Visiting Provider - Questions about....

[ShawnaPatterson31]

Hello all...

I'm visiting soon from OK as a stop on my tour, I have NEVER been to NO on business or pleasure and have a few questions for experienced residents.

1.) I'm not a big party girl outside the confines of my hotel room - either way I'm still interested in the best spots to stay and maybe walking distance from my hotel or a short drive, that I must go see?

2.) I want the NO experience like any tourist! What are the most fun "touristy" or not so touristy activities that I would enjoy? (Besides the activity I'm already there for?)

I'll help you know what I like (out in the open), I love jazz and the allure of the traditional styles of what we hear about your city. Love architecture and history ..... and must try some very traditional local cultural food! Basically seeing the traditional CULTURE sounds amazing! Is it just on T.V. or the movies that makes it appear like that? Please, Please, say it isn't so....

Any idea's?

Oh... and what should or where should I watch out way / stay away from?

Thank you
P.S. This is one of the stops on my tour I'm most looking forward too seeing outside the hotel!

Thank you
Shawna Patterson
"The P Stands for Passion"

[stavinChain]

If you like architecture, history, good music and good food, all within walking distance from your room, then you simply must stay in the French Quarter. Not near the Quarter, but in the Quarter. It's the original French colony and it's the heart of the city.

[ShawnaPatterson31]

Thank you so much... someone else PM'd and said that too... sounds good to me!

[DallasRain]

there are some cool shops on Magazine St....also the hop-on/hop-off bus will give you a neat tour.......I luv the burlesques shows also

have fun

[ShawnaPatterson31]

I LOVE burlesque!!! That is a must see!

[Old Horn Dog]

Things you have to do:

1. Jackson Sq./St. Louis Cathedral

2. Free Walking Tour (google the same name) of Uptown & Cemeteries.

3. Take the St. Charles streetcar to the end & back. Now, this one's iffy b/c every tourist does this. If you're an early riser do it before 9:00 am.

4. Architecture & music? I don't know that I'd say the Qtr. was the best for either: for my money, Esplanade is the prettiest street in New Orleans. The wonderful houses & storefronts on it, great trees w/Spanish moss hanging down--very movie-poster New Orleans. Go all the way up to City Park, since the architecture (coming from downtown) gets really gorgeous around Galvez all the way to the Park. And the best music is in the Marigny.

5. Food. Fighting words between any two people from here or who live here & like their food since no one will agree, but at the risk of creating enemies on this board: Jacques Imo's, Adolfo's, Cafe Degas, Muriel's, Mosca's. In that order. And even though Mosca's is #5, I could still eat there every day for the rest of my life & not get sick of it. That's how good the food is here. For lunch/sandwiches: Parkway (in mid-city) & Butcher (downtown). Doughnuts: Blue Dot. Avoid District, as that overpriced-pretentious-shit reads a lot better than it eats.

Have a great time!

[stavinChain]

Very good advice from Old Horn Dog, except I think the St Charles street car line will be pretty fucked up this summer by construction. I haven't followed it closely since it doesn't affect me, but I think I heard that, part of the way, riders will have to get off the streetcar and ride a bus. Something to look in to...

New Orleans cultural, culinary treasures in the Quarter that have been overrun but tourists, but are still the real deal:
- Beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde.
- Muffaletta sandwich at Central Grocery
- anything at the Napoleon House - decent food with great old-world ambiance

[wildwing]

Muriel's has a jazz brunch on Sunday to die for.

On Frenchman St there is the Blue Nile and Snug Harbor. Very busy places and you should take a cab.

G W Fins for fish. Reservations required on weekends and Fridays.

Acme Oyster House for Creole and Cajun. No reservations and always a line but very good.

Google French Quarter, Boutique Hotels to stay in something different.

Harrah's Casino is nice but the buffet sucks.

Riverwalk is nice for shopping.

Let me know what else you would find interesting like the Aquarium or the Imax next door.

[Old Horn Dog]

Originally Posted by stavinChain

Very good advice from Old Horn Dog, except I think the St Charles street car line will be pretty fucked up this summer by construction. I haven't followed it closely since it doesn't affect me, but I think I heard that, part of the way, riders will have to get off the streetcar and ride a bus. Something to look in to...

New Orleans cultural, culinary treasures in the Quarter that have been overrun but tourists, but are still the real deal:
- Beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde.
- Muffaletta sandwich at Central Grocery
- anything at the Napoleon House - decent food with great old-world ambiance

Oh jeez yes about the Streetcar: I heard there was construction. Ugh. You can always take the Canal St. one--it's actually climate-controlled & not AS MANY tourists ride it; esp. early mornings it's actually people going to work (like me). It's so slow though it's better if you don't have to be anywhere fast, esp. in the evenings, if you ride it. Still, it's fun & an easy ways to go a few miles w/o walking & seeing interesting & pretty stuff.

... annnnnd that's how the fight started (j/k): Cafe du Monde is fine, really, but if you want FEWER tourists my favorite is the "other" traditional NOLA coffee & beignet stand, Morning Call. It has a 24/7 location in City Park. If you take a bicycle-cab up Esplanade to see the street, then visit NOMA if they have a good exhibit, you can then go to Morning Call, which is around the back of NOMA in City Park. Sit outside & be accosted by a large, fat, male duck who own the place & want to know where "his" beignet is. It's also fun to watch him walk in the main door & have the help chase him out every 30 secs. Cafe Beignet on Royal is also very good. I find both as good as Cafe du Monde & equally charming, plus so often you can't even get to Cafe du Monde due to the line.

Originally Posted by wildwing

Muriel's has a jazz brunch on Sunday to die for.

On Frenchman St there is the Blue Nile and Snug Harbor. Very busy places and you should take a cab.

G W Fins for fish. Reservations required on weekends and Fridays.

Acme Oyster House for Creole and Cajun. No reservations and always a line but very good.

Google French Quarter, Boutique Hotels to stay in something different.

Harrah's Casino is nice but the buffet sucks.

Riverwalk is nice for shopping.

Let me know what else you would find interesting like the Aquarium or the Imax next door.

... annnnnd that's how the fight started--I would always send people to Deanie's rather than Acme or Drago's. I think Deanie's does best of the three what I call the "Seafood Triumvirate" of very similarly-menued-NOLA restaurants. Plus, the red potatoes in crawfish-boil make me happy. They're all essentially Jacques Imo's w/char-grilled oysters & aren't as good as Jacques Imo's w/their other creole dishes but still perfectly fine. Acme is the oldest of the three, Drago's invented char-grilled, but Deanie's is the best for execution of the same food as the other two.

God Muriel's... YUMMMMM. I ranked it high for a reason. Shawna, you know of course that w/thousands of restaurants you actually have to search for BAD food in NOLA right? It's like Paris: there's no point in paying a crap-ton of money @ an expensive trendy hip place when you've got so many neighborhood places that are awesome. So I usually steer people away from the ones which get listed on "expensive places you have to go" like Commander's Palace or Galatoire's & send people to Jacques Imo's or Mosca's. You should go to Central Grocery for a mufaletta, but I'd avoid Mother's on Poydras if I were you: they started believing their own press awhile back, it's all tourists now w/a line out the door by 11:30 every day & it's overpriced. I'm not saying it wasn't good--it was good--but who-the-fudge needs to pay $18 for a damn po-boy? You do that & you BECOME the po-boy just b/c you wanted lunch...

Hey I thought I heard G W Fins CLOSED?!?! I ate there ONCE. It was fantastic...

[wildwing]

Nahhh, Gw's got a marketing mega empire and fresh fish. One of my ATF is Red Fish Grill on Bourbon until they opened.

Commander's has a Sundayt Prix fised menu thats only $40. or so - three course but you have to make reservation a few weeks ahead of time. Food and service excellent. One of the years NOLA hosted Super Bowl as soon as I found out I called and made reservations for me and SO for day before. Very good time and restaurant full of big shots. Had the quail which was crazy good.

I got some stories about Mother's but will need to save for another thread. One story includes the president of the American Dental Association the day of the Bacchus parade. Party animals.

Perhaps you might need some hole in the walls. let me know..