#secondline funerals

The Voodoo Lounge Ghost Tour starts at the Voodoo Lounge (go figure), where pre-tour Hurricanes are available at a discounted price. Our tour guide is charming and funny and a natural raconteur.  He begins by telling us about the New Orleans custom of second line funerals and segues into the topic of oven burials.

Evidently, the above-ground crypts (which are above ground because of the high water table) are used over and over, with a year and a day waiting time required between burials.  Because of the hot and humid climate, the tomb becomes a natural oven, and the body is naturally cremated, (especially handy in the days when the Catholic church did not allow cremation) with only a few bits of bone remaining.  A long -handled brush (hence the saying wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole) is then used to sweep the residue through an opening in the tomb to the bottom of the crypt so the tomb can be reused. It is a common practice to bury all the members of a family—or multiple families—in the same tomb, with names and dates added to plaques on the side of the crypt. 

As the tour continues our guide regales us with a variety of gruesome stories about the buildings we pass.  One of the most unsavory stories concerns the Carter brothers, who kidnapped people, tied them up, and slowly drained and drank their blood.  The brothers were dock workers and considered unremarkable until one of their victims escaped and led the authorities to the Carter apartment where several half-dead victims were discovered.  Tales have arisen about the brothers ever since – some believe they were vampires. Over a hundred people were killed by these fiendish men before their true natures were uncovered.   

Another story involves a couple who tortured slaves, with details so horrific I will not say more. My favorite story is about a restaurant haunted by a former owner of the building, a man who loved  to party and who is affronted that someone would dare to have a party in his house and not invite him to enjoy it.   He vents his fury by tripping waiters and dislodging trays and generally creating havoc.  The solution was to set a place at a table dressed in fine linen, with an excellent bottle of wine opened and a glass poured.  This makes the former owner and partier happy and peaceful.  On occasions when the restaurant has tried to skimp on the wine, there are issues with service all evening.  One by one we peer through a smeared window at the white-clothed table reserved for the resident ghost.

Our guide assures us that if you live in New Orleans for any length of time, you will believe in ghosts.  In fact, for-rent signs frequently specify whether the residence to be let is haunted. 

Halfway through the tour we stop at a bar for a bathroom break and are given the opportunity to order a second drink.  Although the tour lasts almost two hours, which normally would seem overly long, it is so interesting and well-planned that the length seems perfect.  I highly recommend it. 

When the tour ends we find a cab on Canal Street and head to Café Peche in the Garden District.  I can never resist having oysters on the half shell if they are available.  These were tasty and fresh, which in my mind sets the best restaurants apart from all others.  Both Lynn and I got drum for our entrée - a local fish I had never tasted that has an unusual creamy texture and was delicious.  Then we cabbed back to the hotel.  Our driver was highly entertaining which made the short journey a perfect capper to a great day.