by Ashley Ball
Forewarned is forearmed. The entrance of New Orleans' Dive Inn is both unprepossessing and unmarked.
But this well-kept secret is worth keeping, especially for those who seek art finds on hip Magazine Street. The funky little hideout on Dryades is a five-minute walk to Magazine's "Shopper's Paradise," set in a residential Garden District area seemingly worlds away from the madness of the French Quarter. (It's only a streetcar ride, really.)
| Forget the Pleiades: Dryades Street is pronounced "dry-ads," as in parched advertisements. | |
| Dryades is one-way beyond Napoleon, leading to cab confusion and circling. Have them let you off at the corner of Napoleon and Dryades, across from Pascal's Manale restaurant. | |
| Try the Red Room (2040 St. Charles, 504-528-9759) for sophisticated Garden District jazz. An elevated and covered walkway leads from the street up into the venue's ruby glow. If Hell were a treehouse, this is what it would look like. | |
| Duck out of the shopping fray for a relaxing genteel tradition. High tea at the Secret Garden (3626 Magazine St., 504-895-2913) means three courses: finger sandwiches, scones with honey butter and strawberries with chocolate sauce. | |
| Le Bon Temps Roule is a dive bar institution at 4801 Magazine (504-895-8117). Go on Fridays for free oysters on the half shell from 7 to 10 p.m., and no cover for live music. | |
| Want a book to read at night? The Dive Inn has an eclectic mix (Classic French Stories next to a book on Marriage, Sex, and Weight). Or venture to George Herget for used and rare selections. (3109 Magazine St., 504-891-5595). | |
Upon entering the lobby — once the gymnasium of the Mexican consulate, later a scuba diving school — you'll first notice the pool. It laps at your feet and holds the lobby in humid thrall. Then there's the bar, behind which hangs an assortment of Key West-esque baubles: shells, stained-glass signs, beer cans. The cast of Three Men and a Baby mugs two-dimensionally at the pool's leeward side. As proprietor Nora Steele leads you around, explaining the honor system used for taking Cokes or beer from the fridge and the fact that three black Labs are in residence, you may be wondering just what, exactly, you've gotten yourself into.
It
is all — sigh of relief — tongue-in-cheek. The bedrooms are furnished
tastefully with antique furniture and rich colors. Towels are soft and plush.
The plumbing is faultless.
The second proprietor, New Orleans native Wayne Porter, shows a clear, unromanticized love of the city, which makes him an invaluable guest resource.
"There's so much more to New Orleans than the French Quarter," he told us over morning pastry and coffee at the bar. "But what they advertise is the smut. That's OK — people like dirt; it attracts them, and it's fun. But remember, when they were trading beads in Manhattan, we had an opera."
And fittingly, while the rest of the tourists are trading their dignity for Mardi Gras beads, the adventurous ones will be gaining precious New Orleans wisdom — and maybe a Coke or two — at the Dive Inn.
The Dive Inn, 4417 Dryades St., New Orleans (888-788-3483, 504-895-6555)
