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4 days in New Orleans

Bigjay73

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With 2 grown kids.....what are you going to do, see, eat? Heading there in May, staying in the French Quarter, can't narrow down what to do.
 
Been a long time but food is good just about anywhere. Lots of little shops to walk through, bars if you're into that, Cafe du Monde is almost required for beinets.
 
Was just there for a few days for a conference, and my family joined me for a weekend. Did a bayou swamp tour, saw some alligators (kind of a big deal for us Montanans). Spent a day walking around the Garden District, ate lunch at Empanola, that was great. Ate dinner one night at Adolpho's on Frenchman Street, that's walkable from the French Quarter and in a really cool neighborhood that's not so crazy (right next to the Spotted Cat music club, another well known venue). Bywater is also a cool neighborhood if you can make it over there. Tell you what, I'm just going to copy/paste the email my sister's boyfriend sent me, he loves New Orleans and goes there a lot:

"My favorite neighborhood is Bywater, the next neighborhood downstream from the FQ.. Here are some recommendations of Bywater:
Euclid Records, one of my favorite record stores in the country
Vaughn's Lounge & BJ's Lounge, dive bars with occasional music
Jack Dempsey's, old seafood restaurant with great soup and fried seafood
Bacchanal Fine Wine and Spirits - outdoor bar that Susie loves
All of these places are within walking distance. I would venture north of St Claude Ave because it gets a little dicey, especially at night. Another great bar is the Saturn on St Claude which features punk bands and is a great divey place.

Other music venues I love are:
Maple Leaf in Carrollton neighborhood- usually features New Orleans music. Probably the most fun venue I have ever been but can get crowded

Rock'N'Bowl in Midtown- venue attached to a bowling alley. Really fun place to see a show

Tipatina's in Garden District - another classic New Orleans venue

There are great jazz clubs like Snug Harbor and the Spotted Cat on Frenchman St next to the French Quarter on the east side. There are other great bars like DOA which makes Frenchman a really fun way to spend the evening.

There are other venues like the Hard Rock that occasionally have great music. Let me know when you are going to be there and I will check to see who is playing. Downtown has Mother's Po-Boys, a great and crowded sandwich and seafood restaurant. Cachon is also great although more expensive. Downtown also has the Ogden Southern Art museum which I think Claire would love and the World War 2 museum next door which is also fabulous..

The Garden District to the west or up river from downtown is the best walking neighborhood,
especially along Magazine St. Great old mansions and cool shops. The Audubon Zoon is also nearby. Domilise's Po-Boys is a famous sandwich shop on Annunciation that is worth checking out. Also, Jake and Snake's Christmas club is a great late night bar that is lit by Christmas lights and plays great music, a really fun place. NOLA and Port Orleans are good breweries and the Bulldog is a good beer bar.

The French Quarter has the Roosevelt Hotel bar that popularized the sazerac. There are multiple connected bars and the cheaper ones are furthest inside from Bourbon St. Susie and I enjoyed it. Also Preservation Hall still has jazz."
 
Definitely Music Row! The Spotted Cat is my favorite.

Oysters. More Oysters. And MOAR OYSTERS!

I was unimpressed by Cafe du Monde beignets. They were very heavy and thick last year…

Check out the walking tours of the town - lots of great ghost stories and voodoo to enjoy.

People Watching on Bourbon Street - worth every minute!

My wife and I are going back for St. Patty’s day. I love it…it’s jsut one big massive good time.
 
The cut/pasted email above pretty much nails it.

You'll want to do the typical tourist stuff French Quarter / Jackson Square / Cafe du Monde for a bit and then you could do the playbook above and you'll have a blast.

Garden District / Magazine Street is probably my favorite part of town.
 
French Quarter/Bourbon Street is the tourist attraction. Go see it to say you've seen it, and then stay away.

Magazine Street is a really cool part of NOLA that doesn't get talked about much. A lot of cool little shops with not-so-touristy offerings. There are a few down there where you can pick up Audubon prints (if you are into that sort of thing).

If you have the means and want to get out of NOLA for a day, head up to Abita Springs. There's the Abita Brew Pub and the brewing company (brew pub has really good food). There's also a few natural areas if you want to get outside, as well as other attractions that are worth the drive.

National World War II Museum in NOLA
NOLA City Park (Botanical Gardens, Museum of Art)
 
Time to fish? Tunas with Mexican Gulf or VooDoo, or back country redfish and trout. South of NO in Venice. Cafe Du Monde was cash only if I recall. Airboat tour of the swamps. Co worker did a cemetery tour I think it was called St Louis Cemetary and he said it was fantastic
 
Was just there for a few days for a conference, and my family joined me for a weekend. Did a bayou swamp tour, saw some alligators (kind of a big deal for us Montanans). Spent a day walking around the Garden District, ate lunch at Empanola, that was great. Ate dinner one night at Adolpho's on Frenchman Street, that's walkable from the French Quarter and in a really cool neighborhood that's not so crazy (right next to the Spotted Cat music club, another well known venue). Bywater is also a cool neighborhood if you can make it over there. Tell you what, I'm just going to copy/paste the email my sister's boyfriend sent me, he loves New Orleans and goes there a lot:

"My favorite neighborhood is Bywater, the next neighborhood downstream from the FQ.. Here are some recommendations of Bywater:
Euclid Records, one of my favorite record stores in the country
Vaughn's Lounge & BJ's Lounge, dive bars with occasional music
Jack Dempsey's, old seafood restaurant with great soup and fried seafood
Bacchanal Fine Wine and Spirits - outdoor bar that Susie loves
All of these places are within walking distance. I would venture north of St Claude Ave because it gets a little dicey, especially at night. Another great bar is the Saturn on St Claude which features punk bands and is a great divey place.

Other music venues I love are:
Maple Leaf in Carrollton neighborhood- usually features New Orleans music. Probably the most fun venue I have ever been but can get crowded

Rock'N'Bowl in Midtown- venue attached to a bowling alley. Really fun place to see a show

Tipatina's in Garden District - another classic New Orleans venue

There are great jazz clubs like Snug Harbor and the Spotted Cat on Frenchman St next to the French Quarter on the east side. There are other great bars like DOA which makes Frenchman a really fun way to spend the evening.

There are other venues like the Hard Rock that occasionally have great music. Let me know when you are going to be there and I will check to see who is playing. Downtown has Mother's Po-Boys, a great and crowded sandwich and seafood restaurant. Cachon is also great although more expensive. Downtown also has the Ogden Southern Art museum which I think Claire would love and the World War 2 museum next door which is also fabulous..

The Garden District to the west or up river from downtown is the best walking neighborhood,
especially along Magazine St. Great old mansions and cool shops. The Audubon Zoon is also nearby. Domilise's Po-Boys is a famous sandwich shop on Annunciation that is worth checking out. Also, Jake and Snake's Christmas club is a great late night bar that is lit by Christmas lights and plays great music, a really fun place. NOLA and Port Orleans are good breweries and the Bulldog is a good beer bar.

The French Quarter has the Roosevelt Hotel bar that popularized the sazerac. There are multiple connected bars and the cheaper ones are furthest inside from Bourbon St. Susie and I enjoyed it. Also Preservation Hall still has jazz."
Jesus, you should start a blog lol. Thanks a lot, much appreciated
 
Here’s my ex-local take;

Catch the Soul Rebels at Les Bon temps in uptown. They play there every Thursday night. It will be the highlight of your trip.

Check out Second Line Brewing in midtown. Great locals spot.

Ride the streetcar from downtown to midtown and check out the Bulldog pub.

Get a high life at the Chart Room in the FQ when you wanna dive bar it.

Lastly, grab char grilled oysters from Dragos in Metairie on your way out/in to the airport.
 
You could walk the midtown cemetery by yourself, end of the streetcar line in midtown, across from bulldog. I wouldn’t recommend walking the cemetery north of Rampart St. at any time of day.
 
I've been almost everywhere except new orleans and Philadelphia. I'd rather go to prison than Philadelphia
I thought Philly was the nicer. First world vs third world, really. People have a ball on vacations to the third world all the time.

People in New Orleans were more congenial. I'll give them that. I'm trying to think of something positive here. ......take old shoes in case it rains so you can just throw them away. How's that.
 
I lived there for 7 yrs. Remember 1 of them….lol. Bourbon Street is something to see. Cats Meow has some fun tourist karaoke. Famous Door…kitty corner from the Royal Sonesta Hotel usually has some great live music in the evenings. Cover band type stuff. Stay together and I highly recommend carrying wallets/etc in front pocket. They will do street shows on Bourbon Street and the crowd will gather and then the goons go around the crowd looking to snag something out of mamas purse or any other thing they can get. I’ve seen it happen too many times. Le Booze is a bar in front of the Royal Sonesta. One of my favorite people watching spots.

Royal street is a block off Bourbon and has galleries/etc.

GW Fins and Pelican Club are both good restaurants that are in the French Quarter, but there are many others. Dragos in Metairie has the best charbroiled oysters I’ve ever had. They do have a Dragos in the Hilton over by the RiverWalk. Just not the same though as there is just something better about the original place. I would highly recommend going to Chemin a la Mer in the Four Seasons Hotel by the river. Very scenic views of the Miss River, ship traffic, etc. Even if it’s just for a cocktail vs dining, it’s a neat place.

I lived uptown. Magazine St, Audubon Park, St Charles Ave are really cool to see and you can hop on and off the street cars along the way. Swamp tours are swamp tours…you will see gators and birds/etc.

Pm me with anything specific
 
I thought Philly was the nicer. First world vs third world, really. People have a ball on vacations to the third world all the time.

People in New Orleans were more congenial. I'll give them that. I'm trying to think of something positive here. ......take old shoes in case it rains so you can just throw them away. How's that.
Honestly the friendliest people I've ever encountered traveling. Black, white, tourist, service worker, did not matter. Just met so many very nice, chatty people. No bad vibes at all.

Congo Square and Louis Armstrong Park are easily walkable from the FQ and interesting from a historical perspective. Also, my wife insisted we go to this voodoo museum in the FQ, it was very small but packed with interesting stuff I thought.
 
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