New Orleans

From MaxTravelz

New Orleans, is the largest city (some 480,000 in the city, 1.3 million in the metropolitan area) in Louisiana, as well as the state's top visitor destination. The city has a reputation for historical roots, hot and muggy weather, good food, good music, and over-the-top debauchery.

Contents 1 Understand 1.1 After Hurricane Katrina 1.2 New Orleans and the Acadians 2 Parts of town 2.1 Nearby communities and suburbs: 3 Get in 3.1 By air 3.2 By car 3.3 By bus or train 4 Get around 4.1 With a car 4.2 Without a car 4.3 Knowing which way is up 5 See 6 Do 6.1 Day trips outside of town 6.2 Festivals 7 Hear 8 Eat 9 Drink 10 Sleep 11 Contact 12 Stay safe 13 Cope 14 Get out

Understand

New Orleans is known for a host of attributes like its famous Creole food, abundant alcohol, music of many styles, nearby swamps and plantations, 18th & 19th century architecture, antiques, gay pride, streetcars, museums. Nicknamed the Big Easy, New Orleans has long had a reputation as a city of vice. However, the city also offers many attractions for families with children and those interested in culture and the arts. It is a city with a majority Roman Catholic population owing to its European origins.

Famous festivals like Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest bring in tourists by the millions, and are the two times of the year when one needs to be sure to book well in advance to be sure of a room. The city also hosts numerous smaller festivals and gatherings like the French Quarter Festival, Creole Tomato Festival, and Satchmo SummerFest, the Essence Festival hosted by the magazine, Halloween parading and costume balls, Saint Patrick's Day and Saint Joseph's Day parading, and so many more. The city takes almost any occasion for an excuse for a parade, a party, and live music, and in New Orleans most events often have a touch of Mardi Gras year round. Like they say, New Orleanians are either planning a party, enjoying one or recovering from one. Party down!

After Hurricane Katrina

The newer (20th Century) residential neighborhoods of New Orleans suffered major damage from Hurricane Katrina at the end of August 2005, but the good news for travelers is that the business, historic and cultural districts of most interest to visitors, being on naturally slightly higher ground, came through in good shape, compared to other residential sections of town (which suffered severe to cataclysmic damage).

As of early November 2005, limited tourism has returned, but conditions and number of visitors are still far from the pre-Katrina level. By January, FEMA and other hurricane personnel will begin leaving their hotel quarters in the French Quarter and Central Business District, thereby finally opening up some 24,000 hotel rooms for travelers and scheduled conventioneers. The once damaging image of New Orleans as home to daily/nightly drug-related murders has "Gone With the Wind." With the added military presence, New Orleans' natives and visitors have already begun to enjoy a much greater level of safety and security both during the day and night.

The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is functioning again. Highways in and out of town are open and all major and most minor streets are clear. Taxi companies are functioning, and a number of public transit routes including New Orleans' popular "streetcars" have been restored.

Having cash is recommended, because due to continuing problems with phone lines, some businesses are not yet taking credit cards or checks. Most restaurants continue to accept credit cards and banks are open in the city, but like some businesses, may have more limited hours than usual.

The state of the amenities is highy dependent on neighborhood. The portions of the old city closer to the river have revived quickly, with a broad representative sample of restaurants, bars, hotels, grocery stores, and other business back open, with more opening every day. This area includes the French Quarter, Central Arts District, most of Uptown, Magazine street galleries, Carrollton, Marigny, Algiers, the portion of the Central Business District closer to the River, and the area of Bywater on the River side of Saint Claude Avenue. Safe drinking water and regular electric power are back in these areas, although land line telephone service may still be spotty. In a nutshell, all the popular historic and cultural areas frequented by tourists prior to Katrina are open to visitors. At present, visitors will enjoy their stay by sticking to these neighborhoods.

Other parts of town such as Mid-City and Lakeview, and particularly east-end communities like the 9th Ward, were devastated (or, in some cases, almost obliterated) by flooding. While the first few businesses are re-opening in the formerly flooded areas, affected parts of the city still have few amenities, and may take months or years to return to normality, if those areas ever do. In the nearby suburbs of Jefferson Parish, Kenner, parts of Metairie, and Gretna on the Westbank are also in fairly good shape, with little visible evidence of storm damage. The North Shore on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain is also returning to normal quickly. Suburbs and outlying areas in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes were very hard hit and were virtually obliterated by Katrina's flooding, and will take years to rebuild - if they do.

Even so, the most severely devastated parts of town should generally be avoided by visitors unless they have specific business there and they have checked on local conditions in advance.

For the curious visitor wishing to see the devastation, possibly the best option is offered by Gray Line Tours with their Hurricane Katrina - America's Worst Catastrophe! tour that seeks to inform visitors about the reasons behind the disaster.

New Orleans and the Acadians

Despite what many visitors expect, the population, food, music, and traditions of New Orleans are not predominately Cajun. The Acadian or Cajun (from 'Cadien, pronounced ca-jen) people developed their rich culture in rural parts of Louisiana, south and west of the city. There are some good places for Cajun food and music in the city-- mainly these are branches of famous Southwest Louisiana Cajun places that opened up locations here.

The main culinary tradition in New Orleans is Creole - which means the culture and its cuisine already flourishing when Louisiana was purchased by the United States in 1803. Creole has a mixture of influences, including French and French Canadian (not Cajun), German and Spanish with a strong West-African foundation. Creoles cook with roux and the "trinity," a popular term for green pepper, onion and celery. These are the base for many savory dishes.

Since the Louisiana Purchase, other major immigrant groups and influences on local cuisine and culture have included Italian (mostly Southern and Sicilian), Irish, Caribbean and Central American. In the late 20th century a sizable Vietnamese community was added to the New Orleans gumbo.

Parts of town

• French Quarter: the oldest, most famous, and most visited section of the city. Most tourists will want to center their visit here. Those who explore other parts of town as well will find the city offers additional treats. Many old-line restaurants are in the Quarter, along with music clubs, antiques shops, and hundreds of drinking establishments.
• Central Business District: What many cities call "Downtown" (though in New Orleans this term is often used to refer to different part of town downriver). Adjacent to the French Quarter; has many attractions. The "CBD" has many high-rise hotels and some excellent restaurants, along with many museums (the National D-Day Museum, the Louisiana Children's Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Contemporary Arts Center) and a gallery district on and around Julia Street.
• Faubourg Marigny: This hip, bohemian neighborhood is on the other side ("down") from the French Quarter. Locals come here for authentic (read: non-touristy) nightlife, though tourists are certainly welcomed. Along with the French Quarter, this is the residential hub for the gay/lesbian community.
• Bywater: Downriver from Marigny.
• Treme: Historic Franco-African(Creole)neighborhood inland from the French Quarter.
• Mid-City: The central part of town is home to the New Orleans Museum of Art, City Park, and the New Orleans Fair Grounds (a racetrack that hosts the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival every spring).
• Uptown: 19th century residential section upriver, take the St. Charles Avenue streetcar. Uptown includes the "Garden District", which is more noted for its Victorian architecture than gardens. Also contains some of the City's best local restaurants, and the Audubon Zoo. Magazine Street hosts some 80 blocks of antique stores, art galleries, and interior designer studios *Carrollton: At the other end of the St. Charles Streetcar line from the Central Business District; pleasant neighborhood with a concentration of good restaurants, along with students from nearby Tulane and Loyola universities.
• Algiers: The part of New Orleans across the Mississippi River.
• Lakeview and Lakefront: Along and near Lake Pontchartrain. Many seafood restaurants and marinas.
• Other parts of town

Nearby communities and suburbs:

• Kenner: New Orleans International Airport is here
• Metairie: Largest suburb
• Chalmette: 4th largest suburb
• Gretna: Westbank Community
• Slidell: 5th largest suburb in metro area and largest suburb on the north shore.

Get in

By air

The city's primary airport is Louis Armstrong International Airport, located in the suburb of Kenner, Louisiana. As of summer 2006, Armstrong Int'l will again be served by 202 daily flights to/from 33 destinations (approximately 57% of its capacity prior to Hurricane Katrina) thoughout North America. European vacation packages are available from the UK on several British airlines who offer charter/cruise services nonstop to the Crescent City.

To get into town a taxi ($28 for one or two people) is quickest; that's the flat fee from the airport to any spot in the French Quarter or Central Business District. Limo service is also available for rates starting at $35.

Many major hotels have shuttle buses from the airport. Even if you're not staying at one of those hotels, the shuttles can often be a value for those getting in to town if their destination is near one of the hotels. There is a public transit bus from the airport to Loyola Avenue in the New Orleans Central Business District; the stop is a fair walk from the luggage pickup, and you'll probably have to ask at an information desk to find it.

By car

The main artery into and out of town is Interstate 10, going to the east and west.

By bus or train

Bus and train stations are next to each other at the edge of the Central Business District

Get around

With a car

Be alert that the streets of much of the city were laid out before the automobile, especially in the older parts of town of most interest to visitors. There are many one way streets, and in some neighborhoods two-way side streets may be so narrow that cars going one way may need to pull to the side to let vehicles going the other way pass when someone has parked on the street.

Potholes are common and road condition is often poor for a developed country.

Street signage is sometimes unclear or missing, although the city has improved this situation significantly in recent years, but Katrina set the situation back, which much signage yet to be replaced.

Parking is often hard to find around many areas of interest to tourists, but there are generally pay lots in the area.

Those who don't know how to parallel park may wish to just leave their car in a pay lot when visiting much of the city.

Without a car

Public transit varies from good to poor depending on what part of the city one is in, but the good news is that many of the prime areas of interest to visitors are on the better end of this scale.

The streetcar lines are generally more reliable than the buses, and run 24 hours a day, but after midnight usually cut back to just one an hour.

Public transit is by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority ("RTA"). RTA website: http://www.norta.com/index.php

Fares for buses or streetcars are $1.25, 25 cents extra for a transfer (good only on another line, not for a return trip on the same line). Express buses are $1.50. Have exact change ready, please.

Visitors who expect to take more than one or two rides on public transit while in town can get a transit pass, available at most Whitney or Hibernia Banks and many other locations around town, as detailed on the RTA site. The NORTA has regular express bus service between the airport and the French Quarter/Downtown. At 1.50 a ride, it's the best deal in town. The trip takes about 40 minutes.

Those staying in or near the French Quarter can easily get around by foot, with optional occasional trips by streetcar or cab if they wish to visit other parts of town.

Visitors can find out more information about what is available via the New Orleans Streetcar Lines at: http://www.ridetheroutes.com

Knowing which way is up

The older neighborhoods of the city, the ones of most interest to visitors, were laid out along the banks of the Mississippi River. Except for the grid of the French Quarter, streets were laid out either following to the river's curves or perpendicular to them, not according to compass directions or a grid.

For this reason, locals in these parts of town often don't give directions according to "north, south, east, and west". The four directions, instead, are "up" (or "up river" or "up town"), "down" (or "down river" or "down town"), "river" (or "towards the river" or sometimes "in"), and "lake" (or "towards the lake" or "back" or sometimes "out"). Don't be daunted, this makes sense when you take a moment to understand it.

Look at a map of the city. If, for example, you are taking the streetcar that runs along Saint Charles Avenue from the French Quarter to Carrollton, you see that the route starts off going south, then over some miles gradually turns west, and winds up running northwest. This is because Saint Charles reflects a bend in the river. From the local perspective, the entire route goes one way: up (or on the return trip from Carrollton to the Quarter, down).

Know that Canal Street is the up river boundary of the French Quarter. (Keep going further "up" away from the Quarter and you'll be in "Uptown".) You should be safe if you go anywheres "up" from the Quarter, but if you go past Elysian Fields Avenue when going "down", you may find yourself in a questionable, yet not necesarilly dangerous neigborhood.

Some streets are labeled "North" and "South", this reflects which side of Canal Street they are on (despite the fact that Canal Street runs from southeast to northwest). The part of Rampart Street on the French Quarter side is North Rampart Street; the part on the Central Business District side is South Rampart.

A majority of New Orleans streets are divided, with a "neutral ground" (median) running down the middle. For this reason, the traffic lights have no dedicated cycle for a protected left turn. On streets with a wide neutral ground, there is a solution. Imagine turning from an avenue to a street; the solution is to turn left on green, queue in the stretch of the street between the two halves of the avenue, then proceed once the traffic light on the street has turned green. On streets with a narrow neutral ground, there is not enough room for cars to queue. In these situations, left turns are often prohibited; the solution is to go straight, take the next U-turn, then take a right turn when you arrive back at the intersection. Streets such as Tulane Avenue famously have "No Left Turn" signs posted for miles.

See

Detailed listings of attractions are mentioned in the "Parts of Town" sections listed above. Highlights include:

• Historic architecture in neighborhoods
  • Ornate colonial French and Spanish in The French Quarter
  • Victorian mansions Uptown
• Historic cemeteries
• the Superdome, in the Central Business District
• Museums and Aquarium of the Americas, Central Business District
• Audubon Zoo, Uptown
• New Orleans Museum of Art and City Park in Mid-City
• the Mississippi River - great views from the French Quarter, the Algiers ferry, and the Audubon Zoo "Butterfly" park Uptown

Do

• Stroll historic neighborhoods look at the architecture and businesses, and people watch in the French Quarter, Uptown, Carrollton
• Streetcar rides St. Charles Avenue (green cars) is the oldest continuously operating streetcar in the U.S.; the Canal Street route (red cars) was restored to service in 2004
• Riverboat cruise - short or long cruises, some of which have quite good jazz bands on board.
• River ferry - the budget alternative to riverboats, take the free pedestrian ferry from the foot of Canal Street across the Mississippi to Algiers Point and back for a great view of the river, downtown, and the Quarter
• Walking tours including voodoo, jazz history, French Quarter, or Garden District ones
• Casino gambling at Harrah's next to the Quarter in the Central Business District
• Antique shopping up & down Royal St in the Quarter or Magazine Street Uptown
• Cooking Classes - learn how to cook meals like a local when you return home

Day trips outside of town

• Swamp tours - those with a car can make an easy day trip to the Jean Laffite Nature Preserve, a free park, with as good a view of local swamp flora and fauna as various pay tours
• Plantation tours - the Great River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge has several fine plantations, "Laura"and "Magnolia Mound" ( Creole Plantations) and "San Francisco" are of special interest.
• Battle of New Orleans Site - Battlefield history fans will want to visit the site famous battle where Andrew Jackson defeated the British at the end of the War of 1812. It didn't actually happen in New Orleans, but in the nearby community of Chalmette, Louisiana. Drive there or take a riverboat.

Festivals

In addition to year-round attractions, a series of celebrations and festivals provide additional interest:

• New Orleans Mardi Gras
• New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, . Also know as just the Jazz Fest. Held the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May every year at the New Orleans Fairgrounds, F-Su 11AM-7PM. It is second only to Mardi Gras for importance and size for New Orleans. The festival has been held every year since 1970. The true heart and soul of the Jazz Fest, as with New Orleans, is Music. That includes jazz, both traditional and contemporary, Cajun music, blues, R&B, gospel music, folk music, Latin, rock, rap, country music and bluegrass. But it's not just music. This is a cultural feast with food and crafts. There are thousands of musicians, cooks and craftspeople at the festival and 500,000 visitors each year. Visit the two large food areas where you can sample Louisiana cuisine and see demonstrations from top New Orleans chefs.
• French Quarter Festival
• Essence Festival
• Southern Decadence

Hear

New Orleans is justly famous for the music it produced. There are usually several good performers somewhere in town even on a slow night. Understand that most of the good stuff is not along the tourist strip of Bourbon Street.

The best ways to keep informed about who is playing where and when:

• Offbeat Magazine is a free monthly local music magazine with extensive listings. Can be picked up at most music venues, coffee shops, and other places around town, or ask your hotel concierge for a copy.
• WWOZ 90.7 F.M. is the community radio station dedicated to local music. At the top of each odd numbered hour they play a listing of the live music happening around town for the day. WWOZ is also good for finding out about special events like "jazz funeral"s.

Eat

OK, So You're Hungry. You've come to the right place. New Orleans is a culinary delight, but don't look too hard for healthy food; some would say don't look at all (although those demanding, say, vegetarian, vegan, or kosher food can with effort find it). You're on vacation, so take advantage of what they prepare best here. New Orleans has good food for people on any type of budget.

The seafood is fresh and relatively cheap compared to many places. Some think it is often best fried, but you can try seafood of a wide variety cooked many different ways here.

Oysters are a popular specialty, gulped down raw, battered and fried, in a po' boy sandwich, or elegant Rockefeller style.

There may on occasion be some exotic items on the menu. Yes, you can have alligator if you’d like - it mostly tastes like chicken! (but chewier). Try nutria only if you’re very adventurous; many who've tried it say there's good reason eating nutria has never caught on. The softshell crab, on the other hand, can be excellent.

Crawfish (don't say "cray" fish) is a popular dish here, usually boiled in a huge pot of very spicy water and served in a pile with corn and potatoes. If cracking open the shells and sucking the heads isn't your thing, try them with pasta or in sushi or any other way they’re prepared.

Poor boys or Po-boys are the distinctive New Orleans variation of the sandwich. Unless you request your sandwich put on something else like sliced white bread (while you're in New Orleans, don't bother), it will be served on a po-boy loaf, similar to French bread; bread pedants debate whether the New Orleans po-boy bread is the same thing as the baguette of France or qualifies as its own unique type of bread (some say it actually IS French bread but because of the extreme humidity, the bread ferments very quickly and gets its distinctive sour taste and odd texture). Either way, it's good, but only part of what makes the sandwich tasty. The rest is what is put on it, of course. Roast beef with "debris" gravy, fried shrimp, oysters, etc... You'll probably be asked if you want it "dressed". No, this has nothing to do with clothing being optional. In New Orleans, "dressed" means with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. Every neighborhood in New Orleans has its favorite po-boy places; the better ones butcher, slow cook, and season their own meats. The po-boy is a great and filling taste of New Orleans at a reasonable price.

One distinctive local sandwich not served on po-boy bread is the muffaletta a rich creation of the local Italian-American community, with a variety of sliced meats and cheeses topped with olive salad on a big round Italian roll. Unless you have a very big appetite, half a muffaletta will probably be plenty for a filling meal.

Gumbo is a tasty Louisiana traditional stew, originating in West-Africa and comes in numerous varieties. The vegetable base is traditionally okra (in West-Africa, the Wollof language word "gombo" means okra) with filé (sassafras leaves) used as a thickener. Seafood is the most common meat; but one will just as often find chicken, duck, smoked sausage or "andouille" sausage, the ages-old "gombo d'zherbes" (vegetarian) and other types of gumbo on many a menu. Gumbo is universally served with rice.

Red beans and rice sounds bland, but is a tasty, comforting treat prepared in the New Orleans way. The beans are slowly cooked until they reach a creamy texture, with a mix of onions, bell pepper, celery, and spices. Especially traditional on Mondays. It can be vegetarian but may not be; ask. It is often served with spicy, smoked or "andouille" sausage.

Local fresh produce: Have you heard of Louisiana strawberries, satsumas and creole tomatoes? If not, it's probably because they're so good that locals eat most of them right here! The strawberries come in around Jazz Fest time, satsumas in December and the creole tomatoes in early summer. You may spot "mirliton" on the menu, a vegetable not common in most of the United States. In Mexico and the Southwest, it is called "chayote" or "alligator pear," though travelers to Guatemala may recognize it as the same thing that's called "hisquil" down there. Of course, when the first crops come in, there are parties, festivals, and parades commemorating the strawberries, creole tomatoes, or mirlitons.

Every restaurant will have hot sauce as a condiment on the table (even Chinese and fast-food restaurants). It is not true that New Orleans food will all be very spicy hot. Many locals do like to add hot sauce to many dishes, and say it helps keep them cool in the summer. If you can take it, give it a try.

In many of the fine restaurants around town, people take their clothes as seriously as their food. Despite the obnoxious heat and humidity in the summertime, don’t go to these restaurants dressed in shorts/jeans; they won’t let you in. This applies only to the nicest (and some say best) restaurants in town but there are plenty of places that you can wear shorts to (many of which are great too). This is what you've been saving your pennies for.

Snow balls or sno-balls are the New Orleans take on the northern "snow cone" or flavored ice done with more finesse. Ice is not crushed but shaved into microscopically fine snow in special machines, and flavored with syrups, fresh made at the better places. The flavors need not be overly sweet, and can come in a wide variety ranging from striking to subtle, including such treats as wild cherry, lemonade, chocolate cream, coffee, orchid vanilla, and dozens of others. Locals almost worship the better neighborhood sno-ball stands during the city's long hot summer; try the refreshing treat as a snack or desert and find out why. Note, many snow ball shops will close in the winter, as New Orleans is surprisingly chilly between November and February and the demand dies down.

Drink

Did we mention drinking? New Orleans has no "blue laws" or mandatory closing times; there is always somewhere to get alcohol any hour of day or night every day of the year.

You can head out the door with an open container of alcohol-- but not in a bottle or can; to try to keep broken glass and jagged metal from filling the street, local laws mandate you use a plastic cup while on city streets and sidewalks. These are known locally as "go cups", and every local bar provides them, usually has a stack of them by the door and the bouncer will take your drink from you and pour it into the cup because bars can be held liable if they don't. Use them, because New Orleans Police are not fun to deal with.

However, drinking does not have to be about quantity. Beer lovers should try local brews like "Abita" on tap, from light Wheat to dark "Turbodog" to the quirky "Purple Haze", a raspberry beer loved by some. Local cocktails include the "sazerac" and the tourist favorite "hurricane". There is also the famous "Hand Grenade" which is billed as "New Orleans' Strongest Drink" and is only available at Tropical Isle (they patented it). Beware, most think the lime green concoction tastes like a weak punch but then are well buzzed after a few sips. New Orleanians also love wine.

Those not accustomed to the Southern heat and humidity should be sure to drink more water or other drinks without alcohol than they usually do during the day to avoid dehydration.

Listings of some top choices of the city's famous bars can be found in the neighborhood articles.

Sleep

The numerous hotels in the French Quarter and Central Business District are most centrally located for most tourists, but there are good accommodations in many other parts of town as well. Hotels on or near the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line in Uptown are popular with many visitors, and the smaller hotels and guest houses in neighborhoods like Marigny and Mid-City can provide an immersion in New Orleans away from the larger masses of tourists.

• Omni Royal Orleans - 621 St. Louis Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70140. Phone: (888) 444-OMNI (6664). The Omni Royal Orleans is a recipient of the AAA four-diamond award for the past 27 years, the Omni Royal Orleans offers luxury hotel accommodations on the fashionable corner of St. Louis and Royal Street. The fine antique shops and art galleries of Royal Street are just steps outside our door. The hotel is a short one block walk to the nonstop revelry of the French Quarter's famed Bourbon Street, making it the perfect location for celebrating Mardi Gras, New Years or any other special occasion.

• InterContinental New Orleans, 444 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA, 70130, InterContinental New Orleans. Luxury hotel located on the St. Charles Mardi Gras parade route.

Contact

The telephone area code for New Orleans and the nearer suburbs is 504.

There are cyber-cafes throughout the city, with the greatest number in the French Quarter and CBD. Many coffee houses and some bars offer wireless internet connection.

New Orleans Public Libraries has branches around the city. Out of towners can get 1 hour of internet access on library computers for $3; try to go at a time when school is in session to minimize risk of long waits.

Municipal free wireless (ESSID: "CityOfNewOrleans") is available in most of the downtown area (including the French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny). Although Louisiana has an anti-municipal-WiFi law (to prevent competition with businesses), the city has an exemption as long as it throttles bandwidth to 512Kbps. Originally created for police and emergency response vehicles, the network is also available to visitors and citizens.

Stay safe

Hurricanes: The Federal Emergency Management Agency ranks New Orleans as its most pressing problem, as proven by Hurricane Katrina. Because most of New Orleans lies below sea level, waters that flood the city cannot exit the "bowl" without pumping. A hurricane-induced storm surge could overwhelm and disable the pumps that keep the city (relatively) dry in normal weather.

So if a hurricane is in the forecast (particularly a strong or strengthening one), leave the city for actual high ground (which lies about 60-100 miles away), and do not return until the danger has passed. If you cannot leave the metro area, try to at least get to Metarie or the North Shore. Evacuate as early as possible--preferably at least a few days before landfall; hurricanes can develop and strengthen rapidly, raising the waters to flood the roads that lead away from the city.

Hurricane season is from June to November, however, the greatest threat to New Orleans is from mid-August to late October.

Other: A famous 19th century sign from the Quarter reads: "Beware Pickpockets and Loose Women." Tourists can be so overwhelmed they are separated from their common sense... and, theoretically, other things. Keep things in your front pockets-- not your back-- and be careful with your digital on Bourbon. Its the same with any city, be smart and keep your wits about you.

Cope

Get out

I-10 runs east west through the city, I-55 dumps into I-10 West of the city and Pontchartrain; I-59 outflows into I-10 on the East side.

The local airport, which is the suburb Kenner, is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (acronym of MSY, Moisant Stock Yards). The airport is approximately 11 miles from the Central Business District, the Riverwalk, and the French Quarter. Usual suspects for exit: taxicabs, shuttle buses, and public transportation have routes that can get you to Armstong 24-hours a day. General Aviation traffic is served by both MSY and New Orleans Lakefront on Lake Ponchartrain.

If your goal is getting to know the area, River Road is home to a stretch of Plantations. Sugar plantations brought in a nice bit of income, and there are some lovely homes with the archetypal oak collonades at the entrance. Plantation owners were the first to institute levee constructions, and one of the first levees is actually just outside of New Orleans, right behind Oschner Hospital (along River road). When the area would flood, the levee would be the highest ground, and would crowd with refugees.

You can also arrange for a swamp tour. Spring at Jean Lafitte swamp is a lovely time to see the swamp iris. Also, the first and longest running prison rodeo is just up the way at Angola http://www.angolarodeo.com/ . Before and after the rodeo, the inmates sell crafts, such as belt buckles, wallets, original paintings, and the inmates earn money for their families.

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