The Second Line parade for Alma Claire Maleckar Bear began on Friday, December 9th 2011, at sundown. The three mile route went from the 1300 block of St. Roch Avenue:*

in the St. Roch neighborhood, left onto Marais, right on Port St., then a left onto St. Claude Avenue, with a stop at St. Coffee, crossed St. Claude Avenue at St. Ferdinand, then right onto Press Street into the Bywater, a left onto Dauphine, a right on Piety, then right onto Royal with a stop outside Alma’s studio:

After some songs there, we continued along Royal into the Marigny, stopped at Mimi’s for libations and a bathroom break (and for some of us, the coffee across the street), then continued on Royal, left on Esplanade to Decatur and into the French Quarter, where we met up with a cop —  who didn’t want the parade to continue (and for which there was indeed a permit). Luckily, we were with a dear friend of my nieces, Molly and Alma — Naomi — who is a lawyer and had no problem getting him to agree to the second line continuation with a slight modification onto the Moon Walk, where we lit candles, scattered some of Alma’s ashes into the Mississippi River and sang.

And shot off fireworks. Continue reading →