New Orleans

For a history buff any sightseeing trip to New Orleans has to start at the National WWII Museum. They've expanded it considerably over the years and you can easily spend a full day or more there.

For something different do a haunted house tour one night in the quarter; they're pretty entertaining. You can book stuff like that in advance of your arrival.

The aquarium and zoo are always popular spots, and the St. Charles Streetcar isn't a bad way to pass some time on a nice day.

I like to browse the antique shops and art galleries in the Quarter; Chartres St. has all kinds of cool shops.

New Orleans-Book stores

There is an old book store on Orleans St. in the French 1/4 across the street from the Bourbon Orleans hotel. That place had a nice collection of historic Miss river maps, plantation maps and city maps. Plus old out of print books stacked to the ceiling. Wife and spent about an hour in that small store. Cool little store. The 1/4 is full of small stores like this, especially towards the east side or the 1/4.

Find a nice bench where you can watch the river action, then lean back, look up and watch the boats go by.

If all else fails I bet they still have the fine establishment where what appears to be scantily-clad lady legs come flying out the window into the street. I know that doesn't seem to make sense. Maybe someone else can explain it better. It's just down the street from the lady mud/jello wrestling venue. Not too far from a half dozen places where men start out wearing ladies clothing then proceed to take most of it off. Be sure to go out early looking for ben-yays (big nuts or something like that) to get things off to a nice start for the day. Be sure to have some gator for lunch one day so you can report about getting a little tail on your trip.

OK... this is one thing I always tell people to do... find the Cafe Du Monde and have some good coffee and beignets (french donuts)... now the levy for the Mississippi River is just to the east about 50 feet away. Get on top of the walkway just south of the Cafe Du Monde so you can see the level of the water in the river and the street level at once. Look at the river water level... then look at the street level... look at the river water level... repeat.

Post again after your trip and let everyone know what you see as far as the elevation of the water in the river and the elevation of the street below you.

beignets basically a french zeppole with the same powdered sugar... can't beat cafe Dumonde though:good: :good: :good:

"beignets"---big nuts---benyays

They are very delicious and probably equally bad for you. And, yes, Cafe du Monde, is the place to go.

For history, as mentioned the National WWII museum and located close-by on Camp St by Lee Circle is the Confederate Civil War Museum which was established in the 19th century. Historic New Orleans Collection on Royal St in the French Quarter has interesting exhibits. You can peruse old maps at their annex on Chartres St. (Next to K-Pauls Restaurant)

Music: Preservation Hall on St. Peter St near Pat O's where you can drink a Hurricane in a Hurricane glass.
Palm Court Jazz Cafe on Lower Decatur St near the Old Mint Museum and French Market.
Irwin Mayfield Jazz Lounge in the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon.

Adjacent to the Morial Center is the Riverwalk that has reopened for shopping. The Howard Hughes Corp has made it into a outlet center and there are some good eats there and views of the River.
Interesting shops on Royal and Chartres St.

Food: too many to mention : )
In French Quarter, Johnnys Poboys for a po'boy sandwich (hole in the wall place)on St. Louis St. near Decatur. I always take visitors to the Napoleon House at Chartres and St Louis St. Timeless place. They shot the closing scene of Runaway Jury there when John Cusack drops it all on zone Gene Hackman.
Muffuletta at Central Grocery on Decatur.
I have been wanting to go to Domenics in the Roosevelt Hotel in the central business district that was recently reopened by the Waldorf Astoria hotel group. 1/2 price on pizza and drinks from 2-5 everyday. It is a JohnBesh venture and for a celebrity chef, he is a down to earth kind of guy.
Breakfast: Mothers on Poydras St in the CBD. Ham or Debris Biscuits.
For coffee and pastry: Croissant de Or in French Quarter on Toulouse St.

New Orleans-Book stores

> There is an old book store on Orleans St. in the French 1/4 across the street from the Bourbon Orleans hotel. That place had a nice collection of historic Miss river maps, plantation maps and city maps. Plus old out of print books stacked to the ceiling. Wife and spent about an hour in that small store. Cool little store. The 1/4 is full of small stores like this, especially towards the east side or the 1/4.

Interesting that you mentioned this bookstore. It is owned by my friend Russell. It is the Arcadia Bookshop on Orleans behind the Cathedral.
Louisiana History section is the first shelves one encounters when entering. It is totally off the chain but he knows where everything is located. He is really a specialist in French language material. He has translated documents for me.
His father, John Desmond, was a renown architect in Louisiana who also taught at LSU. Besides homes, he was the architect of the student union at LSU

My two other favorite bookstores are Beckham's across from the House of Blues and the Librairie on Chartres just off Jackson Sq. Same owner who has been in the book selling business for fifty years in the Quarter.

And, If you want to see the countryside, there's always this to see...

The St Charles streetcar is a nice way to view some the architecture and pick up the vibe of the city. It passes Audubon Park and Tulane Univ.
One can get off at the Riverbend stop and get a bite or a beverage . Camellia Grill offers Southern style counter service only. Cooter Browns boast that they have the largest beer selection in the city.
Cross the RR tracks and You can walk on the levee and find the NGS baseline on the land side. You will see the guard posts.

Yes swmbos like Plantation tours but if one is in town for a conference there is not enough time. It is a day trip. Oak Alley is one of the better ones but there are many others.
Oak Alley home and grounds were designed by an early 19th century surveyor for his daughter who married into a plantation family. His name was Joseph Pilie'. One of his sons was also a surveyor who laid out the city of Austin Tx. He was sort of the black sheep of the family. It is thought that the father designed Austin and sent the wayward gambler son to do the fieldwork. Years ago Kent sent me interesting plats and notes about him.

If one wants to see really majestic Live Oaks there are a lot of them in Audubon Park especially in the zoo.
Also one can take the Canal St streetcar to City Park also and visit the oaks along the lagoons and have coffee and beignets at the Morning Call there with locals

For good local cuisine I like Coop's on Decatur, right across from Jimmy Buffet's. The food is great and the prices are right.

Thanks

For all the suggestions. Now I've got to save all this info.

As for eating, the only place I remember from my previous trip was a place called Commander's Palace. I was there for Mardi Gras in 1974 and for some reason my memories aren't very clear.

Now I've got to get a map of New Orleans and figure out the walking/streetcar routes.

Andy

Thanks

One important thing to remember is that there is no NORTH in New Orleans unless the sun is out and you know what time it is. Being from PLSSia, everything must be relative to N-S-E-W or I'm lost. Curved and bent streets add to my confusion. Even worse is when the street name changes and you don't realize it for three blocks.

Thanks

The streets in New Orleans are either lakebound or riverbound, and all street names change downtown when they cross St. Charles.

Thanks

Commander's Palace is a fabulous restaurant, very old-school. If you want to go there bring a coat and tie.

There are a hundred restaurants in the city I could recommend. My wife's favorite is K-Paul's on Chartres in the Quarter, followed by an after dinner drink at the Napoleon House just up the road.

I've heard great things about Cochon but I haven't been there. Same with John Besh's flagship Restaurant August.

You can't go wrong with raw oysters at Acme Oyster House or charbroiled at Drago's if you're into that kind of thing.

False

Basically untrue
Streets are laid out in grids
Except for streets along the river and Bayou St. John that follow the meander and also Gentilly Road that was the original eastward path/horse trail in early times that followed Bayou Gentilly out through the swamps. The Mississippi meanders make cardinal direction designation confusing. Downtown the West Bank is east of you and uptown it is south.
The Crescent City.
The only place that street names change in the city are from the Vieux Carre to the American Sector (CBD) which are the the original settlement areas.

It is true that north is not relevant to the streets. North/ South streets bear no relation to cardinal direction.
I can tell you that Elysian Fields Ave that runs from the river to the lake is the only street close to N/S.
Streets divided by Canal Street are designated by N/S even though they run more E/W. Canal St has the widest ROW of any city street in the USA.

It is a fairly simple city to navigate except for trying to make left turns on some major streets.

In the old days I played softball in the Quarter/9th Ward bar league. One team was Molly's at the Market. Coops opened next door at the time.
Molly's and The Abbey were my two watering holes on Decatur. 😉

False

I was being somewhat facetious; it goes back to when I moved to New Orleans in 1990 and used to try to ask for directions. Where I grew up the roads basically follow the section lines, I was accustomed to north-south-east-west.

South Claiborne and St. Charles both follow the river; depending on where you are you can turn off riverbound and be going anywhere from just south of east to just south of west.