Ranger Dave

My friend Dave let me stay at his house when I was in New Orleans. We were walking around the French Quarter and stopped in the Nation Park Service Office of New Orleans. I noticed this picture below on the wall and Dave says, "Hey, you like my picture?" So it turns out that Dave was a National Park Ranger for the New Orleans area. I had no idea and was shocked! He knew every detail to all the historic places, buildings, restaurants, people, & events that went on in the city. As a traveler and frequent visitor of the Nation Parks, I really valued Ranger Dave's presence and invaluable knowledge. He even took us to some kareoke drag queen bars.



Ranger Dave Quotes:
95% of people have absolutely no clue what is going on around them.
The other 5% of people are interested in everything around them.

I have lived in this city for over twenty years. Every time I walk
down the street in this small city, I find something strange and
unusual.

There are some interesting people in this town.

There are only a few thing we do right in New Orleans. Eat, awesome music, and throw some wild parties. And that's about it.



Dave was a Botanist and used to work for the government to make sure countries didn't import hazardous plants. Dave knew pretty much all the plant types and names for all Louisiana plant life. Needless to say, Dave and Erica got along very well. While they were looking at the all the grasses and plants, I was running around doing my shooting of everything else.


Here is Dave and my girlfriend Erica walking around in the infamous 9th ward where there was huge floods from where the levies broke. There used to be a neighborhood in the background, but the floods took the houses away. Two years later, and it is pretty much a ghost town.

Because jazz was invented in New Orleans, they still have some of the best live music I have heard anywhere in America. Dave showed me a radio station, and he leaves it on 24 hours a day. You can stream this radio station with your iTunes. It is the closest thing you can witness to being in New Orleans on Frenchman Street.
WWOZ is a huge supporter of local musicians.