<p>Also, the original Ruth’s Chris is in NOLA. And don’t bother with Antoine’s.</p>
<p>Two of my favorite restaurants are Ralph’s on the Park (across from the entrance to City Park. Worth a cab ride) and Palace Cafe on Canal St.</p>
<p>Also, Mother’s for poboys, but usually a line. Dookie Chase for soul/southern food. Jacques-Imos for fun and alligator cheesecake.</p>
<p>Audubon Zoo is great. Haunted History tours. Preservation Hall for trad jazz. Pat O’Briens for hurricanes (return the glasses for a refund before you leave). Southern Candy Kitchen for pralines.</p>
<p>Seriously…wait a couple of months…it’s brutally hot until October.</p>
<p>I was in New Orleans for a wedding last fall… we stayed at the Creole Gardens Guesthouse Bed and Breakfast – [Creole</a> Gardens Bed and Breakfast, New Orleans | Fun, Pet and Kid Friendly | Great Prices near the French Quarter](<a href=“http://www.creolegardens.com/]Creole”>http://www.creolegardens.com/). It is a block from the streetcar, in the Lower Garden District. The room was lovely, the breakfast was wonderful. The area right around the hotel was quiet, but not swanky, and it was very easy to get to the French Quarter on the Streetcar. The wedding was at the Omni Royal. Very nice! Many of the others at the wedding stayed there, and loved it</p>
<p>I would stay at the Creole Garden’s again when I travel to New Orleans if we chose to stay in a B&B a little off the beaten path.</p>
<p>Also, go up and down Magazine street if you can. I believe the #11 bus goes that route and the street ends at Audobon park and the zoo. Along it’s length, the shops go from funky to couture (sometimes right next to each other) to everything in between. Ignatius’ restaurant (near Constantinople street) serves affordable local food (po-boys, red beans and rice, etouffe, etc.) and La Divina gelateria (near Seventh Street) has some of the best gelato I’ve ever tasted. You could walk down there from Commander’s Palace.</p>
<p>Hansen’s sno-bliz, the inventors of the shaved ice machine, is nearby on Tchoupitoulas street at Bordeaux. They are only open in the summer. </p>
<p>Thomas Mann’s jewelry store (gallery i/o) near St. Mary Street (closer to downtown), is near Cafe Roma (really, really good pizza) and the Half-moon Bar (which surely you’ve seen in some movie). Enjoy it all!</p>
<p>A fun day could be had by taking the street car all the way uptown to the Camilla Grill (whether or not you want to wait in line is up to you) and then returning in a leisurely fashion through Audubon Park and than back along Magazine street.</p>
<p>When I went to New Orleans, I really liked the fried seafood at [Deanie’s</a> restaurant](<a href=“Metairie Bucktown Seafood Restaurant | Deanie's Seafood Restaurant”>Seafood Restaurant New Orleans Locations in French Quarter & Bucktown | Deanie's Seafood Restaurant). They have two locations - a nice-looking one in the French Quarter, and another one that looks more true to its seafood market roots out in Metairie. It’s a pretty good value, too. My mom - who makes a well-respected gumbo herself - liked their gumbo, so that’s also a pretty big seal of approval, in my view.</p>
<p>The location in Metairie/Bucktown was featured on Man vs. Food … I believe Adam tried the barbeque shrimp (it wasn’t a challenge).</p>
<p>I’m just getting back to this thread. When we went in December 2009 for our 25th wedding anniversary, my husband had planned it all and did a fabulous job! We stayed in the Garden District in a B&B called The Grand Victorian on St. Charles Ave. The trolley was right outside our door and we bought a three day pass for what I remember at the time was a very reasonable price. The Garden District is beautiful. The B&B was nice, but it was my first time staying in one and I’m just not sure they’re for me. With it having been our 25th wedding anniversary, we spent a bit more and ate at some of the places we ordinarily wouldnt.</p>
<p>We’re going back to N.O. next month with two other couples and staying closer (~1 mile) to the French Quarter. This time, I’d like to visit some of the dives that are known for good food and do more casual things. We absolutely plan to take our friends for a class at the New Orleans School of Cooking. That was one of my favorite things while we were there. We will definitely visit Preservation Hall again, too. I will say I was a bit taken aback by some of the things I saw on Bourbon Street. As DH and I were walking down the sidewalk, a door opened and a woman wearing hardly anything was saying goodbye to a man from whom I got the impression was not her boyfriend or husband when she said, “I hope you’ll come back some time.” Although we really enjoyed the trolley rides, we also did a lot of walking while there.</p>
<p>I’m so excited to go back. I’ll be watching this thread, too. We’re not looking for fancy this time so, if anyone has any suggestions for dives with great food and/or drinks, please let me know.</p>
<p>^^Dunbar’s. Used to be on Freret Street, now it’s near Broadway and the Tulane/Loyola campuses. $5 all you can eat red beans and rice and things like that.</p>
<p>I love walking around college campuses wherever I go. Hope you’ll hop off the streetcar when you are in teh Garden district and walk around Tulane. Another thing to do is to go to the WWII museum downtown. Especially as you are not from here originally, that might be fascinating. It is an excellent museum.</p>