New Orleans travel tips

New Orleans

If you only have a couple days, here are some essentials:

1. In The Quarter: Walk Bourbon Street, just to say you did. It's tacky, tawdry and for college freshmen who think it's cool they get to drink in public. 
   
2. Do grab a Hurricane in the courtyard at Pat O'Brien's. Just one. Trust me.
   
3. Dinner at the Gumbo Shop.
   
4. Walk a few blocks toward Bourbon. Take in a show at Preservation Hall. 
   Last time I was there, it was $5 at the door. Shows last 20-25 minutes, but you can stay as long as you like. Dark, little room, wooden benches, old-school Dixieland jazz musicians,
   
   playing it like they mean it. Which they do.
5. St. Charles streetcar
   
   to the Garden District.
   
   Get out, walk around, see the cemetery Anne Rice uses in her novels.
   
   Say hello to Archie Manning, who lives there. Drink in the splendor of the big old homes. Go to Commander's Palace for dinner,
   
   if your wallet has what it takes.
6. Get back on the streetcar. Take it to where the road bends at the Mississippi River. Get off. Have a burger at the Camellia Grill.
   
   Thick, greasy, slobbery good. Walk some more. You'll need it.
7. Find a jazz  and/or zydeco joint. It's not hard. Tipitina's will do.
   
   Drink a little, At about 2 AM, head over to Cafe du Monde,
   
   just across the street from Jackson Square. 
   
   Eat lots of beignets.
   
   They'll help with the hangover.
8. Check out Magazine Street
   
   for antiques, if you're into that sort of thing. Or head to the French Market,
   
   lots of outdoor stalls with tacky stuff, but also great bargains.
9. Take the trolley
   
   to Audubon Park. Walk through the park to the Audubon Zoo.
   
   I once saw an albino alligator eat a sleeping duck there. Way cool.
10. I don't know if it's still there, but if it is, go: The D-Day Museum
    
    is a moving, fascinating tribute to June 6, 1944. Lots of first-person audio accounts. It will make you feel good about being an American. And alive.
11. That enough? One more: If you visit The Quarter at night,
    
    and your hotel is more than a few blocks away, take a cab. Nawlins is a fun place. Also, kinda dangerous after dark.