New Orleans, LA

It's a long trip from Jackson, MS to New Orleans but music really helps me travel the highways and byways of southern Mississippi and Louisiana,

mile after mile after mile.

I usually arrive in the city pretty late so after spending the night, Faulkner House Books is my first visit of the day. It's a beautiful gem of a bookstore in the heart of the French Quarter. In the house where William Faulkner wrote his first novel, this rare bookstore has Faulkner's complete works, including many first editions.

I park in a lot that is situated in between Jackson Square 

and the Mississippi

and then walk to the store which sits in Pirates Alley (that's the alley to the left of 

St. Louis Cathedral's left spire in the photo above).

Here's what the store looks like from the outside

My good friend Joe DeSalvo is the owner and very astute buyer but Joanne Sealy, both seen below, keeps the store running like a well oiled machine, isn't that right Joanne?

Roy Blount Jr's. wife, the extremely talented painter
 Joan Griswold, a huge fan of Faulkner House, wonderfully painted this view of the hallway next to Joe's office, just behind the store.

Sometimes if I have the time, which is unfortunately rare, Joe and I will have lunch at the Gumbo Shop, situated just around the corner from the bookstore. They have the best vegetarian red beans and rice in the world!