New Orleans in January?

greenwitch
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 01:51:26 +0000

Frenchman Street is the best for music. Not every place charges a cover either. My D likes Maison.

Commander’s is 1 1/2 blocks from St. Charles, on Washington street in the Garden District. They have 25 cent martinis with lunch (not brunch). You can’t miss the striped awnings! People like to walk around in Lafayette Cemetery across the street. It closes at 3 PM usually. So far, you don’t need to go in with a guide so do it while you can! For St. Louis Cemetery #1, you do need a guide (there was too much vandalism - and the kind that people thought was cute, like using lipstick to mark an X on Nicholas Cage’s eventual tomb).

There is a “hop on hop off” bus that runs along Magazine street and up through the Garden district. There is also the #11 bus, which runs along the whole length of Magazine street to Canal Street. Most public transportation changes at Canal street - the old dividing line between the older part of the city and the part that was American. There is a riverfront streetcar that passes through both of them, from Julia street in the warehouse district across to Esplanade at the far end of the FQ. You could take that and then walk through the Marigny and Bywater. There is a park along the river there called Crescent park.

There is also a new bike path along the Lafitte Greenway that leads from Orleans street in the FQ all the way up to Bayou St. John. You can rent bikes from kiosks in various spaces. Another idea is to take the ferry to Algiers. It’s free and it’s a fun and easy way to get out on the river. The ferry docks at the foot of Canal street.

For walking around, it always feels a little sketchy to walk under the highway bridges where we sadly have many people living. You can still do it safely, especially by Lee Circle or at the Convention Center, but it’s sad.

On a happier note, be prepared to eat lots of food and love all of it! There are happy hour food and drink specials that are great (you said you get out at 3?). We love so many restaurants but I’ll have to mention Maypop, Compere Lapin, Meril’s (owned by Emeril but newer), Paladar 511, and the old favorites too. If you like oysters, try them raw and try them chargrilled, which is local favorite way to prepare them. Sometimes people set up a grill and sell oysters outside of busy lunch areas. If you take the whole streetcar, you can hop off somewhere on Carrollton and get a bite at Boucherie. Yum. Enjoy!