Growing up in the Quarter

The French Quarter is definitely my favorite part of the city. I know it’s so touristy now, but it’s a huge part of my childhood. My parents used to own houses on Chartres Street and on the 1200 block of Bourbon Street. My mom is from here, and even though my dad’s from New Jersey, he knows more about this city and loves New Orleans more than anyone else I know. Our house on Bourbon Street used to be on postcards because it was purple and green and so colorful. I remember when I was little, I thought the ceilings were hundreds of feet tall, but really they were around fifteen feet tall. I always used to think the house was haunted, and I never would go up the winding staircase to the bedrooms because of it. We had the nicest courtyard with those elephant ear plants and cumquat trees and a fountain. My twin brother and I loved to go stand on the stoops outside the house, and we would watch the people walking by, and he would pretend to be a statue. Until I moved down here this year, I really haven’t been to the Quarter since I was ten because I usually stay in the suburbs and had no interest in going to the city because I thought I had done everything. However, when I moved down here, my dad took me to the Quarter, and I fell in love with it again. I love hearing the street performers and the architecture and passing by those houses that were such a big part of my childhood.