Episode 376 - Haunted Cafe Lafitte in Exile | The Queer Ghosts of Bourbon Street

We found one of the most haunted and legendary bars in New Orleans, and the ghosts there never stopped partying. In this episode, we explore the wild history and lingering spirits of Cafe Lafitte in Exile, the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the United States. With reported hauntings from Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote, a ghost named Mr. Bubbles who may still be causing chaos on the dance floor. We get into the dramatic “Grand Exile” parade that turned this bar into a symbol of queer resilience, the emotional energy many believe fueled its hauntings, and the disco era traditions that still live on today. Book mentioned: Queer Hauntings: True Tales of Gay & Lesbian Ghosts by Ken Summers Watch the video version here. Have ghost stories of your own? E-mail them to us at [email protected] New Episodes are released every Thursday and Sunday at 12am PST/3am EST (the witching hour, of course). Corinne and Sabrina hand select a couple of paranormal encounters from our inbox to read in each episode, from demons, to cryptids, to aliens, to creepy kids... the list goes on and on. If you have a story of your own that you'd like us to share on an upcoming episode, we invite you to email them to us! If you enjoy our show, please consider joining our Patreon, rating and reviewing on iTunes & Spotify and following us on social media! Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Discord. Edited and produced by Jaimi Ryan. Original music by Arms Akimbo! Disclaimer: the use of white sage and smudging is a closed practice. If you’re looking to cleanse your space, here are some great alternatives! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I'm so excited. I'm getting my whole body MRI scan from Prenuvo in a couple of weeks.

• 0:05Corinne Vien?

  It's honestly so important. It's like one of those things where getting older and aging has provided me so many anxieties about like what's going on.

• 0:12Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I recently had some medical issues in my family and everyone in my family is like, let's just do everything we can to get ahead and take our own health into our own hands. Prenuvo's whole body scan is a radiation-free MRI designed to help provide a detailed, non-invasive look at your body in under an hour, and it helps evaluate across major organs and systems, including the brain, spine, abdomen, pelvis, and more. Prenuvo's whole body scan can help detect many cancers, aneurysms, and hundreds of other conditions. And they have memberships that bundle MRI scans, blood panels, and a personalized results review to track your health year after year.

• 0:47Corinne Vien?

  To learn more about Prenuvo and get $300 off your whole body MRI, go to prenuvo.com/tgog and use code TGOG. That's P-R-E-N-U-V-O.com/tgog. Terms and conditions apply.

• 1:01Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Receive $300 off Prenuvo whole body scans and executive and comprehensive memberships through January 31st. For full details, visit Prenuvo's website to read their terms and conditions and privacy notice. Prenuvo gifted me a whole body scan. A Prenuvo scan is a screening service, not diagnostic. Diagnosis and treatment are determined by your healthcare provider.

• 1:18Speaker 02

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• 2:08Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Hello.

• 2:09Corinne Vien?

  Hi.

• 2:09Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  This is Two Girls One Ghost.

• 2:11Corinne Vien?

  Two Girls One Ghost.

• 2:13Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  We are your ghostesses. That is Corinne.

• 2:15Corinne Vien?

  Hello.

• 2:15Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I'm Sabrina and we're here for another story. Another ghost story.

• 2:20Corinne Vien?

  What else would we be doing?

• 2:22Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  We're here actually to talk about depression. I'm just kidding.

• 2:25Corinne Vien?

  Well, sometimes we do do that.

• 2:27Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  We do. You know, we're very versatile people. We're humans with human experiences. So I was just wondering.

• 2:34Corinne Vien?

  You look really concerned. Do you want to talk about something?

• 2:37Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  No, I'm actually, I was thinking about it recently. Like, I feel like I've done so much work on myself that like I, for the first time ever, like, feel like such a regulated human being that I,

• 2:46Corinne Vien?

  That's amazing.

• 2:46Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That it's confusing.

• 2:48Corinne Vien?

  Oh, you're like, where's my, where are my daily qualms?

• 2:50Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Right. Like, where's my, like, where's my crying all the time? Like, it feels so weird to be normal.

• 2:59Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Like, it's very strange to me.

• 3:00Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. Was it gradual or did you just wake up one day and you were like, oh, wow?

• 3:04Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I don't know.

• 3:05Corinne Vien?

  It's been healed.

• 3:06Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Definitely gradual. And I honestly, I'm not healed, but I do feel like I'm, I've done so much work on myself that I feel like, oh, good job, girlfriend. Good job.

• 3:16Corinne Vien?

  And also, we're not really in true winter anymore. So it's like,

• 3:20Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That also, new persona when it's spring.

• 3:23Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, like, that hits me immediately.

• 3:25Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It's wild.

• 3:26Corinne Vien?

  It's like night and day. Like, the night before will be struggling mentally, dragging myself through life. And the next day, I'm like, I will have energy for the next seven months.

• 3:35Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 3:35Corinne Vien?

  So crazy.

• 3:36Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I always knew this about myself, but I think I forgot about it because I hadn't experienced true winter in so long. I am not a winter gal. Like, I am not, I don't like clothing when it's winter. I,

• 3:48Corinne Vien?

  No, me, I live in this.

• 3:49Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I'm like the worst version of myself.

• 3:51Corinne Vien?

  I don't even have cute winter clothes. I have sweats and then my cute stuff is literally just for summer.

• 3:56Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  When I was in Austin for South by Southwest, I felt so good about myself and I felt so cute and like stylish. Because, yeah, it's summer. I know how to do,

• 4:05Corinne Vien?

  You buy the cute clothes for when you, Feel cute.

• 4:08Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I don't know how to do winter, except for like hibernation.

• 4:11Corinne Vien?

  That is kind of the way that you do New England.

• 4:13Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It's too long, though. I don't like it.

• 4:14Corinne Vien?

  Yeah.

• 4:15Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Well, anyway, it's spring. Yay.

• 4:21Corinne Vien?

  And it's almost summer.

• 4:22Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I know. I'm so excited.

• 4:24Corinne Vien?

  Me too. And we're going to talk about a place that is warm most of the year.

• 4:29Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, if you're cold and depressy in the winter, go visit here.

• 4:32Corinne Vien?

  New Orleans, Louisiana. I don't know why I had a glance at my notes to say New Orleans.

• 4:37Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  What's it called? Shit. How do I pronounce it?

• 4:40Corinne Vien?

  What's this town?

• 4:41Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  NOLA.

• 4:42Corinne Vien?

  NOLA, baby.

• 4:43Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  With the vampires roam.

• 4:45Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, some people might think about vampires walking around, visiting haunted mausoleums, ghost penises.

• 4:52Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That's what we think about with NOLA.

• 4:54Corinne Vien?

  Absorbing the energy of all the magic and the practitioners around. Other people might think about, uh.

• 5:00Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Wait, I'm sorry. I, this, this made me laugh so hard. Someone on TikTok, again, this is now months ago at this point because we're recording ahead. But, um, this woman was like, I'm doing tarot cards, but with Cards Against Humanity and.

• 5:14Corinne Vien?

  How do you even do that?

• 5:15Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  She basically just shuffled them and was like, I don't know who this reading's for, but like if this.

• 5:20Corinne Vien?

  Resonates with you.

• 5:21Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  The first card she pulled was a micro penis. And then the second card she pulled was penis envy. And then she goes, wow, I really, yeah, I don't know who this is for, but I'm sorry. She shuffles the cards more and she's like, well, how do you deal with this issue that you have? And then the next card was, look at pictures of boobs.

• 5:42Corinne Vien?

  Someone was really coming through.

• 5:45Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  So hard.

• 5:46Corinne Vien?

  That's like a through line. That's a full story right there.

• 5:48Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I was like, that's amazing.

• 5:50Corinne Vien?

  Okay, yeah, but like to that point, like NOLA has multiple sides of it. It's like, we think of it as like the haunted attractions, the dark energy, the vampire lore. The magic that's there. Other people could be thinking about the neon cups, getting to walk the streets with drinking alcohol.

• 6:08Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Jazz music.

• 6:09Corinne Vien?

  Oh my, the music there. Also the culture, the art, the festivals, like there are multiple sides of New Orleans.

• 6:15Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, it's such an amazing.

• 6:16Corinne Vien?

  Many, many faces and some deep and dark history. But sometimes, something funny happens in history. Something good can come from the darkness. A beacon of hope in an otherwise trying time. And if you are visiting NOLA, or if you live there, and you are on the corner of Bourbon and St. Philip's Street, you just may see this beacon of light. The glow of neon greens and purples shining through the windows of a building that reads, Cafe Lafitte in Exile. The oldest continuously operating gay bar in the United States.

• 6:49Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I truly had no idea.

• 6:51Corinne Vien?

  We walked by it. We were right there.

• 6:53Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Isn't that where we got the picture?

• 6:55Corinne Vien?

  No.

• 6:55Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Oh.

• 6:56Corinne Vien?

  We went to Jean Lafitte's.

• 6:58Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Two different places.

• 6:59Corinne Vien?

  Blacksmith shop bar.

• 7:00Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Oh.

• 7:01Corinne Vien?

  Cafe Lafitte in Exile is right down the street. And we will learn why they have basically the same name.

• 7:06Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Okay, okay.

• 7:07Corinne Vien?

  Okay, so this is the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the US. A place that was refuge for the queer community and a bar so rich in history that spirits refused to leave it.

• 7:16Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Why would you ever want to leave a gay bar? Like, I feel like that's the perfect place to haunt.

• 7:19Corinne Vien?

  Oh my god, yeah. And they have so many events there too. Like, I was like, oh, I want to go to all the drag shows and the music and trivia. Like, they just do everything. Like, this is, this is a great spot.

• 7:29Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Speaking of everything, there is a bar in Boston, and I can't remember the name of it, but they do drag shows. But then they also have diaper nights.

• 7:37Corinne Vien?

  What?

• 7:38Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Where people who have the, and again, you do you. People who have kinks for diaper, like people, like adults wearing diapers. They have like a full evening where you can go downstairs to the basement and everyone is wearing diapers.

• 7:52Corinne Vien?

  There are enough people in Boston who want to wear diapers for a diaper night?

• 7:55Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I guess so.

• 7:56Corinne Vien?

  How did you find this? How did I live in the city for eight years and not find this? And you're there for like two months and you find a diaper night?

• 8:02Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Well, I didn't find it. I didn't go to it. I was told about it. I've never been.

• 8:06Corinne Vien?

  By who?

• 8:07Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  So. Payne's cousin, Mary, who like, I love her, I'm still, she lives in Boston. Her husband, Rich, is like-

• 8:16Corinne Vien?

  Goes to diaper nights?

• 8:16Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  No, her husband, Rich, is like this big Boston, um, sports personality.

• 8:20Corinne Vien?

  Hmm.

• 8:21Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Like a radio host. And they lived in Boston for like years and years and years. And Mary went to a like bridal shower or some type of event at the Drag Brunch and saw advertisement for it.

• 8:33Corinne Vien?

  Where's the Drag Brunch?

• 8:34Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I'm sure I can find Diaper Night, Boston Bar. It's literally called Diapers After Dark. Tuttle into a world of whimsy. Oh, it's upstairs at Boston's Alley Bar for ABDL, Adult Baby Diaper Lover.

• 8:47Corinne Vien?

  Boston's Alley Bar?

• 8:49Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 8:49Corinne Vien?

  How did we even get to this?

• 8:52Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Diapers After Dark at the Alley Bar.

• 8:54Corinne Vien?

  Wait one moment.

• 8:56Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Have you been to Diaper Night?

• 8:58Corinne Vien?

  I think that this might be the place that I have been trying to remember the name of for years, which I have told you about. Cause remember I said that I was in like the downtown Theodoreish District area and I went to this bar, but it was like in an alley and you had to go upstairs and I couldn't ever remember how to get there again.

• 9:16Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Sounds like this.

• 9:17Corinne Vien?

  And I'd never been to it. And they had amazing shots. They would be like cinnamon toast crunch shot or like things like that. This is it!

• 9:23Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That's amazing.

• 9:24Corinne Vien?

  But I went with coworkers.

• 9:27Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Well, you didn't go to the Diaper Night.

• 9:29Corinne Vien?

  I went with coworkers after work one day when we just, it was one of those nights where like you just keep bouncing to the next bar and like ordering more. It was totally here.

• 9:39Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That's so funny.

• 9:39Corinne Vien?

  And then they have like this side area where you can have, yeah. Oh my God. They have amazing shots at the Diaper Bar.

• 9:47Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Isn't that wild?

• 9:47Corinne Vien?

  That is wild. Okay. Wow. The more you know.

• 9:50Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Fun bars all around.

• 9:51Corinne Vien?

  More things to do in Boston.

• 9:52Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 9:53Corinne Vien?

  Okay. So Cafe Liffey in Exile, uh, has quite a few spirits, which we will talk about. We're talking about the ghosts of Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote, a playful poltergeist named Mr. Bubbles.

• 10:05Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  He would love Diaper Night.

• 10:06Corinne Vien?

  And the cultural explosion of trash disco that turned a safe haven into a revolution.

• 10:13Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Trash disco, you know, that came from a baseball game in Minneapolis.

• 10:17Corinne Vien?

  Did it? What does it mean?

• 10:19Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It was during the like disco era. I mean, this is actually.

• 10:23Corinne Vien?

  Wow, you were full of facts for this.

• 10:25Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And I also know this from another ex from Nick.

• 10:28Corinne Vien?

  Oh, my God.

• 10:29Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  He grew up in Minnesota and they were good friends with the owners of the St. Paul Saints. The guy who like owned that team was like the person who started doing all like the activities at baseball games. Like the like running around the fields and like bringing people from the crowd down to like do games and stuff. And they did disco demolition, which is also like kind of a, it was like an anti queer thing. Even though they didn't know it, but because disco was a very like gay community like vibe. But it got like a lot of backlash for disco demolition.

• 11:02Corinne Vien?

  Damn.

• 11:02Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  But people like hated disco when it first came out. And that's why like it was such a good.

• 11:06Corinne Vien?

  There's just so much like, I just don't understand. Like it makes no sense in my mind when people would be like, oh, we hate the gay community and the things that are outwardly gay. And yet they watch men in face paint with tight pants and spiky hair and makeup sing rock songs. And suddenly they're lusting after them. It's like.

• 11:23Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  100%.

• 11:24Corinne Vien?

  How does that make any sense?

• 11:26Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It makes no sense.

• 11:27Corinne Vien?

  You're watching drag on stage in the form of like a rock band.

• 11:31Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  No, it's, it's so dumb.

• 11:33Corinne Vien?

  It makes no sense. People are messed up.

• 11:36Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Very. I always think about like Paige and Hannah from Giggly Squad because they have like the best conversations about men. And how like their just behaviors are so contradictory. And especially like the southern men who were like so uptight about things, but they're literally wearing like cowboy boots with like, they're wearing heels.

• 11:52Corinne Vien?

  You're, you're literally wearing.

• 11:53Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  You're dressing up every day.

• 11:54Corinne Vien?

  Well, and also I don't want to bring my psych background into this, but we did learn when I was in school of some studies that were done on groups of people who were outwardly homophobic. And they literally put sensors on their like brains and on their genitalia and had them watch a gay film, adult film.

• 12:14Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I love that so much.

• 12:15Corinne Vien?

  And everything lit up and was aroused. And these were people who were vehemently against that.

• 12:23Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I blame society. I blame society. Fuck society.

• 12:27Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, this is a safe place. What we're about to talk about, this is a safe place to be exactly who you are. The word exile in Cafe Lafitte in exile can be kind of a catchy name, too. So you're like, why in exile? But it insinuates that there's like some scars and darkness with the history and perhaps are wearing it as a badge of honor, which they totally are.

• 12:46Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I love that.

• 12:47Corinne Vien?

  Before Cafe Lafitte in exile stood where it is today, it was in the same building as Lafitte Blacksmith Shop Bar, which is where we captured the ghost penis.

• 12:54Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Oh.

• 12:55Corinne Vien?

  And that is why it has the word Lafitte.

• 12:57Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Gotcha.

• 12:57Corinne Vien?

  Cafe Lafitte.

• 12:58Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Gotcha. I literally thought they were the same place.

• 13:01Corinne Vien?

  I got confused, too. And I was like, wait, we did the whole episode on Cafe.

• 13:04Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Right. Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. When I thought they were the same until literally this moment, I got so much more excited that a ghost exposed its penis to us. Like, that made me less, it felt less predatory and more like, woo, great show.

• 13:17Corinne Vien?

  Girls' night.

• 13:18Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 13:19Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, no, totally. If you've never listened to that episode that we're referencing, the Lafitte Blacksmith Shop Bar, it is episode 157 called Dead Man's Dong. And we covered Jean Lafitte, this infamous pirate in New Orleans, the bachelorette trip that we were on, and the ghost penis that we captured on film. So there's a lot to be discussed in that episode.

• 13:39Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  So good.

• 13:41Corinne Vien?

  I wrote, we famously caught the ghost penis photo. The penis's owner, we believe, is Jean Lafitte. It's owner.

• 13:48Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It's owner. I mean, it's unruly. You gotta put those things on a leash.

• 13:52Corinne Vien?

  Okay, so Cafe Lafitte first opened in 1933, the year the prohibition ended.

• 13:57Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Oh.

• 13:58Corinne Vien?

  And it opened like literally that second, because I was Googling when it opened and then when prohibition ended and it was like December of that year. So it was like immediately.

• 14:06Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Which makes me think, like, was there like some underground version of it that was already in existence?

• 14:11Corinne Vien?

  For sure.

• 14:12Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 14:12Corinne Vien?

  So across the US, alcohol was suddenly legal again and bars began opening everywhere, AKA, the people who already existed and were just opening their doors publicly. But for the LGBTQ Americans, nightlife was not just about drink. It was about survival. In the early 20th century, homosexuality was criminalized in most states. Police frequently raided bars suspected of serving gay patrons. Newspapers would print the names of arrested individuals, careers and families destroyed overnight. And so not only was the prohibition era about the secrecy of drinking alcohol, but queer nightlife had to exist extremely carefully.

• 14:52Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Geez.

• 14:53Corinne Vien?

  It was sometimes hidden, it was sometimes coded, and sometimes protected by sympathetic owners. In the French Quarter of New Orleans, Cafe Lafitte was one of those places. Now, it wasn't an openly gay bar. This wasn't a time that like you could, I guess.

• 15:08Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  If it was criminalized, yeah.

• 15:09Corinne Vien?

  Be gay and be accepted. And also, like, this was the deep south. We're in Louisiana here.

• 15:16Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 15:16Corinne Vien?

  Uh, so there were a lot of other issues. Segregation was rampant. Being gay was certainly not the only thing that people were uncomfortable with at this time. So unofficially, yes, it was this sort of like gay bar, but publicly and officially it was not. Cafe Lafitte was run by Tom Kaplanger, Harold Bartelli, and Mary Collins since it opened in 1933, becoming a spot for the queer community to gather safely, socialize, and have a drink.

• 15:43Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Hmm.

• 15:44Corinne Vien?

  Mary in particular, she is like definitely the person to thank here in this story because they all did things to protect the place and make it feel really open and welcoming. But she was like, I want this place to be a place where people can think of it as a sanctuary. And she was saying it was for people who lived a bohemian life. So bohemian at the time, it definitely, well, and today it doesn't mean gay either.

• 16:09Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 16:09Corinne Vien?

  But like, bohemian did not mean gay. It was a bar that would definitely serve as a safe place for gay and lesbian patrons, yes, but also artists, writers, musicians, intellectuals, anyone who felt like unconventional.

• 16:22Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It's whimsy.

• 16:23Corinne Vien?

  It was a whimsy bar.

• 16:24Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 16:24Corinne Vien?

  It was a whimsy bar. So she was like, we're opening this place together and it needs to be like super focused on the bohemian crowd. That's what I feel comfortable with. That's what we should go for. And the two other guys were like, okay, yeah, I'm down.

• 16:35Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Love it.

• 16:36Corinne Vien?

  So that's basically who they targeted and served. By the 1930s and 40s, the French Quarter had been and still is a magnet for artists and writers. Like, this is a super-

• 16:45Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  There's musicians everywhere. Yeah.

• 16:47Corinne Vien?

  Yes. Yeah. I mean, there's like whole festivals now.

• 16:50Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I know.

• 16:50Corinne Vien?

  About art and music.

• 16:52Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 16:52Corinne Vien?

  So it didn't just happen overnight. Like, this happened long, long ago. So the neighborhood had fallen into kind of this relative economic decline, which a lot of people think immediately, like, oh, that's, that's bad for an area to start to, I guess, like, go backwards.

• 17:07Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Sure.

• 17:08Corinne Vien?

  But what it really meant was there was cheap rent. And with cheap rent is creative freedom. More people can come in.

• 17:14Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And also artists famously aren't making a ton of money.

• 17:17Corinne Vien?

  No, totally not.

• 17:18Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  You need to find a place that's cheap. Like, it makes you think of, like, what's the something area of Paris where all the artists used to live? And there was, like, ten artists living in, like, one-bedroom apartments.

• 17:27Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, no, totally. Like, this gave creative freedom to so many artists to come in and, and live there and also have studios and just, like, practice their arts.

• 17:35Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 17:35Corinne Vien?

  Writers like Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote were part of the larger creative scene around the Quarter during this period. And this was not just a bar. It was also a library, a theater, and it had a family room for people to just, like, kind of collect and congregate in.

• 17:50Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It kind of reminds me of, like, how, like, hotels used to be, where you'd, like-

• 17:54Corinne Vien?

  Totally.

• 17:54Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  They weren't just a place to spend the night. It was, like, a meeting place.

• 17:57Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. This is like a community center.

• 17:59Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, for sure.

• 18:00Corinne Vien?

  Totally. By the late 1940s, Cafe Lafitte had become one of the central hubs of queer life in the city of New Orleans. But then everything changed. Around 1953 to 1954, there was a conflict that erupted between the bar's operators and the landlord of the building that housed the original Cafe Lafitte. So this is where the bar that we went to still exists today, but, like, there's multiple businesses sharing this one, like, building and space, this block.

• 18:27Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 18:28Corinne Vien?

  And there was a new landlord who came in, and his name was Andrew Jack Entwistle. I might be butchering his last name, but it doesn't matter. He did not want the bohemian crowd.

• 18:36Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Rude.

• 18:37Corinne Vien?

  Right? Like, you're gonna just accept this other bar with this, like, flashing murderous pirate?

• 18:42Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 18:43Corinne Vien?

  But God forbid, like, someone wants a- Feather boa?

• 18:46Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Love everyone community. You're not gonna, yeah.

• 18:49Corinne Vien?

  Geez, um, yeah.

• 18:50Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Rude.

• 18:51Corinne Vien?

  So rude. Like, sorry, I'm busy writing my poetry and it's actually gonna be slanderous about you, but it's over your head, Jack.

• 18:57Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  You won't get it, Jack.

• 18:59Corinne Vien?

  You don't get it because you're not artsy and welcoming and have love in your heart. Okay, so yeah, he didn't want this bohemian crowd, uh, but more specifically, he didn't want gay clientele in the building. So he kind of disguised it as being like, well, I don't, we shouldn't attract all the bohemian crowd here, but it was about him being homophobic.

• 19:15Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  One hundred percent.

• 19:16Corinne Vien?

  So he wanted them gone, but Jack did not realize who he was dealing with. Jack told them to leave and they did, but they didn't technically close up shop the bar's owner. So like Mary was the one who was like, here's who we're gonna service. Here's the vibe that we're going for. But Tom, one of the other two owners was like, oh, this is my moment for defiance. Like, fuck you, dude. So they leave, but he's like, we're not gonna just leave. I am leaving in literal exodus. On the night of nineteen fifty-four, all of the regulars picked up their drinks. The bartenders grabbed their bottles and they marched two doors down to the new location, the current location at nine oh one Bourbon Street.

• 19:55Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Wait, I love that.

• 19:57Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, so they basically had a parade of being like, F you.

• 19:59Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, we'll take our business elsewhere.

• 20:01Corinne Vien?

  Yes, and this was the grand exile party.

• 20:04Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Okay, so that's in exile. I love that.

• 20:07Corinne Vien?

  People dressed as history's famous outcasts. This is, I love this so much, like.

• 20:12Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Wait, we should do that for a Halloween episode. We should be historical famous outcasts.

• 20:17Corinne Vien?

  I like that. Let's remember that by the end of this episode.

• 20:19Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I'll text myself right now.

• 20:20Corinne Vien?

  Which I love that they made it an event and that Tom was not just like, okay, well, I'll just like open doors, like a couple of doors down and we'll all just move over there. They were like, no, we're gonna make a show of this. I appreciate that because that was them being like, you could remove us from the building, but you cannot remove us from the community. Like, we will leave and you can exile us, but you cannot erase us. It was a powerful message. And to go with that powerful message, they renamed Cafe Lafitte, Cafe Lafitte in exile.

• 20:46Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I love that story.

• 20:48Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, because they were like, well, we're gonna make sure that everyone knows that we were pushed out. We are under attack.

• 20:53Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, and also like, it's, it's funny. Because it's like, we're in exile, but we're literally across the street from you.

• 20:58Corinne Vien?

  Hey, you try to go against a bunch of creative people.

• 21:01Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  See, life is so much better with the gays.

• 21:04Corinne Vien?

  This is one of those things where it's like, if you could go back in time and catch a glimpse of an event, like, I would want to see this parade two doors down.

• 21:13Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Agreed.

• 21:13Corinne Vien?

  So sometimes when you look this up, you'll see the word schism associated with this event, which is a word used for religious splits, but it's, the locals had used that word in reference to this event because even though this sounds like this magical thing, or like, everyone was like, F this, or whatever, and like grabbed everything and walked a couple doors down, not everyone left. So some of the patrons of the original Cafe Luffy stayed patrons of the new place, including some of like the staff or whatever, not 100% of the people went. So essentially, it was like-

• 21:41Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Which is also really funny, because it's like, it's literally two doors down.

• 21:44Corinne Vien?

  It's like, just walk two doors down.

• 21:45Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  The same effort, yeah.

• 21:47Corinne Vien?

  What are you doing? But yeah, basically, it was like this bohemian group kind of split in two ways, and it had a really big impact culturally on the French Quarter's queer nightlife scene, because it still was incredibly small at the time, so it felt smaller, because it was like fractured.

• 22:02Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, interesting. You just know that means that there was so much more happening that like, history hasn't documented.

• 22:08Corinne Vien?

  To your point, and actually, this leads into literally what I wrote next, and this is a good, a good thing to kind of take into consideration when you think about how some people didn't outwardly move and associate themselves with the new place, which was this bohemian, like, now kind of like openly bohemian queer bar, because of the effort that they put in, in parading themselves a couple doors down and saying a big F you to everyone who is trying to exile us. At the time, queer safe spaces, they were incredibly fragile. During the 1950s, homosexuality was still criminalized in many states. Police raids on gay bars were still common, and being publicly identified as gay could ruin someone's career and life. In 1958, a Mexican tour guide named Fernando Rios was murdered after leaving a bar

• 22:52Corinne Vien?

  with a Tulane University student, who, this is so disturbing, the Tulane University student had told friends earlier that he intended to go rob a gay man. And basically, he like went and like picked up a man, and he didn't just rob him. Murdered him. So all to say, like, this is, this is dangerous. Like, this is the, the stories that are being told. Like, these are people that they know from their own community. And so for some people, I think that they took this as a moment of being like, well, if I don't go two doors down, if I stay where I am.

• 23:20Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I'm safe.

• 23:21Corinne Vien?

  I might be safer again.

• 23:23Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 23:23Corinne Vien?

  So it's not, it's not to say that those people did anything wrong. It's just a really difficult.

• 23:28Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  The blame is the white man.

• 23:31Corinne Vien?

  The straight white man.

• 23:33Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That's what I meant.

• 23:33Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 23:34Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  We're gonna get a negative review for that. For this whole episode, some, someone's gonna be like, they hate men. It's like, well, let's look at history.

• 23:42Corinne Vien?

  We get more negative reviews when we talk about our own nipples than when we talk about

• 23:46Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That's true.

• 23:46Corinne Vien?

  men in a negative light. So let's just,

• 23:49Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 23:50Corinne Vien?

  we'll say whatever we want.

• 23:51Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 23:51Corinne Vien?

  Fucking say. So, yeah, some people decided to stay with the old business. Some people decided to move. But when Cafe Lafitte was forced out of its building, they were like, we're not gonna make this just a business dispute. This is going to be a reminder that queer spaces could disappear overnight. And our decision to reopen Cafe Lafitte in exile is therefore both practical and symbolic.

• 24:12Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 24:13Corinne Vien?

  Like, again, you can't erase us.

• 24:14Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 24:15Corinne Vien?

  Today, Cafe Lafitte in Exile remains one of the most famous LGBTQ bars in America, and it's often cited as one of the oldest continuously operating gay bars in the US.

• 24:25Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Wow.

• 24:25Corinne Vien?

  With its roots dating back to 1933. There's another one in the Pacific Northwest who also claims to be the oldest. I don't care who's the oldest. I'm glad you guys have been around for a long time.

• 24:34Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  You guys don't need to compete over that. Just be happy. Like, we're just glad that you exist.

• 24:37Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, that you created this space for so long.

• 24:39Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 24:40Corinne Vien?

  And this is why this bar feels a little bit different than so many bars in New Orleans, because it was founded on an act of rebellion. Many paranormal researchers believe that that highly emotional event, all of that that went into them creating the space, trying to live without fear in those moments, and then being attacked and not letting it end them, basically like having a community fight for itself. It can trigger a lot of energy that can stain and stay and contribute to hauntings.

• 25:10Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Also, I just imagine, yes, there's so much strife that they're dealing with, but there's also so So much beauty in the community that they're creating that I imagine if you spent a lot of your life going here, visiting here, spending time and building community here, when you pass away, like, why wouldn't you want to go back to that space?

• 25:30Corinne Vien?

  Totally. Well, yeah, and to that point, some people are like, okay, well, could it be residual haunting? Sure, there might be. But there also might actively be spirits who are like, I felt safest and best here. I'm gonna keep coming here.

• 25:40Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I'm gonna keep partying.

• 25:40Corinne Vien?

  Spirits who are protective and are like, we have to make sure that this never happens again.

• 25:44Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yes. I'm so excited. I'm getting my whole body MRI scan from Prenuvo in a couple of weeks.

• 25:51Corinne Vien?

  It's honestly so important. It's like one of those things where getting older and aging has provided me so many anxieties about like, what's going on?

• 25:58Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I recently had some medical issues in my family and everyone in my family is like, let's just do everything we can to get ahead and take our own health into our own hands. Prenuvo's whole body scan is a radiation-free MRI designed to help provide a detailed, non-invasive look at your body in under an hour, and it helps evaluate across major organs and systems, including the brain, spine, abdomen, pelvis, and more. Prenuvo's whole body scan can help detect many cancers, aneurysms, and hundreds of other conditions. And they have memberships that bundle MRI scans, blood panels, and a personalized results review to track your health year after year.

• 26:33Corinne Vien?

  To learn more about Prenuvo and get $300 off your whole body MRI, go to prenuvo.com/tgog and use code T G O G. That's P R E N U V O dot com slash T G O G. Terms and conditions apply.

• 26:47Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Receive $300 off Prenuvo whole body scans and executive and comprehensive memberships through January 31st. For full details, visit Prenuvo's website to read their terms and conditions and privacy notice. Prenuvo gifted me a whole body scan. A Prenuvo scan is a screening service, not diagnostic. Diagnosis and treatment are determined by your healthcare provider.

• 27:05Speaker 02

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• 27:33Corinne Vien?

  So the bohemian crowd of Cafe Laffitte in exile, they had hosted artists, intellectuals and writers. And two of the most famous patrons, who I referenced a couple of times already, were Tennessee Williams, who-

• 27:45Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Streetcar Named Desire.

• 27:46Corinne Vien?

  Yep, The Glass Menagerie, like some of those things, if you're into the theater.

• 27:51Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Theater.

• 27:52Corinne Vien?

  And Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's is probably the best known-

• 27:55Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 27:56Corinne Vien?

  -thing. So huge names in both the theater and-

• 27:59Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Arts.

• 28:00Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, writing world. Back in the day, if you frequented the bar, you may have found yourself striking up conversation with one of these two guys. They were there. And today, you also might get a chance to strike up conversation with these two guys.

• 28:13Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  They're still haunting? Oh, my gosh. Of course, they are.

• 28:16Corinne Vien?

  If you sit at the end of the wooden bar today, you might feel a sudden chill or the sense that someone is watching you from the corner. And if you look up, you might see a man who looks a lot like Tennessee Williams.

• 28:28Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  What does Tennessee Williams look like?

• 28:29Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, I have pictures if you're watching on YouTube. They're before our time.

• 28:33Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, yeah. To be fair, I also like wouldn't recognize that half.

• 28:37Corinne Vien?

  Most people.

• 28:38Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, most people.

• 28:38Corinne Vien?

  Even people that I like would recognize, if out of context, you don't.

• 28:42Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Right. You're like, how do I place you?

• 28:44Corinne Vien?

  Yeah.

• 28:44Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 28:45Corinne Vien?

  Like, like I, one of my encounters in LA, I was in a dressing room area with Hayden Panettiere, talking to her, and didn't know it was her until my other friend came out and was like, "Oh, my God, are you Hayden Panettiere?" And I started laughing.

• 28:58Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That's so funny.

• 28:58Corinne Vien?

  No, you're not.

• 29:00Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And it was?

• 29:00Corinne Vien?

  And it was. Because it's like, out of context, you don't quite place people.

• 29:04Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Her, I think I would place. And Kesha and Billie Eilish.

• 29:06Corinne Vien?

  Billie Eilish is very distinct.

• 29:08Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 29:08Corinne Vien?

  Some people, it's like in the eyes.

• 29:10Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 29:10Corinne Vien?

  If they have really distinct eyes, I could place them anywhere. Miley Cyrus.

• 29:13Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, oh.

• 29:14Corinne Vien?

  Good luck trying to Hannah Montana me.

• 29:18Corinne Vien?

  I'll find you anywhere, Miley. Okay, so Tennessee Williams, he lived just blocks away on Domain Street. Cafe Lafitte in exile would become his office, basically.

• 29:29Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Love.

• 29:29Corinne Vien?

  He wrote there, he drank there, he felt safe there. Again, this is a place for people of the arts. Like, it's not just about sexual orientation, it's just about like being expressive, finding inspiration, feeling- At home and getting to venture into whatever topics that you want and like not

• 29:46Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Right.

• 29:47Corinne Vien?

  Being ridiculed for it.

• 29:48Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I also find, I mean, depends on my mood and also right now, I feel like I like just being at home when I'm not here recording with you, but I love working in a busy environment. Like there's something about it that actually makes me feel so much more focused.

• 30:03Corinne Vien?

  Me too.

• 30:03Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Like in college, I couldn't really work at the library.

• 30:05Corinne Vien?

  No.

• 30:06Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It was too serious and too quiet.

• 30:08Corinne Vien?

  I couldn't do it either.

• 30:08Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  But a coffee shop.

• 30:09Corinne Vien?

  I went to our, our, the coffee shop on campus. Yes, I'd go to the lion's den.

• 30:14Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 30:14Corinne Vien?

  Or like literally sometimes go to the cafeteria.

• 30:17Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 30:17Corinne Vien?

  Cause yeah, it's like the more noise, the better you can just block it out.

• 30:21Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Right.

• 30:21Corinne Vien?

  But otherwise it's distracting. If someone like walks into the library, suddenly I'm focused on the person walking by or like.

• 30:26Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And I was so paranoid about like making too much noise. Like what if I move and I distract someone? It's like, what if my stomach makes a noise?

• 30:32Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, right. It's just too, it's too much. Yeah. You need sometimes a lot going on to be able to like focus and zero in. According to staff reports documented in Ken Summers queer hauntings, look, a man in a tan linen suit is frequently seen at the far end of the bar. He doesn't say a word, he just watches. And this is supposed to be Tennessee Williams.

• 30:51Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Okay.

• 30:51Corinne Vien?

  And then there's Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's. He's often seen on the second floor balcony. And this is a spot in the building that is said and like basically remains to be one of the most haunted spots in the building. It's like a hotspot here. So he's often seen up on that second floor balcony and he's also seen on the first floor by the stairwell. So I don't know what they're doing, but they're still there. And the theory is that there's the, the spirits there are not trapped. It's not one of these places where people are like, oh, this horrible thing happened to someone and like they can't, their spirits can't move on.

• 31:24Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Right.

• 31:24Corinne Vien?

  It's just everybody in this bar, in this space, in this building have simply chosen to spend time there in their actual state, which is even more magical.

• 31:33Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That's the best.

• 31:34Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, a place where they've never felt judged.

• 31:36Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  For how much we don't understand about the paranormal, when we hear stories like this, it makes me so happy because I'm like, oh, it gives me hope that I can, I have a little bit of choice in the afterlife, that I can choose to go somewhere that made me really happy.

• 31:48Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. It's also interesting because it's like, I do wonder if because there were so many people who felt that about the space, if it became this like powerful thing where, even if that's not necessarily true in the afterlife, if like there are certain pockets that have produced and like been fed so much good energy that like anyone can go there, like the door is always open.

• 32:09Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  There's a long line, the queue to get in.

• 32:12Corinne Vien?

  Oh, yeah.

• 32:13Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Dead or alive. It's longer, actually, if you're dead.

• 32:18Corinne Vien?

  In the 1970s and 80s, Cafe Lafitte in exile entered a new era. This is the era of trash disco, which I'm glad that you told us the backstory of that.

• 32:26Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Well, I don't know if it's necessarily the same because that was disco demolition, but I imagine it's the same time period.

• 32:33Corinne Vien?

  No, it's probably, it's probably similar because like I did try to find a bit more about like what the trash disco was in this scenario and I, I had trouble finding it. And there's, it's hard because it's like, there's not a ton online about certain things that happen, like events that happen in the bar.

• 32:48Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Right.

• 32:49Corinne Vien?

  So I did kind of have to creep on some reviews and went not to try to find bits and pieces of information.

• 32:54Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  You're being resourceful.

• 32:55Corinne Vien?

  So what I'm about to say, um, correct me if I'm wrong.

• 32:58Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Could be wrong.

• 32:59Corinne Vien?

  I was going based on people's reviews.

• 33:01Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 33:01Corinne Vien?

  So trash disco was this cultural movement at the bar where every Sunday in particular, they would have a napkin toss. When the beat dropped on a certain classic disco track or a love ballad or like whatever it was, all of the patrons would throw white cocktail napkins up simultaneously.

• 33:19Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That's so fun.

• 33:20Corinne Vien?

  This still happens today. So that's where I was like able to get into the reviews. I think it's like today, it's like Sundays at four o'clock or something like that, but you can find out.

• 33:28Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Wait, I, I want to go back to New Orleans just for this.

• 33:32Corinne Vien?

  Right. It actually reminds me of, um, CNO's.

• 33:34Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, we, that's some more.

• 33:37Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. Uh, our like go to Italian food spot in.

• 33:41Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Venice Beach.

• 33:42Corinne Vien?

  Venice Beach.

• 33:43Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  LA.

• 33:44Corinne Vien?

  CNO's Trattoria, the one that is specifically like on the beach, basically.

• 33:47Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Across from like the Whaler.

• 33:49Corinne Vien?

  Yes. Like twice a night, everybody sings.

• 33:52Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  When the moon hits your. And like the waiters come around and are choosing you.

• 33:57Corinne Vien?

  Choosing, there's like bottomless candy. Oh my God.

• 34:01Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It's so.

• 34:01Corinne Vien?

  Garlic knots. Forget about it.

• 34:05Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Wait, I.

• 34:09Corinne Vien?

  Are you craving it now?

• 34:10Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I want it so badly.

• 34:11Corinne Vien?

  Oh, my god.

• 34:11Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Should we order pasta for lunch?

• 34:14Corinne Vien?

  Dude, sometimes I think about how I used to order the gargantuan side of the pastas. Like that size and I would eat it all.

• 34:21Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, it's so good.

• 34:22Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, it's huge. God, that was such a vibe. It was so good. Okay, so they, they still, wow, we got lost. So Trash Disco, I was trying to find, and this is where I, I found it in reviews, and so I'm like, not entirely sure how accurate this is, but I was like, okay, well, where did this napkin toss of like the Trash, Trash Disco era come from? And I saw people talking about how during the like HIV and AIDS crisis in the eighties, the exile was also because it serviced so many people who were a part of the gay community and they knew so many people suffering through this crisis. This was not only a place to celebrate life, but also to mourn life and honor life.

• 35:04Corinne Vien?

  And so the napkin toss became a way to celebrate those who were gone. So they like threw up their white napkins in memoriam of their friends.

• 35:11Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Oh, wow.

• 35:11Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. So it was supposed to be like a little bit silly, a little bit joyful, emotional, loud, high energy, just like throw ev- like all your feelings up into the air, scream, cry, sing with your friends.

• 35:24Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I love learning like histories of traditions and things like that, yeah.

• 35:28Corinne Vien?

  One presence started to make itself known around this time. Enter Mr. Bubbles.

• 35:33Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Oh, I almost forgot about Mr. Bubbles.

• 35:36Corinne Vien?

  I know, and it's such an appropriate name for this era. Like, of course. Of course, we have someone named Mr. Bubbles, just like a cheerful spirit. Mr. Bubbles is the bar's most famous non-celebrity ghost. He's believed to be a former regular from the disco era who would simply decide to never stop partying in the afterlife.

• 35:56Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  With a name like that, you can't.

• 35:58Corinne Vien?

  Um, he's kind of a cheeky guy. Bartenders have seen bar stools slide across the floor as if they're being like pulled out for a friend. Patrons have been, uh, reporting for years that an unseen force has come up to them and like ruffled their hair, done a little fingers through their, coiffing their hair, or sometimes pinching their butts.

• 36:21Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Mr. Bubbles.

• 36:25Corinne Vien?

  He'll either fix your hair or he'll give you a little pinch on the cheek.

• 36:28Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  On the booty.

• 36:29Corinne Vien?

  Aside from the resident ghosts appearing to patrons and employees, there are also some hauntings that are a bit more typical. So maybe not necessarily associated to any one person. So it's like the classic things that you would think of. Hearing footsteps, seeing shadows dart by out of the corner of your eye. They also have the outdoor balcony and people have said that they've spotted ghosts up on the balcony. So I am so curious, could we, when we went on our ghost tour, we did not stop there? Or like get told to take pictures?

• 36:56Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Cause we were on more of like a vampire slash ghost tour.

• 37:00Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, it was like a dark vampire-ish theme. But I am curious for anyone else who might be a tour guide down there or knows if that's like a spot that people stop and take pictures? Because apparently a lot of people do see people up on the balcony. And I think Truman Capote is one of the spirits that has been seen up on that balcony.

• 37:18Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Wow.

• 37:18Corinne Vien?

  So yeah, New Orleans, it feels like a place that's just as much for the dead as it is for the living.

• 37:25Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, 100%.

• 37:27Corinne Vien?

  And with that, we conclude, I know this is kind of short, but it was amazing.

• 37:32Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It's so good.

• 37:33Corinne Vien?

  We conclude our episode on Cafe Lafitte in exile, a place that has seen defiance, literary geniuses, disco fever, and has survived the hardships that the queer community has faced for decades. This place is not just a bar, it is a living archive. And today you might see Tennessee Williams finishing a drink or Mr. Bubbles having a few too many libations in the afterlife.

• 37:55Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I would love to see Mr. Bubbles. Mr. Bubbles, if you are listening to this, you are welcome to pinch my butt, literally anytime.

• 38:02Corinne Vien?

  At least you want to go again. Cause I'm like, wait, I want to go to this specific bar. This thing seems awesome. So yeah, Cafe Lafitte in exile is a place for the spirits and guardians of queer history that were almost erased. So head over to Cafe Lafitte for a drink, a drag show. They have an underwear pool party and many other events.

• 38:21Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Oh.

• 38:21Corinne Vien?

  And support your local queer community.

• 38:24Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I love this story.

• 38:25Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. Isn't this so nice?

• 38:27Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah. Well, I also want to read that book, um, Queer Ghost Stories.

• 38:31Corinne Vien?

  Queer, yeah. Oh my gosh, what was it called?

• 38:33Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Queer Hauntings?

• 38:34Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, you're right. Queer Hauntings. Queer Hauntings by Ken Summers.

• 38:38Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Adding to my read list. I feel like we could do a whole episode based on this.

• 38:43Corinne Vien?

  Yeah.

• 38:43Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  How fun.

• 38:44Corinne Vien?

  I know. It's amazing.

• 38:46Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Oh.

• 38:46Corinne Vien?

  It's great history.

• 38:47Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Free with, well, if you have audio, if you have Audible, you can get it.

• 38:51Corinne Vien?

  Great. Okay.

• 38:51Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Or $3 on Kindle.

• 38:55Speaker 02

  This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Football has a play for just about everything. You can go deep, keep it on the ground, or draw up something nobody sees coming. And whether you want to run a flea flicker or the tush push, you need a plan to fit your unique situation. That's why State Farm takes the time to get to know you so they can help personalize coverage for your life and budget. Now that's a solid game plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

• 39:24Speaker 02

  This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Football has a play for just about everything. You can go deep, keep it on the ground, or draw up something nobody sees coming. And whether you want to run a flea flicker or the tush push, you need a plan to fit your unique situation. That's why State Farm takes the time to get to know you so they can help personalize coverage for your life and budget. Now that's a solid game plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

• 39:53Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I really thought this was Lafitte's blacksmith shop.

• 39:58Corinne Vien?

  So did you pull one from there?

• 40:00Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  No, I actually, I went more general New Orleans. And I did pull two stories because they're both pretty short. But I'll start with the one that takes place by Lafitte, kind of. So it's not in Lafitte's bar, but it's like in the area, so probably close to this.

• 40:16Corinne Vien?

  Two doors down? Could it be?

• 40:18Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It could be. Okay, so this is from our listener, Dan, and it's called Halloween, actually it's called Halloween, New Orleans and a Hurricane. Hello, I've been listening from the beginning. My story has to do with Halloween, New Orleans, and hurricane. And I don't know if they meant to say Halloween, but I love that they're calling it Halloween.

• 40:40Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  The week of Halloween 2020, my family and I went on a trip to New Orleans. When we got there, we dropped our bags off at an apartment that we were staying at and went to go on a ghost walk. And we stopped by the bar that John Lafitte owned at one time. By the way, we didn't see a ghost penis while we were there, unfortunately.

• 40:57Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  After about one or six shots,

• 41:02Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  we went back to the apartment to go to bed. It was about one in the morning and I was laying in my bed when I started to hear someone walking down the hallway. I thought, you know, maybe it's my daughter or my boyfriend or someone in the house. So I jump out of bed and I open the door thinking I'm going to see someone walking down the hall, but no one is there. I'm like, that's weird. So I lay back down and I hear the footsteps again. So I jump up trying to catch someone in the act. I open the door. I look down the hall. No one is there. So again, I went to bed thinking I'm just a dumb ass white boy who dies in every horror movie. And once again, I lay there and the footsteps start again. This time I just lay there and I listen. I listen to these footsteps walk all the way towards my door, stopping at my door.

• 41:46Corinne Vien?

  Oh, so spooky.

• 41:48Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And it just stops. Once it gets to my door for a whole minute, it is quiet. So I'm freaked out, thinking someone's standing outside my door. And I jump up, I open the door quickly, but no one was there. But this time I do see walking up the hall to the living room is a shadow figure. So it's like 3 a.m. at the time. I am so sleepy and I was like, you know what? I don't want to deal with this. I got back in bed. I said out loud, I'm on vacation. Please leave me alone. And I laid in my bed the rest of the night. But that wasn't the end of it. Cause the rest of the night, the entire night from 3 a.m. until the morning, I heard two men having a conversation. I couldn't make out the words, but it was without a doubt two men talking.

• 42:33Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  This happened every single night of our stay, except for the one night when there was a hurricane and the winds opened the door and kept knocking on the front door and windows. It was scary for a different reason. But yeah, my whole family had a blast there. We have a weird family. I love it. So stay spooky. Love your podcast and your YouTube. I think you two are the Elvira of the 21st century from Daniel.

• 42:56Corinne Vien?

  Wow.

• 42:57Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  High praise.

• 42:58Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, huge. Um, that's kind of an amazing vacation.

• 43:02Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yes.

• 43:02Corinne Vien?

  Because you went to a spooky ass city and you got a spooky ass day.

• 43:06Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And I'm also so curious what spirit followed them back? Or if this place, cause it was the first night they ever stayed there. And then it continued the whole time.

• 43:14Corinne Vien?

  Yeah.

• 43:15Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  So it could just be a haunted apartment. Cause it's New Orleans.

• 43:18Corinne Vien?

  True.

• 43:20Corinne Vien?

  Show me somewhere that isn't haunted in New Orleans. I feel like that would be a hard challenge.

• 43:24Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  That is a good challenge. Try it. Let us know.

• 43:27Corinne Vien?

  Let us know. What square foot can you find that has nothing?

• 43:31Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Absolutely nothing.

• 43:31Corinne Vien?

  Happening.

• 43:32Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And then also, like, what are these two men talking about? They're staying up late night.

• 43:36Corinne Vien?

  Gossiping, having some cigars, a little whiskey.

• 43:39Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah. Okay, the next one I have is from our listener Mia, who used to live in downtown New Orleans. And it is called, Six Year Old Me Might Have Seen A Demon Or A Ghost In My Old House. Hey Corinne and Sabrina, how are my lovely ghost hostesses? I hope well when you read this email. I'm doing good.

• 44:00Corinne Vien?

  We'd qualify, categorize.

• 44:02Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Did we just start this episode saying like I am level headed?

• 44:05Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, we're good. We're well. We are well?

• 44:07Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Doing well, thank you. We bid you well as well.

• 44:12Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  You know, like when you start speaking and you're like, I don't know where I was going with this?

• 44:16Corinne Vien?

  You just have to keep it going.

• 44:17Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It's just, yeah. My name is Mia. I'm 18 and I've been a fan of your podcast for almost an entire year now. And you guys have helped me through so much stuff, especially some of the hardest times. So thank you. For context, when I was super young, I used to live in the downtown side of New Orleans with my mom and a few other people. Honestly, it was a really strange house. It had no walls, meaning it was just a big kitchen on the right side and a big space on the left that was meant to be a living room. And at the time, from what I can recall, we did live with a few other people. I don't remember their names, but that's not important. So the reason I bring up living in the downtown side of New Orleans is because it is known to be very, very haunted, especially in the French Quarter. So living in the haunted house isn't really a shocker, considering the history of New Orleans and the supernatural here.

• 45:00Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  But when I was about five to six years old, I was awoken by a strange noise outside of my bedroom. And like I mentioned before, this house is structured in a way where there's no wall separating the kitchen and the living room. So meaning if I peeked out from my bedroom door, I could see the whole place. Being the curious kid I was, I wanted to see what the noise was that woke me up. So I slightly opened the door to see. And at first, I don't see anything. It's super normal. But then I see her, an old lady peering towards the window in our kitchen. And I don't think much of it while I'm peeking through my door until I noticed that her feet were not touching the ground. And I did not recognize her. She was not my mom. She was not the people we lived with.

• 45:43Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And it also didn't help that her entire body was this transparent blue hue.

• 45:47Corinne Vien?

  Well, okay, now you definitely know it's not a living person.

• 45:50Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And then I noticed her eyes.

• 45:54Corinne Vien?

  Uh oh.

• 45:54Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  They were red. Nothing about this seemed normal. And red eyes on a supernatural being, I don't know about you, but it feels like a bad omen. So when I realized this, I-

• 46:04Corinne Vien?

  This makes me think of the Denver airport horse.

• 46:06Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  The horse with the glowing red eyes.

• 46:08Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, because like all the pictures of it, like at night, it's like blue with red eyes.

• 46:12Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Scary. And it killed its creator. We talked about that in, I forget what episode, but. So when I realized her eyes and I saw her eyes, I was like, I don't want to deal with this. So I quietly closed the door and I tried to wake up my mom. However, she simply told me, go back to bed. It's just a bad dream. And I knew that my mom would probably get mad if I continued to bug her. So I took matters into my own hands. I grabbed her Android phone. I opened up the camera app because I knew if she didn't believe me now, then if I got a photo, she would. But I hesitated. I grew up watching a ton of cartoons, especially the Amazing World Gumball. I don't know.

• 46:47Corinne Vien?

  Oh, I never watched it, but I know what you're referencing.

• 46:50Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  But I guess in this cartoon, it showed that if you took a picture of a ghost, then it wouldn't appear on the actual photo. Being the young girl I was, I thought maybe it wasn't for the best that I took a picture. So I just decided to go back to bed. When I woke up early in the morning, as expected, the old lady was gone. But this really stuck with me, especially because it was the first time I had ever experienced something like that. And I don't know if it was a ghost or a demon. The red eyes really did freak me out. And the scariest part is as I replay this memory in my head, she didn't turn to face me for me to see her red eyes. She was looking through the window and I could see her red eyes through the back of her head.

• 47:28Corinne Vien?

  What the fuck? That is so scary. That's very disturbing.

• 47:33Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, because she's like translucent.

• 47:34Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. Oh, I hate that. This honestly kind of feels like a character from The Haunted Mansion. Like, I feel like this would be, or like Scooby Doo, like this is what you would. Somehow they're peering at you from the back of their head.

• 47:46Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Or maybe she's a mother.

• 47:48Corinne Vien?

  I've got eyes on the back of my head.

• 47:49Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Eyes on the back of my head. I've tried researching about this several times, but nothing comes up. I don't know. I think whatever, whoever was maybe protecting me to not take a picture because I don't know. Who knows what could have happened had I gotten a picture? Maybe I would have unknowingly caused harm to myself by attaching the spirit to me. Anyway, if you have any idea of what I could have seen, let me know. I do have more stories about my family experiencing paranormal events and stories about sleep paralysis. And even waking up in a different reality while meditating.

• 48:19Corinne Vien?

  What?

• 48:20Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  See you on the other side, Mia.

• 48:22Corinne Vien?

  Mia, I need to hear that story.

• 48:24Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 48:25Corinne Vien?

  Whoa, dang, wow. Okay, am I surprised?

• 48:29Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  No, no. And also, if that was the only time that Mia saw the spirit, like it's New Orleans, just a ghost passing through. I don't know. Also, I can't think about New Orleans without thinking about vampires. And there's something vampiric about the vision and image of a old lady looking out the window at night.

• 48:51Corinne Vien?

  Yeah.

• 48:52Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  With red eyes.

• 48:53Corinne Vien?

  Well, it reminds me of that photo that went viral a few months ago of that woman who believes that they captured a vampire on film, like on camera.

• 49:04Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  I don't know. We've talked about this on the podcast. We've only talked about it on Campfire Stories. It's a weird, yeah, we, let's, let's, let's discuss.

• 49:12Corinne Vien?

  Let's pull it up for all of you. It was first discovered by us on TikTok, a viral TikTok. So probably many of you guys have seen it, but basically there was like this group of women who were on a girl's trip, I think. And they captured what they believe to be the spirit of a vampire. And it's like, kind of the idea is that it's an energetic vampire that's lurking like right next to this woman and feeding off of her.

• 49:36Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 49:37Corinne Vien?

  But it like almost looks like a spirit, but because it's in New Orleans and all of the vampire lore surrounding that, the thought is that it's actually a vampire in its like most, I don't know, graduated form.

• 49:51Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Okay, so it's from Lottie Lux on TikTok, but we'll post the image on the video here. It's like skeletal.

• 50:01Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. If anyone has seen What We Do in the Shadows, the like really old, wise vampire that they've all had like affairs with, who lost his genitalia, it kind of looks like.

• 50:13Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Well, and it's, it almost looks like Voldemort mixed with Dobby, the house elf. Like, you can see the bald head, like, it almost looks like the lights at the bar or whatever they're at is reflecting off of the bald head.

• 50:28Corinne Vien?

  Yes, yeah, and the shoulder.

• 50:30Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Yeah.

• 50:30Corinne Vien?

  But it does have like Dementor vibes because it's, it's facing her. It's, you like can almost feel that it's going like, and like sucking or like feeding.

• 50:39Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It's so unsettling. And if anyone wants to go listen to the Campfire Stories, which is on Patreon, that was where we talked about this for the first time. It was from January 27th, 2026. So you can search that date on our Patreon and it will come up. Wild.

• 50:54Corinne Vien?

  Nola, baby. The never-ending supply of ghost stories.

• 50:58Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Never-ending supply of energy for vampires to, to feed on.

• 51:03Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, it's a paranormal city, basically. Like, I kind of forget that real human beings live there. It doesn't feel like it's for the living.

• 51:10Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  No.

• 51:11Corinne Vien?

  It's run by the dead.

• 51:12Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It is run by the dead.

• 51:13Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. But then we get places like Cafe Lafitte in Exile.

• 51:17Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Which is beautiful.

• 51:18Corinne Vien?

  Mm-hmm.

• 51:18Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  And it exists as this like beautiful community, not only for the living gay community, but also the dead gay community. Like, that's great and fantastic.

• 51:27Corinne Vien?

  Good energy, great place. Love it.

• 51:29Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  What a great story. Thank you for gifting us with such a unique, cool story.

• 51:35Corinne Vien?

  Yeah, yeah. Well, I didn't even know when I was, I just saw that the US's oldest gay bar was haunted. So I was like,

• 51:41Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Hell, yeah.

• 51:42Corinne Vien?

  I'll research that. And I had no idea what I was getting into. It was great.

• 51:45Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  It was great. We're chock full of fun facts here and we learned so many fun things while prepping for the podcast. So come back next week for more fun things.

• 51:55Corinne Vien?

  Thank you to Jamie Ryan, who edits and produces our podcast.

• 51:58Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Thanks to all of you. We love you. If you have ghost stories, please email them to us at [email protected]. You can join us on Patreon. Please tell your friends, your family, your ghosts about our podcast. You know, you know the spiel. Just do it.

• 52:11Corinne Vien?

  And we will see you on the other side.

• 52:16Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Can we actually order pasta for lunch?

• 52:18Corinne Vien?

  Yeah. Bye.

• 52:19Sabrina Deana-Roga?

  Absolutely.

• 52:26Speaker 02

  This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Football has a play for just about everything. You can go deep, keep it on the ground, or draw up something nobody sees coming. And whether you want to run a flea flicker or the tush push, you need a plan to fit your unique situation. That's why State Farm takes the time to get to know you so they can help personalize coverage for your life and budget. Now that's a solid game plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.