Going
(March 2023)
Going: New Orleans, The Southern US City Where Jazz Was Born
The Southern US City Where Jazz Was Born
Lavinia Spalding
If there were a contest for most unique American city, New Orleans would be a shoo-in, considering its European history, distinct cuisine, and notorious “laissez les bon temps roulez” spirit.
It might also be a contender for most recognizable, since even people who’ve never visited can likely summon an image of the French Quarter (or at least a gaggle of bead-wearing Bourbon Street partiers). Others might conjure up Mardi Gras floats, hulking steamboats on the Mississippi River, or live oak trees draped with Spanish moss. Perhaps they can’t forget the devastating images that followed the federal levee failure after Hurricane Katrina. But for anyone who’s spent time in New Orleans, it’s probably more than sights that linger.
It’s the taste of gumbo, the scent of jasmine, the unmistakable sound of a brass band coming down the street, and the general feeling of being somewhere really special. A place so special, in fact, it could also win most mythologized, since its lure seems inseparable from its lore (countless tales of voodoo queens, haunted cemeteries, even vampires). But New Orleans is much more than the tropes that attempt to define it. It’s one of the world’s most important cities, historically and culturally. And yes, it’s one of the most fun, too.
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The New York Times, Modern Love: How I Learned to Trust (Some) Men
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The New York Times, Modern Love: “Goodbye, My Fantasy Man”
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AFAR Magazine: “Playing by Heart” (Winner of a Gold Lowell Thomas Award)
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Longreads: “The Cabin”
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River Teeth: A lot of Tomorrows
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Parents: I Grew Up in a Haunted House—Here’s What I Tell My Child About Ghosts
AFAR: Seoul Food
Off Assignment, Letter to a Stranger: “To the Shopkeeper in Fez”
The Bold Italic: “Working Three Jobs Nearly Killed Me”
AirBnB Magazine: “So I Slept in a ...Cave”
AAA Westways Magazine: “Korean Encore”
AFAR.com: “Everything You Need to Know About Jazz Fest”
AFAR.com: “Get Beyond the Beads: The 101 on Mardi Gras Throws”
AFAR.com: “The Art of Eating Crawfish in New Orleans”
AFAR.com: “Find New Orleans’s Soul at These 6 Mini-Museums”
Ms. Magazine: “Politics is on the Menu at Hell’s Backbone Grill”
AirBnB Magazine: “New Orleans for the Celebratory”
Off Assignment, Letter to a Stranger: “To the one who was supposed to get away”
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The New York Times, Modern Love: “Goodbye, My Fantasy Man”
I wasn’t willing to settle for less than kismet. But chasing a romantic illusion nearly kept me from finding love. -- The night I agreed to try online dating, I told my roommate Meghan I hoped I wouldn’t meet anyone because that wasn’t the kind of story . . .
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River Teeth: A lot of Tomorrows
We are at the dinner table when my young son asks, “The day after a lot of tomorrows, will we build a treehouse?” I want to scoop him in my arms, this boy so eager and fresh, so tall his forehead meets my shoulder. If I could, I would lift his body above . . .
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AFAR: Seoul Food
I still clearly remember my first meal in South Korea. I had just arrived in the country, fresh out of college and ready to begin a job teaching English. My new boss had whisked me from the airport to a barbecue restaurant, where I’d watched in panic as . . .
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The New R&R
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