The Burroughs House

"We bounced the car up on the Algiers ferry and found ourselves crossing the Mississippi River by boat. 'Now we must all get out and dig the river and the people and smell the world,' said Dean, bustling with his sunglasses and cigarettes and leaping out of the car like a jack-in-the-box. We followed." - On the Road.

"On the rails we leaned and looked at the great brown father of waters rolling down from mid-America like the torrent of broken souls..." - On the Road.

What a day! Warm sunshine in New Orleans, and we made it at last to William Burrough's house in Algiers, just across the river from New Orleans, where Kerouac and Cassady along with Luanne and Al Hinkle arrived at the end of their marathon drive from New York in January 1949 - admittedly they didn't go via Toronto (twice).


It took a little bit of finding as we couldn't find the address on the internet (fount of all knowledge); in the end Diana phoned the William Faulkner Society and they knew exactly where Burrough's house was located - I guess all these literary types stick together. So Diana and Wesley kindly took us to the Algiers Ferry across the brown father of waters, the mighty Mississippi and together we made our way to 509 Wagner Street, where we were greeted by a very excited dog that barked and barked, and a quiet lame dog who just stood and stared. Owners no where in sight, and we weren't about to knock on the door. They must be used to people stopping by to take photos - after all they do have that huge plaque in front of the house.

It was a great moment to be here, especially after all the trials and road-going to get here, we just beamed.

We exulted in reading aloud passages from On the Road right there outside the house where it all happened.

Then off to the French Quarter for seafood and to "dig the Mississippi River" and all New Orleans.