Shoes! (New Orleans, Destrehan, Jackson: hotel, neighborhoods, live)

[blueherons]

Hi everyone! I've been reading this forum and getting some great advice.

My question is shoes. Is New Orleans like Charleston in that the sidewalks are brick, cobblestone, slate, and everything but flat smooth concrete? I'm a heel wearing girl but don't want to kill myself getting launched off a sidewalk because it caught my heel.

And no, I don't wear sneakers outside the gym.

Also, I'm a runner. Any good running routes or any to avoid?

[rburnett]

Very little cobblestone here. The problem here, though, is the big live oak trees push up the the sidewalks and streets and make them very uneven. A wedge heel might be a better bet.

So, do you do your running in heels as well, since you're not in a gym?

As far as good routes, that really depends on where you're staying.

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by rburnett

Very little cobblestone here. The problem here, though, is the big live oak trees push up the the sidewalks and streets and make them very uneven. A wedge heel might be a better bet.

So, do you do your running in heels as well, since you're not in a gym?

As far as good routes, that really depends on where you're staying.

Hahaha! Running in heels!

I am staying at the W New Orleans on Poydras. I'm actually running the Greek Festival 5K next Friday night. Any information on that?

[rburnett]

Greek Fest is a nice event, I really like all the different food they have. It's out by the lakefront suburbs and the 5K is run along Bayou St. John next to City Park.

If you're a runner and you're staying in the city, I would definately reccomend running on St. Charles Ave. at least once. It's quite an experience and only a short streetcar ride/drive from where you're staying. St. Charles is the place that locals run in the Uptown area, so you'll see a lot of other people. It's very shady, and you'll be passing through the nicest neighborhoods in the city. The street has a very wide median and you run in the grass along the streetcar tracks. The grass is short and the ground is level. Just be sure to run on the opposite side so you can see if a streetcar is coming! Anywhere from Jackson Ave. up to Carrollton Ave. should be fine, that's about a 4mi stretch.

If you're not comfortable with that idea, City Park has a lot of paths on the south end of the park(closer to downtown) that are nice and shady. Audubon Park has a very wide 2mi asphalt path that runs around the perimiter. There's also the Mississippi River path that's 22mi long and runs from Audubon Park out to the town of Destrehan. You'll need to catch a streetcar or drive to get to any of these. They're all <5mi from your hotel.

[blueherons]

Thanks for the tips! Only got to run the NOTC Greek Festival 5K and it was oustanding even if they ran out of water at the end! Amazingly beautiful out and back course with Bayou St. John on one side and City Park on the other. Race didn't start until 7:30 PM and being twilight, it was gorgeous!

Greek Festival was a lot of fun and the food was some of the best I've ever had!

As far as shoes went, wore my Louboutin espadrills the first day and went to flats the rest of the time.

Beautiful city.

[dailysounds]

I thought you were going to tell me you know where I got my shoes.