New Orleans City Park

My home-stay had a couple of cruiser bikes, so off I went for a bike ride through the park.   There are walkways & roadways with bike lanes throughout the park so you can get around via multiple methods of transportation and I highly recommend biking as the park is huge at over 1,300 acres (City Park Map).  The far end of the park has the 18-hole golf course and tennis courts which I quickly road around and then headed back to the front of the park for some of the attractions including the Botanical Garden and Besthoff Sculture Garden. In the center of City Park is New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). Opened in 1911, the museum now hosts over 40,000 object. The most charming of the attractions were Carousel Gardens Amusement Park and Storyland.   Carousel Gardens Amusement Park has a one-of-a-kind antique wooden carousel with a hand-carved marvel “flying horses” that are over 100 years old. Storyland was crowded with birthday parties and the children were running to each display with all the classic fairy tales from Peter Pan to Old Lady who lived in a Shoe. Classic fun! The park has both a bandstand (Popp’s Bandstand) and a Peristyle for concerts. There is also a cute train that goes around the park and through the oak trees. The crown jewel of City Park and my favorite was riding through world’s largest stand of mature live oaks. Some of these date back 800 years. The oldest trees have limbs that are twice as long as the oak is tall and they are held up with poles are droop to the ground making perfect seats. A couple was getting married under the oaks and I can only imagine how stunning their photos would be. With all the drippy moss hanging off them, there was no better place in New Orleans to read a book and enjoy a sunny day in early March.