Some of the grandest homes in the US line St Charles Ave, shaded by enormous oak trees that glitter with the tossed beads of hundreds of Mardi Gras floats. In the shade, joggers pace themselves while Tulane students flirt with Loyola friends. Clanging through this bucolic corridor comes the iconic St Charles Ave streetcar.
Louisiana Ave to Napoleon Ave
Running since 1835, the St Charles Avenue Streetcar is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world. The line traverses the CBD, Warehouse District and the Garden District; here we'll discuss the route from the borders of Uptown (Louisiana Ave) to Carrollton Avenue, running from east to west.
Just a block west of Louisiana is Delachaise, both a street and, on the southern (river) side of the avenue, a wine bar beloved by the staff at nearby Touro Hospital. Head west for four more blocks and on the north (lake) side of the avenue sits the Columns, an aristocratic bar that looks like the headquarters for the snooty rich kids in a family comedy movie. Go west four more blocks; on the riverside you can’t miss the massive Byzantine Revival Touro Synagogue, home to a large Reform Jewish congregation.
Napoleon Ave to Jefferson Ave
It’s hard to miss the bright lights of Superior Seafood, which marks where Napoleon Ave crosses St Charles. Heading further "up" (west) into Uptown, the streetcar passes by dozens of mansions. You’d guess the owners of these places are wealthy, but while some are in the 1 percent, others are inheritors of old money and older homes. The maintenance of these mansions is very expensive, and every now and then one is put up for sale when a local family decides it’s not worth the trouble of keeping the place up.
One of these grand homes has since been converted into the Milton H Latter Memorial Library, one of the prettiest public buildings in the city. The live oak trees that shade St Charles seem to grow particularly thick here, and many of their lower branches retain beads thrown by "krewes" (parading societies) during Mardi Gras.
Jefferson Ave to the Riverbend
The streetcar now trundles past another one of the South’s largest synagogues (Temple Sinai) before cutting through Audubon Park, flanked on the other side by the campuses of Tulane and Loyola universities. Also at the intersection of Jefferson Ave is the Isidore Newman School, one of the fanciest private schools in the city. Where St Charles Avenue ends, the streetcar turns on the literal riverbend (also the name of this neighborhood) onto Carrollton Avenue.
Carrollton Ave
Carrollton is like a smaller, more modest version of St Charles, although it’s still lined with lovely historic homes and plenty of live oak trees. At 626 S Carrollton Ave, look for the Camellia Grill, a diner with a pink neon facade that’s been slinging hash to the hungry since 1946. Oak St and Maple St both divert off of Carrollton and are fascinating roads for a ramble while you’re here.
