become a certified New Orleans tour guide.

There’s a tour guide training class at Delgado Community College for $160. There’s class one night a week and field trips on Saturdays.

I’m totally doing that next fall after I’m done with teacher certification.

Until I’m done with teacher education classes and I can use my evenings to take tour guide training classes, I’ll have to be happy with playing tour guide for my family and friends. Having led my grandparents on an adventure in cramming as much of New Orleans as possible into 48 hours, I have to say I don’t mind.

It also helps when you have co-workers who grew up here give you tips on all the good places to eat. I didn’t think I could eat that much food in a weekend, but we made a valiant attempt. Dinner jazz steamboat cruise, Cafe du Monde, Napoleon House, Deanie’s Seafood, Orleans Cafe, and Johnny’s Po-Boys.

I’m currently reading We As Freemen, about the Plessy vs. Ferguson case in the 1890s and the fight against legal segregation in the U.S. For as much time as I’ve spent studying American history, I never knew Plessy lived in New Orleans, about 2 miles from where I now live, actually.

I’ve also become a member of the Friends of the Cabildo, which means I can get into Louisiana State Museum facilities for free, go on a free French Quarter walking tour, and get a discount on all my necessary Louisiana reading materials at the 1850 House gift shop. I’m a history nerd and proud of it.

For now the goal is to read as much New Orleans history as possible, but more importantly, live it. Become a part of New Orleans. Find my niche.