Greetings from the Irish Channel

MY HOUSE IN THE IRISH CHANNEL

I've been down in New Orleans working on my double shotgun that I placed a camelback on the rear of. The French laid out this City with equal lots that are about 30 feet wide and one hundred feet long, so you have long narrow houses. The proximity of the houses helps out in hurricanes as wind can't build up between the buildings.

Mine was built circa 1870 (Just after and around the South End) and it has some of the original plaster moldings which were hidden under two dropped ceilings and millions of termites. The building was not habitable after the hurricane and I fixed it up, changed the rotting pink exterior with hardiplank and painted it Wabash Red and White.

The Irish Channel was named because it was where the Irish immigrants lived. They were carpenters, masons and housemaids to the rich who lived a few blocks away in the Garden District. Although it was low income housing, the craftsmen built the buildings well, with 27 foot long joists and rafters made out of beautiful knot free wood. There are 14 foot high ceilings to deal with the heat and there are no basements in NOLA. I'm about 6 blocks from the Mississippi but a huge wall separates the citizens from the river, as it is a working port.

There are shootings and arrests weekly in the area but it is slowly getting better and people are fixing their places up.

Please visit New Orleans if you have open vacation plans. The people are incredibly nice, and the area can use all the economic stimulus it can.

Enjoy the Day, go Pats, Go SOX!