Back in the day, this was a true bayou – an overgrown morass of Spanish moss and prowling alligators. Native Americans, fur trappers and smugglers would use the waterway as a natural road that led over the dark wetlands to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Today, the bayou has been partially dredged and beautified into a narrow green space that makes for a breezy, altogether pleasant green ribbon that snakes across the center of the city.

　　Don't swim here – the bottom is shallow, has sharp rubble underfoot and there are still alligators here!