New Orleans: Metairie Cemetery Audio Tour & Carnival Stories

4.27

(11 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to laugh in a cemetery. But there I was, earbuds in, standing by a marble angel with moss on her toes, listening to a story about a Mardi Gras king who apparently threw beads even from his tomb. The Metairie Cemetery audio tour started right at the old racecourse gates — you can still kind of feel that restless energy under all the quiet. My phone buzzed softly as the GPS kicked in; it’s funny how technology just knows where you are now. Anyway, first thing I noticed was the smell — sweet olive trees mixed with that damp stone scent you only get after rain.

There’s something about walking alone among these huge mausoleums, some taller than my apartment back home. The audio guide kept surprising me — like when it pointed out the pyramid-shaped tomb and explained its weird connection to Egyptian symbolism in New Orleans (who knew?). At one point, an older couple strolled past me arguing gently over which Carnival queen had the flashiest memorial. A local jogger waved as he passed; not sure if he thought I was lost or just another “tourist with headphones.” I liked that nobody hurried here. The tour mentioned soldiers and saints buried close together — it made me pause for a minute. There’s a heaviness but also this odd sense of celebration everywhere.

I fumbled with my phone once (classic me) and accidentally replayed the part about spiritual victories twice — maybe I needed to hear it again. Sometimes the sun hit those stained glass windows just right and everything glowed blue-green for a second. It’s hard to explain, but I left thinking about how people try so hard to be remembered here, with angels and obelisks and names carved deep enough to last centuries. It felt both grand and strangely intimate — like you’re eavesdropping on New Orleans’ private stories.