We were in New Orleans for a conference that kept us pretty well occupied, but even then I still thought we’d explore alllll the cemeteries. Once we were on the road and I was looking up more about them, it started to feel like you couldn’t go without a big group. With everything else we had going on, it didn’t seem like it was going to work out. We were both super bummed, until a long break in the conference when we sat down with our phones and found out that St. Louis No. 1 had just a few days before made entrance permitted only with a licensed tour guide. So we booked a tour and hustled over there.

I didn’t know a lot about New Orleans cemeteries/burial practices and I learned so much. I guess I’d never really thought about how the tombs are reused, what happens to the remains inside, etc. I thought it was so neat when tombs were stacked four or five high, and that the design of the iron fence around a tomb sometimes matched that around the deceased’s family’s home. And of course Nicolas Cage’s pyramid and Marie Laveau’s supposed tomb are cool as well ;)

It was such a gorgeous day. I wish we could have gone on Nat’s birthday and Friday the 13th, and it would have been nice to see a little bit more/stray from the group, but I’m grateful we made it at all! Nat was thrilled. That guy, give him something spooky and he’s set.