New Orleans
The Moonwalk is the promenade on the Mississippi River in front of the old Quarter of New Orleans. It runs along the top of the levee, right beside the water.
From wharves to promenade
For almost two centuries this riverbank was full of wharves and warehouses. Ships unloaded cotton, coffee, sugar and timber. Then the port moved farther away and the bank was left empty. In the 1970s the city turned it into a promenade for everyone.
A special name
The promenade bears the nickname of the mayor who wanted it, Maurice Landrieu. Everyone called him "Moon". In the 1980s it was rebuilt wider, with lights, benches and trees for shade.
The river of steamboats
The Mississippi crosses the United States from north to south, for thousands of kilometers. In the 1800s hundreds of steamboats traveled on it, loaded with goods and passengers. The writer Mark Twain was a riverboat pilot and described this life in his books.
How to get there
Between the city and the promenade there is a floodwall and some railroad tracks. You go up only at the marked crossings, like those at Toulouse Street and Saint Peter Street. From up here you can see the whole Quarter.
