345/365 - Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar

345/365 - Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar, originally uploaded by LCSTRAVELBUGGIN.

On Dec 10, I was invited to join a roving party where we visited three historic bars in the French Quarter. We all had so much fun. First stop, was the Absinthe Bar (relaxed with killer old-school rock, from Led Zepplin to Moody Blues to Rolling Stones). Next stop was Pat O'Brien's and finally we ended it at the historic Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar - reputed to be the oldest structure used as a bar in the United States built between 1722 and 1732!

The story behind one of the oldest bars in America? Jean Lafitte was a entrepreneur, sailor, diplomat, spy and hero of the Battle Of New Orleans. Lafitte led a colorful and mysterious life in the New World. It is unclear where and when Lafitte was born, but his presence in New Orleans and Bartaria dates about 1770. He was the man to see for whatever one wanted. In 1814, as the British lay at the mouth of the river, Lafitte rushed powder, flint, and troops to General Jackson at Chalmette. Rather than a poorly supplied, out-manned force, the British stepped into a screaming hell of pirates, woodsmen, Indians and free people of color, under cover of a dense fog and an even more dense anti-British attitude. The British were routed. His good deed done, the "hero" headed to sea and more familiar deeds.

345/DEC 10