For the thrill of the haunt.

Trace the tracks of the dead to discover New Orleans

The Canal streetcar runs between the Vieux Carré and my Mid-City neighborhood that used to be cypress swamp, became the edge of town, and now hosts over a dozen cemeteries that began amassing graves in the 1800s.

I will guide you around my stomping grounds while sharing local expert knowledge of past and place with humor, grace and a touch of camp.

You will leave craving more inside experiences of the creative spirit and indomitable nature that continuously shapes the Crescent City into one of the world’s greatest cultural treasures.

Cities of the Dead Touchstone Tour

I designed my Cities of the Dead Touchstone Tour to:

  • Orient you to my Mid-City neighborhood and its 12+ Cities of the Dead

  • Provide historical background and current information on points of interest along the route, including the Mortuary, the Bottinelli complex, and six cemeteries - St. Patrick No. 2, Greenwood, Odd Fellows, Charity Hospital, Gates of Prayer, and Dispersed of Judah

  • Tour you through two cemeteries - Cypress Grove and St. Patrick No. 1

  • Contextualize the Hurricane Katrina Memorial for you and offer guidance on how it was designed to be experienced before giving you the space to experience it for yourself

  • Stay present immediately after the tour to answer any questions, including what to do next

Bottinelli Place

Thanks to Clesi’s at Bottinelli Place, I am the only New Orleans Tour Guide with the keys to this one-of-a-kind facility. Let me be your guide!

Bottinelli Place is a one-block tribute to prolific sculptor Teodoro Francesco Bottinelli. His son, Teddy Jr., imported over 200K quartz stones from Italy and installed them by hand to create a fan pattern reminiscent of a cobblestone street in Brenno, Teodoro’s hometown.

Bottinelli Place holds down a compound of mostly brick buildings that feature historically significant salvaged parts from all over the city also installed by Teddy Jr. The compound runs alongside St. Patrick No. 1 cemetery and takes up the 4900 block of Canal Street where the Bottinelli family home was situated.

Under sole ownership since the mid-2oth century, both the public street and the private compound are steeped in Creole Italian heritage and New Orleans architectural history unlike anywhere else in the city or world. They are also a tribute to their creator - Teddy Jr. died during an elevator accident on site.