From Where I Sit: "Three Days In New Orleans"

Join intern Liz as she blogs about her experiences on the Step On Bus Tours team. 

Stand on any given street corner in New Orleans and you’ll be barraged with the unexpected. Neon lights flash, beckoning you into voodoo shops, bars with frozen cocktails to go, and live performers. Visitors and locals alike watch overhead from balconies, listening to the sounds trumpeted by the jazz players. You’ll most likely find some sort of plaque or marker, explaining the events that took place hundreds of years ago and yet are still a part of the atmosphere.

The St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square

It can be tough to decipher where you are, what era it is, or, most of all, what you want to explore first.

The magic of New Orleans is unlike any other place. It is a French-Creole city of many different cultural influences, experiences, and histories. The impact of the city’s establishment by France is still strong, from the architecture to names on the street signs to the signature food (beignets being an arguable favorite). Mixed with the Creole history that imbibes the area, the almost forty-year presence of the Spanish, and the uniquely American Antebellum touches, you get a gumbo pot full of personality with something for everyone.

Walking through the streets, it is easy to think that you left the America that you have known and arrived in a different country with its own unique swagger.

The party reputation of the French Quarter, however well-earned, is not the only aspect of the neighborhood: the small, local shops and restaurants bring character to the area. Ride the streetcar to the Warehouse District to go to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Walk through the Garden District and be treated to an unofficial home tour, looking at some of the most beautiful residences in America. Or, for the adventurous traveler, venture to the bayous for some quality time with alligators.

The French Quarter

What really sets New Orleans apart, however, is the thorough enjoyment of the simple pleasures that the city’s patrons revel in. There is no guilt in these pleasures: a large, hearty plate of jambalaya; an ice-cold drink in the Southern sun; a swinging melody. Religion is a large part of Orleans culture. Family gatherings on porches are commonplace. I have a theory that music is so popular in NOLA because it is so easily shared with others, giving anyone who can hear it a little pleasure of their own.

It’s near impossible to describe the Big Easy in just a few paragraphs. New Orleans is something that has to be seen to be believed. And even then, as you stand on that street corner, you may not be able to believe your eyes.

For more information on our trip to Biloxi and New Orleans September 10-16, 2017, call us at (248) 619-6692.

From Where I Sit: "About Detroit"

Join intern Liz as she blogs about her experiences as a member of the Step On Bus Tours team.

“The Comeback City,” “The Paris of the Midwest,” “Motown,” Detroit.

What is it about this city that warrants this plethora of names?

Is it the resilience of a city so judged by those outside of it? The dedication of those Detroiters who refuse to believe what naysayers are trying to tell them?

Through the eyes of a young visitor, it can be as simple as the magic of the skyline.

I grew up in Monroe, a small town about thirty miles south of Detroit. We weren’t lacking for history: with the River Raisin Battlefield, historic Downtown, and markers all around denoting Native American trades, important settlements, and museums, Monroe can hold its own with many cities in Michigan and elsewhere.  

But taking excursions up to Detroit was different. I think back to how I first saw the city from the highway, the GM building as the jewel of the skyline, exhilarated by the city’s energy. When you’re young, you can avoid the onslaught of bad news about Detroit. All that you see are the streets lined with skyscrapers so old it is reminiscent of New York’s cosmopolitanism.

When I heard that Step On Bus Tours would start providing short tours of Detroit, I was excited by the prospect of allowing someone else to see Detroit the way I first saw it. The new tours last three hours or six hours – the perfect time to discover (or rediscover) facts and destinations about the city. Many people, both from Detroit and from other places around the state and around the country, can benefit from driving through the streets and learning something new about the Motor City.

Between the history of its inception to its rise as a world power in the 20^th century to its comeback as a business powerhouse, these short tours will explore every role that Detroit has played in its life. The grandness of the city will be at the center of it all.

Detroit has taught me many life lessons, one of which has lasted almost my entire life -  when times are tough, keep your eyes on the skyline.

For more information on the new Detroit tours, call (248) 619-6692.

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