolutely. There’s really not a lot written about and you have a lot of photos on it, you know, obviously absolutely amazing what I want to give to be able to fly a drone, which they had signs every year now they didn’t have one anyway. But I would love to do a drone there. And that was probably one if you’re in Australia, when I was young and stupid. Were 21 of my best friend. We just bought a ticket that was on sale. Didn’t have any didn’t read any books. Any plan just showed up in Australia for for almost three weeks and had a blast. Those.

Beth  38:52  

I feel like those are the best trips I can go unplanned anymore. But in my 20s that was those were the best I

Sally  39:01  

land. And it is funny when I travel. I like to I when I travel out of the country. I like to go to McDonald’s. It’s the only time I really go to McDonald’s. And one time I went to a McDonald’s in Ireland and I was talking to this woman and her babysitter I went to school with and then we went we said my friend and I landed in Australia. at like seven in the morning we went to McDonald’s and we’re standing in line at this McDonald’s in Sydney. And behind her was her dad was a cop was her dad’s partner in line at the McDonald’s in Sydney, Australia. And then my favorite McDonald’s experience was in Japan. And to me it was very much a cultural experience where you have I mean everybody sees here how you have the you know the Egg McMuffin meal you have the hash brown and it comes with this diet coke but we all know other things. So I said, Okay, I’ll have a coke. I’ll have my egg McMuffin meal with a Diet Coke. No, no, you can’t get the Diet Coke. And, and I was like why? And I was like is the is it not working? Like no, it comes with Coke, orange juice or coffee. That’s it. It’s not Diet Coke. It’s not they take it very literally right? Like okay, I’ll have an English muffin separately a hashbrown separately and a Diet Coke. And they were on to me they’re like no and then of course you feel like the obnoxious American but it was like that was the sign that’s up it’s a it comes with the Coke, orange juice or coffee doesn’t come a tea doesn’t come sprite doesn’t come with like that’s it like it was very literal. This is this is how it is. This is the only way we’re serving you. And that’s it so I thought that was really fun. Yeah.

Beth  40:54  

Interesting. So the literal translation of it all

Sally  40:58  

I did not go to one in Paris I shouldn’t we saw that it was certainly land the airport is like there’s an A Donald’s for going my preference. Like we’re not for me, but they had a croissants really nice, really good at the Paris McDonald’s, which, as I’m saying this now I forgot that we didn’t go and want to go back. That would be my excuse.

Beth  41:21  

So I’m going to twist the next one. Because usually it’s it’s, you know, a sort of a bucket list trip that you want to go on. Or, but I’m gonna ask you give them the cemeteries? Is there a cemetery somewhere in the world that are or something similar that you really want to visit that you haven’t made it to yet?

Sally  41:42  

I do want to see the cemeteries in Scotland. I had been there before, but this is before I was kind of a really aware of cemeteries. Savannah, I’d like to go back and spend more time in Paris. We just went to to I’d like to really kind of hit all of them. When I drive cross country this summer. I’m going to hit some more as a as I drive, but right now, Greenwood in New York is probably big on my list. Savannah is big on my list for in the United States. Cuba was huge was that was kind of a huge check off. So I feel like I kind of not pacified myself for a little while. But I’m like, a lot calmer. And I’d love to go see the cemeteries and in Italy. It’s probably say Scotland, Italy. Savannah, New York. I went to Hollywood Forever. This summer, which I love. That’s probably my favorite outside New Orleans United States. As far very quirky, very unusual. I mean, where else can you go to a cemetery, there’s a bust of Burt Reynolds and a cowboy hat. That’s just amazing.

Beth  42:54  

That is amazing.

Sally  42:55  

It was just like it had all this. Sometimes you had statues to the people. You had a lot of Egyptian architecture, some neo-classical some modern. And it’s it’s really beautiful park. It’s not that big. And it’s right in the middle of Hollywood. I absolutely loved it. I loved it. That was probably and I went to some cemeteries in Alaska, I went to a Russian cemetery, Alaska, which was really interesting. So when I travel, it’s just interesting, noting the different symbolism and the symbols that people have that they don’t have in other places like my two favorite symbols. Sorry, off topic in cemeteries tend to be the hourglass with them, which represents that time is fleeting, and they are to torch which represents that a life is extinguished. So I get to Paris and I’m like, Oh my God, there’s an added loss with wings. Oh, there’s another and another. No, it’s everywhere. It’s everywhere. And it’s sprinkled the hourglass with wings, you’ll see him in some cemeteries in New Orleans, it’s not as dominant. The inverted tour is a lot more as a lot more common. But Paris had a lot of owls, which I thought was fascinating. Lots of owls, lots of snakes, lots of bats. And I’ve been in a cemetery in Boston, too, which is also really interesting, because at that time, the Puritans didn’t believe that you should have depictions of Gods so it was a lot of you know, skulls and crossbones and body parts, which also very interesting. Interesting. Yeah.

Beth  44:27  

Very cool. So as you’re traveling across country, what do you have on your travel playlist?

Sally  44:36  

Oh, gosh, I take my travel playlists very seriously. Very, very seriously. In the morning, I usually start out with a playlist that I have called mostly mellow dudes, which tends to be mellow. I don’t know why melamin And then I’ll move into more kind of like upbeat. Lots, I have tons of different playlists. Sometimes it’s like 1950s 80s Music, you know, I love hip hop, and then usually around two or three, because when I drive when I seriously drive, which my boyfriend hates, I’ll do 1314 hours like I drive. And so usually by the middle of the afternoon, I move more and audiobooks so the morning tends to be from like six to about to start up my morning kind of mellow and then I get more upbeat and then by two or three I go into I go into audiobooks love it, some dev will get you crossed

Beth  45:38  

Yeah, I mean, that’s a good I like that. There’s a plan to that. Like it’s not just I put a bunch of songs on that I like it’s no I well thought out plan.

Sally  45:46  

It is I have multiple I have multiple playlists on my phones from that I make all the time that I spent a lot of time on and sometimes it will be like badass broads mostly like, you know, blues women. And then I have headbang which is a lot of like, you know, AC DC and things like that to kind of pump me up. I have a Beatles and stones. About six different Christmas ones, funk, soul and disco. Laid back ladies, which is the other side flip side to the mostly mellow dudes. Louis Armstrong, hands down New Orleans, street disco, things like that, and sometimes even have road trips, which is just kind of my favorite songs that are gonna keep me awake and going but I I spent a few hours plotting out my playlist before I before I go.

Beth  46:40  

I like that I’ve I’ve done that. So I I I feel that

Sally  46:45  

like, Okay, you can’t listen to this music. You know, don’t listen to this for a few weeks your favorite song so you can you know, listen to it when you’re when you’re on the when you’re on the drive. Exactly. Yeah.

Beth  46:58  

I appreciate this information so much. I think it gives a definitely a different insight or perspective on on New Orleans that people can go check out and and especially for people who you know, have already gone and done the touristy things or aren’t interested in the touristy things. You know, this definitely gives gives them a bunch of ideas and things to look for. And like I said, I will make sure I get the Website and Links from you for your tours so that people when they’re coming down can actually book you and get the correct and expert knowledge.

Sally  47:40  

Well, I must say my other recommendation is we are a festival city, Jazz Fest and French Quarter fest tend to get the biggest draw. There’s almost always a festival happening always on some weekends. So just kind of Google festivals for the weekend. This weekend is Bayou Boogaloo which is on Bayou St. John, which is the neighborhood that my favorite neighborhoods neighborhood I’m in and it’s just right on the Bayou. And they set up and they have music and bands and art and food. So yeah, there’s the oh my gosh, Snowball festivals fried chicken festivals Creole festival, just yeah, the Creole tomato Festival, the Mississippi River festival marker Festival, the Satchmo Fez, Louis Armstrong festival. There’s almost always a festival going on every every weekend. And aside from like I said, the French Quarter Fest and the Jazz Fest and which is the most known. There’s almost always a festival and there’s locals there. And it’s almost always food, music and art. Like that tends to be the main theme of these festivals, regardless of what the what the theme is. Yeah, yeah, you’ll find good music and art. My favorite things so Exactly. I

Beth  48:52  

was like, what more do you need?

Sally  48:54  

more do you need Exactly, yeah.

Beth  48:57  

Well, I appreciate your time. So thank you. All right, thank

Sally  48:59  

you very much.

Beth  49:00  

Thanks again to Sally of red sash tours.com. For sharing her passion and expertise. Be sure to check out the show notes on the roaming yeti.com to get links to follow Sally, book a tour with her or purchase one of her books. And thank you for listening. I hope these episodes inspire you to get out there and roam even in your own neighborhood. Please subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes. And if you like what we’re doing here, please leave a review and a rating. Also to help support us please head to Yeti to shop.com to pick up some roaming Yeti merch. Talk to you soon and keep roaming.