Fair Grinds Coffeehouse

Sometimes, after exploring Bayou St. John, you head over to the Fair Grinds Coffeehouse located on Ponce de Leon just off Esplanade Ave.

It is a wonderful little area. The market in the foreground, Canseco's, used to be Whole Foods prior to its move to Magazine Street. To right is the newly opened Maple Street Book Shop. Below, the tree across from the coffeehouse where Kate and I met after an 18 year hiatus. Behind the tree is the Cafe Degas, which is not too far from the Degas House, where the famous Impressionist lived with his New Orleans relatives and produced numerous paintings.

The coffeehouse's name is a play on the nearby Fair Grounds, which is both a race course and the site of the annual Jazz Fest. Below, Kate pointing to a Jazz Fest map in the coffeehouse.
I find this intersection of coffee, jazz, food, Impressionism, horse racing, books (and Kate) very powerful.