Grace, it might be said, is one of those elusive conventions of human existence which explains that odd composure of the soul when it encounters a moment of near perfection. New Orleans, it might also be said, is a city of such grace. Eccentric. Serene. Self-possessed. Quixotic. Irrepressible. All the while it is easy on the eyes, has a good heart and a sense of humor, roots for the underdog, never forgets to ask how your mama’s doing, and loves you just the way you are. Sounds like the perfect date.
This riverport checkerboard of working-class neighborhoods, middle-class enclaves, and Uptown society tumbles through life with the motto “Let the good times roll” and enjoys itself with more exuberance than just about any other place on Earth. While this is a predominately Catholic city steeped in religious tradition, it’s also liberally mixed with a history of equal devotion to carefree pleasures best exemplified by the world’s greatest free show on earth—Mardi Gras. For proof just hang out with festivalgoers on oak-lined St. Charles Avenue during a nighttime Carnival parade, as colorfully costumed float riders toss doubloons, panties, and plastic beads to a jubilant crowd shouting, “Throw me something, mister!” You’ll get the picture.
For this and other reasons, the unsavory parallels of the outside real world, such as abstinence (except during Lent) and dispatch (unless we’re hosting a World’s Fair or major national convention), hold little interest. Instead, the newspaper obits are scanned daily so as not to miss paying last respects at a wake for even a distant relative or acquaintance. We trundle the kiddies off to City Park for a ride on the historic carousel’s flying horses or to Bayou St. John to feed the ducks—just because we did the same thing when we were youngsters. And because this loosen-the-tie town has never cottoned to stuffy formalities, kids are taught early on to respect grown-ups by addressing them as, say, Miss Judy or Mister George. Last names are reserved for strangers.
This is a city of neighborhoods—and what neighborhoods. Uptown, for example, has its old money, stately oaks, Greek Revival and Italianate homes, streetcars, Tulane and Loyola Universities, Audubon Park and Zoo—not to mention the quasi-bohemian ambience of Magazine Street and its vintage clothing stores, antiques shops, art galleries, and restaurants. For proof just take an Uptown streetcar downtown past St. Charles Avenue’s Garden District of drop-dead gorgeous mansions built by no-nonsense Americans arriving in the 19th century who wanted little to do with their freewheeling Creole counterparts in the French Quarter. You’ll get the picture.
Meantime, the French Quarter bordering the Mississippi River is anchored by Jackson Square’s sidewalk artists and palm readers, St. Louis Cathedral, paddle wheelers, Lucky Dog vendors, Royal Street antiques shops, the buzz of Bourbon Street, the French Market, and, of course, Cafe du Monde. Step inside one of the Quarter’s historic, candlelit courtyards crumbling with history and lush with banana palms and fiery-red bougainvillea to discover why 19th-century aristocratic Creoles couldn’t care less about the stand-offish American newcomers Uptown.
Over the centuries the world’s great rivers have given birth to great cities, and this Mississippi River offspring—a wondrous amalgam born of French, Spanish, African, Caribbean, and early American cultures—is certainly no exception. Simply put, it’s nearly impossible to pigeonhole this spirited, offbeat city. Just look at the nicknames given to New Orleans over the years: the Crescent City, the City that Care Forgot, the Big Easy, the Cradle of Jazz, America’s most European city, Banana Republic, and the northernmost island in the Caribbean. New Orleans is also the birthplace of Creole cuisine and home to one of professional football’s most losing teams. For the record, this colorful city also has green streetcars and red beans and rice.
Ties that bind in this overgrown small town include where you went to high school, potholed streets, Christmastime’s Mr. Bingle, cafe au lait, and the sweat-defining summertime humidity. New Orleans cherishes its homegrown chefs much the same way Boston embraces its MIT math geniuses and L.A. its celluloid heroes. Writers ranging from William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams to John Kennedy Toole and Anne Rice have trawled the city’s secret soul to hold up a mirror of words as poignant as anything Pablo Neruda ever wrote about his Chilean homeland. As Williams’s character Blanche DuBois observes in A Streetcar Named Desire: “Don’t you just love these long rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn’t just an hour—but a little piece of eternity dropped into your hands . . . and who knows what to do with it?”
For a city its size, New Orleans nearly breaks the mold when it comes to ways to have a good time that don’t require Bill Gates’s bank account or spending two hours in gridlock. Museums and historic homes? We got ’em coming out of our crawfish tails. Riverboat cruises and a world-class zoo and aquarium? Ditto. Plantation homes? Fiddle-dee-dee. Historic cemeteries? Pshaw. Add to that loads of recreational activities, camping opportunities, and spectator sports, and you’ve got all you need to “pass a good time,” as our Cajun cousins would say. Also, if you’re traveling with little ones, check the following Kidstuff chapter for the city’s most family-friendly fare.
If New Orleans doesn’t have it all, it certainly has most of it. While the following list of attractions is by no means complete, it is nevertheless comprehensive and reflects the scope of activities that has made and kept New Orleans one of the nation’s premier and laudable tourism cities. Always call ahead to verify times and admission costs, but be patient as many New Orleanians are unaccustomed to the harried tempo of out-of-towners, even those on vacation.
Riddle: What do you call a place where you can pet a stingray, visit a haunted dungeon, and have exotic animals eat out of your hand? Answer: New Orleans.
The Big Easy truly has earned the reputation of “sin city.” (Yes, they even sell beer at kids’ baseball games here, but only to adults.) For the most part, though, this is a town of close-knit families. And when we’re not at one another’s backyard crawfish boils and barbecues, we like to go out and have fun. Luckily, the city boasts an almost endless supply of natural wonders and even fun museums to capture any young person’s—and parent’s—imagination. The following is a list of interesting ways for kids to spend time in the Big Easy. But remember, in New Orleans, fun is like chocolate—even a little is still pretty delicious. And away we go. . .
(Note: A number of listings in the Attractions chapter may also be of interest for families.)
New Orleanians love their city—to a fault. But when the travel bug hits there’s nothing we like better than hitting the road for day trips to explore the region’s fun and always historic surroundings. For this chapter we have included five favorites: the Isleños region of lower St. Bernard Parish; St. Tammany Parish; Plantation Country; Cajun Country; and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.