No surrender

I'm off to New Orleans for a few days. Mixed biz and fun trip. I've never been before. Any suggestions for fun, food and/or craziness? Thanks.

maleficent

If you are a literature fan, In the French Quarter, theres a cathedral, behind the cathedral is Faulkner House Books -- really neat place.

There was at least one cemetary tour I did, that was really quite interesting.

Had to google this link, http://www.graylineneworleans.com/cocktail.shtml thats the Southern Comfort Cocktail Tour, not that I'd encourage drinking -- but - when in Rome.....

Food - -Lousiana Hot Sauce and Tabasco (there's a museum somewhere) goes on everything.

Bourbon street is great for nightlight, but be warned, there are some real seedy areas that you don't want to get lost in - and don't keep all your money/credit cards in your wallet- just in case.

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shakran

bad stuff first. Do not go into cemeteries alone. You stand a very good chance of getting mugged. The high walls keep the crime from being seen by anyone.

If someone wants to clean your shoes, or guess where your shoes came from, or wash your car windows, your guard should be up - they may be trying to distract you so they can rob you.

STAY OUT OF THE PROJECTS. Think Chicago's South Side, only worse.

Now the good stuff.

Cafe du Mond in the french quarter is THE place to go for breakfast. Order bengets and French Market coffee.

Tujagues is a good expensive restaurant. Great creole food.

Ralph & Kacoo's is a good less expensive seafood restaurant. The hush puppies ROCK there. You can't miss 'em either - the buildings are a rather startling pink.

Antoine's is a good french restaurant.

Whatever you do, find a place that bakes their own bread (preferably on the water) and sells oyster po'boys. You have GOT to try these things!

As far as eating, just about anywhere in New Orleans is gonna be good to eat at - the best food in the world is there and if someone's food isn't good, they're laughed out of town

The French Quarter is kinda interesting, but honestly it's gone way downhill in the last couple'a decades. The sex industry has taken over, which is a shame. As far as I'm concerned, you can get sex toys online, and you don't need to buy them in the formerly quaint old shops of the Quarter. It's changed the atmosphere quite a bit, and not for the better - you can get porn anywhere, but it's hard to find good artistic communities - too bad this one's rapidly disappearing.

all that aside, however, the street musicians in the Quarter are almost to a man better than the stage musicians anywhere else. You'll see guys with about $4 to their name playing jazz better than anything you've ever heard back home.

powerclown

Streetcar Through Garden District Tour: inexpensive tour, see cool old homes and the lush landscapes of the Garden District.

Gambit Weekly: the 'whats happening around town' guide.

maleficent

Those were amazing - -gotta have some of them mudbugs too, they look nasty, but they're quite tasty.

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No surrender

You guys are so awesome. Thanks so much for the information. I made reservations at Commander's Palace and Bayona for a couple of dinners. The cocktail tour sounds right up my alley. Not going to N.O. for any thing sexual - just fun and relaxation. Can't wait. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

powerclown

Voted best restaraunt in the COUNTRY just recently...

wally

As mentioned above, definitely try to take the streetcars through the Garden District. That's a very nice part of town.

shakran

especially in an etufe. Holy crap that's good.

Think i'll have to take a trip to Louisiana again some time. You just can't eat seafood inland after you've had it fresh from the Gulf.

No surrender

Well, I'm not sure what a mudbug is, but I'll seek 'em out and give them a try. Heard NOLA is good, might try to get in. Tried Emeril's last time (same owner) and was very disappointed. There is an awesome fried chicken place near the market, whose name escapes me at the moment - that I think has some of the best fried chicken ever. I'll report back the name and the eatin' results when I get back. Thanks again to all.

maleficent

Mudbugs = Crayfish, crawfish -

In the shell, they look like the teeniest of lobsters, you pull the tail off and enjoy the meat there -- some folks such out the head.

Etouffe style, the crawfish is out of the shell, and it tastes almost like shrimp.

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shakran

well, but there's more to it than that. A crawfish etoufe is sorta like a gumbo, but not quite. It's delicious.

timalkin

New Orleans is crawling with criminals, the traffic sucks absolute ass, you need Noah's Ark anytime it rains because of the flooding, the French Quarter smells like a combination of diarreah and vomit, and it's hot as fuck during the summer.

I could go on and on, but don't take my advice. I only lived there for four long years.

shakran

That explains why you don't like it. It's a good place to be from, and a good place to check out, but I would NOT wanna live there

No surrender

Timalkin, thanks for the heads up - good and the bad are always welcome. I'll only be there for a short time. I'm from NYC so I hope I can stay out of trouble, or at least recognize it. Too old to do stupid stuff, but still young enough to enjoy some R&R. Thanks again for the info.

jaco

Great place to visit, dont wanna stay here. food and drink are the best ive ever seen. crime is similar, we have many neighborhoods you just dont go into if you dont have to be there. if you bring your car, i would suggest being careful of where you park and keep all valuables out of sight, if its a nice car... well, you may as well kiss it goodbye if you park it in some of these darker parts of town.

do the tours *swamp, ghost, history, music, etc.*, eat at all the restaurants, walk down bourbon once or twice to say you've done it, avoid our football teams games :P, and thats all i can think of really. enjoy your visit. also, avoid mardi gras season if you arent coming here specifically for it, prices pretty much double in hotels if you can even find a room

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"How soft your fields so green, Can whisper tales of gore"
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No surrender

Made it back safe and sound. FYI for anyone going, Fiorella's for fried chicken - real hole in the wall - but best I've had anywhere. Muffeletta at Central Grocery - touristy - but if ya haven't eaten one - ya gotta try it. Awesome really. Take the ferry across the Mississippi to Algiers (free and gives a really nice view of the city and a chance to ride on the river - and have a drink at the Dry Dock bar. Feels like you went back a century or so. Any meal at Palace Cafe. We had Sunday brunch. Tremedous food at reasonable prices. Had dinner at Commander's Palace. A bit more pricey - but the food and service were also tremendous. Just choosing what to eat from the menu was a welcome challenge. Also ate at Bayona. Food was good, but a little too small and pretty for my tastes and budget. Dropped a few bucks at Harrah's. A huge casino by any standard - but no challenge to anything in Vegas as far as feel and gaming. Did the Bourbon St. thing - Jazz at Filedehs and Donna's was great. Late night at a dive called Tropical Isle for a sing along type band was fun. Ate a lot of oysters and went to a crawfish and shrimp boil one evening. Took the streetcar through the garden district and experienced a really cool thunder and lightning show with local flooding for about an hour. All and all a great experience. Caffe du Mond was also fun. Saw Tujagues but opted for the fried chicken instead. Next time! I can see the security concerns voiced above, and appreciated the advance warning. Took a cautious approach and I can see the need to be careful. Considered the tours but just couldn't get there. The people of New Orleans are overall very kind to tourists and happy to engage in conversation. I met a lot of interesting and nice folks each day - each person eager to talk, listen and help. Four nights was just about the right length of time.

shakran

I can't believe I forgot to tell you to do that. Glad you found it anyway - those things are awesome.

jaco

Good to know you had a nice time. With food like ours and the heat, is it any wonder we have one of the highest obesity rates in the world? god i love this food, ill never move.

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"How soft your fields so green, Can whisper tales of gore"
"Thou art god"

No surrender

I made the very same comment. If I lived there, I would be huge!

Jesus Malverde

Damn this is weird, I was just thinking of planning a trip to New Orleans myself. You all have given some good advice, it's always better to hear it from someone's own personal experience.

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...I'm that cat by the bar toasting to the good life...

No surrender

Choosing where to stay is more difficult that one would imagine... I'd stay away from Bourbon Street. I stayed at the Fairmont. Good location (centrally located) - but nothing to write home about. No complaints, but not a lot of charm. Pretty standard hotel. If you've got money for the place, the Soniat house is really cool.

veruca

getting ready to go for my birthday in march!

I need advice on a hotel choice...do I want to stay in the Garden district, French quarter or on the river? We plan on going out at night, but want to do tours and touristy stuff during the day? and we want to be safe...

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How you turned my world, you precious thing
You starve and near exhaust me
Everything I've done, I've done for you
I move the stars for no one

maleficent

One of my favorite hotels in N'awlins is the Kimpton Group's Hotel Monaco
http://www.monaco-neworleans.com/

They are a chain of boutique hotels, and I've stayed at them in DC, San Fran, Chicago, and Boston -- I have never had a bad experience and they are not your average cookie cutter hotel, they're classy without being stuffy. (the hotels have wine hours in the evening, and many of the hotels have different "theme nights" where you canhave your palm read, or get a chair massage or other fun stuff.. PLus if you ask, you can get a gold fish in your room. I honestly can't say enough good things about them -- and if you join their loyalty club, you get all sorts of upgrades and stuff - the suites have incredible bathtubs.

This hotel is near everything -- it's a quick walk from the french quarter in a really cool old building...

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powerclown

Depends entirely on your 1) budget and 2) taste. You can go from mild (Queen & Crescent) to wild (Ritz-Carlton), large or small.

If you're going to be out partying every night, all the bars, clubs, etc are in the French Quarter. Its extremely convenient to be in walking distance to your hotel after a night of partying. Stay together, and on the main drags, and you're fine. Its like DisneyWorld in the FQ, people everywhere.

veruca

so, I am starting to do more research on where I want to go..we r thinking of staying at "st. vincent's guest house" anyone know anything about it?

and what can a local tell me about frenchman st...I heard it from somewhere else that that is where the locals go..and I prefer local bars to commercial ones

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How you turned my world, you precious thing
You starve and near exhaust me
Everything I've done, I've done for you
I move the stars for no one