September 6, 2002
Introducing New Orleans to the world, one tour at a time
by Angela R. Anthony, Assistant Director of Public Affairs
The
great tourist cliché is the wandering foreigner, a camera in one
hand and a map in the other, fumbling from street to street, trying in
vain to find the sightseeing landmarks that inspired the journey in the
first place. Some might venture to say that tour guides were created to
keep people from getting lost, but Student Records Office Manager Susan
Brunson would say otherwise. Brunson offers it takes a very special person
to impart history, wonder, and enjoyment to strangers in a short time.
In her 15 years as a licensed tour guide Brunson has been that special
person to countless visitors and privy to some exciting experiences.
Her curiosity in the tour guide business was sparked by the parade of tour buses on St. Charles Avenue. "When I'd leave in the afternoon I'd always hear the ladies on the buses, and it crossed my mind that being a tour guide could be something interesting," she recalls. The job also has proven educational. Tour guides must take a course on the city's history offered by Friends of the Cabildo or local colleges. Additionally, Brunson says, a lot of time is spent researching to acquire expanded knowledge of the city's heritage. "Part of the continuing education and exchange of information occurs through Tour Guide Association of Greater New Orleans monthly meetings," Brunson notes. And there's more. The city requires tour guides to pass an exam to obtain a license that must be renewed annually. New Orleans is one of only four cities with this particular requirement. The others are San Francisco, New York, and Washington D.C.
Most typical tours cover the French Quarter, a stop at one of the local cemeteries (which always seem to fascinate tourists), the lake, City Park and St. Charles Avenue. Brunson says, "By the finish of the tour, we have covered a 55-mile radius of the city."
But a typical tour may be an oxymoron. Guides, Brunson shares, often run into incredible predicaments. She has given tours on local and out of town buses without a microphone and without air conditioning on some of the hottest days of the year. "Imagine giving a French Quarter or Garden District walking tour during the month of August." On one of her more exotic outings, Brunson did a swamp tour in a canoe. The group was told to stay away from the shore where snakes and spiders could hide on dangling tree branches. "Sitting low in the water, we were a comical sight, zig-zagging through the bayou."
Brunson admits she was a little uncomfortable in the beginning; it took a few attempts before she felt as if she had hit her stride. "I was very nervous, and it is difficult when you face an audience because you're riding backwards," she reminisces. "I mixed up my right and left sides."
Sometimes, Brunson has been called upon to go beyond the scope of her tour guide duties. "I had a group on the Delta Queens Steamboat during Mardi Gras, and one couple had their wallet stolen," she remembers. There was not a downtown ATM for the couple to retrieve additional funds. "So I took the couple in my car, drove uptown to the nearest ATM, and then back down to the vessel. They thought it was the best thing that happened to them."
There also have been unforeseen perks. Brunson escorts groups on out-of-town trips. On one such journey, she was with an assembled group of Americans, Canadians, Australians, and Bermudians. The trip lasted a week and covered parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Recalls Brunson, "We traveled by bus, spending long hours together. We became a very close knit group, and I still receive cards from most of them at Christmas."