Page 123 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New Orleans

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5 Sports Facilities
in City Park
Map 2 A1 B1. Riverfront. Tel 482-
4888. @ 46, 48, 90. v Canal.
∑ neworleanscitypark.com
The majestic City Park contains
many excellent sports facilities.
The City Park Pepsi Tennis
Center has 26 lighted courts,
which can be reserved by
phone 30 days ahead of time.
The City Park Practice Center
has a 74-tee lighted driving
range and a putting course.
Its 18-hole North Course has
been rebuilt since Hurricane The Pepsi Tennis Center, City Park
Katrina and has water features
on eight holes. plantations along the bayou Once a working plantation,
The park’s 8 miles (13 km) and a canal was dug, linking it it was carefully moved in the
of lagoons provide ample to the downtown, ending in 1960s a block upstream to this
opportunities for boating, Basin Street at Congo Square. location. In 1810, the house was
and for fishing for bass and Today, the canal is filled in, but purchased by James Pitot, who
trout. Egrets, heron, and the the name Basin Street survives. had been the second mayor
occasional alligator also inhabit In the 18th and 19th cen turies, of the city five years earlier. He
the lagoons. Fishing permits the bayou was the scene of had arrived from Haiti in 1796
can be obtained at the voodoo ceremonies. Marie after the slave uprising led by
Administrative Center. There is Laveau (see p85) was the most Toussaint L’Ouverture. Pitot
also a stable, offering riding infamous practitioner. went on to direct a bank and
lessons and trail rides. run the New Orleans Navigation
Company before being
7 Pitot House appointed to a judgeship.
6 Bayou St. John In 1904, the house was
1440 Moss St. Map 2 B2. Tel 482-0312.
Map 2 B1. @ 46, 48, 90. v Canal. @ 46, 48, 90. v Canal. Open 10am– bought by Mother Cabrini, who
3pm Wed–Sat. Closed major hols. was later to become America’s
The French recognized this & ∑ pitothouse.org first saint, and converted into
bayou as a key strategic asset, a convent. It is now a museum
providing access to the Gulf of This classic West Indian-style and contains the original
Mexico via Lake Pontchartrain. raised house was built in 1799, antiques and furnishings from
As New Orleans grew, so did on the banks of Bayou St. John. the house.

The verdant Bayou St. John

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