First Ever N'awlins trip...*UPDATED*

F

FanofBurntOrange

25+ Posts
Folks,

Taking a trip with my girlfriend to New Orleans this weekend. Will be there Sat. morning - Mon. night...Need a list of must see/do for a pair of 1st timers. So far I reckon Bourbon Street, Swamp Tour and Jazzfest are on the list. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance and hook'em!
hookem.gif
 
Hand Grenades...buy them in doses and take home the mix. Hurricanes from Razoos too. You will feel the buzz from both and it gives a guy an excuse to have an acceptable girly drink in public.

Don't eat at Emeril's. Overpriced and not worth it. Make sure that you pickup a muffulata from Central Grocery and eat across the street by the river. (A must) Semi-romantic and not too pricey. Hot dog vendors on the street are pretty tasty too. For nice dinners, there are tons of options. But, be prepared to wait the closer you are to Bourbon Street. Poydras Street has a great Italian restaraunt that escapes my memory. Of course, the seafood is plentiful there.

Uh, negotiate on souveniers from Bourbon Street. Tell them that you saw it $5 cheaper at another store and they wil let you walk out of the shop and chase you down the street to make the deal. Don't let the beads fool you.

They do not use trash cans for trash pickup downtown. Be prepared to walk in the street to avoid the trashbags in front of the buildings. The Krystal's burger area a.k.a. the Hustler's Club building smells pretty awful outside from all of the leaky garbage.

Gambling is legal. I like Harrah's casino-wise but admit that I haven't checked out most of what is down there.

All I can think of right now. To me, New Orleans is only worthwhile in the downtown area. Unless you have a preplanned event, plan to stay in that area for the trip duration. Lots of cops on the weekends but they are pretty laid back assuming you behave yourself.
 
Go to Acme Oyster just off Bourbon St. (in the French Quarter). Good fresh oysters and not bad prices.

I haven't been there since Katrina and since my bachelor party (summer 2005). Not sure if my liver can take another trip.

Harrah's casino is walking distance from Bourbon Street but that is just for fun... Cafe du Monde for cafe au laits and beignets (sp?). Good stuff. The past few times I have gone I have been too busy getting drunk and gambling and bad stuff to think about rallying for coffee and donuts but they are bad-***. Huge line late though.
 
If it's still there, go to Laffite's Blacksmith Shop just off the Quarter. By far, that's my favorite bar in all of New Orleans.

(Oh, and Cafe Dumond for beignets.)
 
Go to Felix's Oyster Bar, right across the street from Acme, and stand at the bar. Be entertained by the oyster shuckers as you have a dozen or so.
 
Thanks for the info...we're staying at Hotel LeCirque which is supposedly walking distance. Midtown - I appreciate the heads up, being from Dallas I am sure I couldn't pronounce it correctly and all I would do is piss off the locals.

The Swamp Tour thing caught my eye as a way to spend the afternoon on Monday before flying back to Dallas. If it truly is a waste of time and money, then please let me know.

I am looking forward to some great partying!

Thanks again everyone!
 
there are a LOT of good suggestions on this thread. i spend over 2 months at the W new orleans (between harrah's and mother's) for business last year, so i ate well...

restaurants:
K-Paul's is amazing.
Mother's is great, but gets absolutely packed at peak times.
The Gumbo Shop off Bourbon was also a favorite. make sure you get the sausages and any fish special.
I enjoyed Acme Oysters and Redfish quite a bit, but they're touristy.
Cafe Du Monde was nice, it will be good to take the GF there.
I'm not a muffelata fan, but if you want one, the only place to get the original is at Central Grocery.

Bars:
Pat O's. end of story. get a hurricane.
also, there are plenty of places to just grab a beer as you walk down bourbon street.

Entertainment:
another vote for Preservation Hall. good fun.
Harrah's Casino. duh.


there's a lot to do, and i found it pretty hard to go wrong there. if you see something that looks interesting, just do it.
 
I want to thank everyone who took a few moments to help out. The GF and I had a great time and look forward to a return trip at some point. Here's a quick recap:

Sat. - went to Jazzfest. It was awesome. The vendors were cool and the cajun bread rocked. We also tried the fried eggplant which was alright, but the standard had been set with the cajun bread. That evening in the French Quarter we ate at Desire. The ambience was nice and our table gave us a view of Bourbon Street. Afterwards it was all about the party scene. Had a couple of hurricanes at Pat O's, had a couple of handgrenades at Tropical Isle, and a couple of beers throughout the night. All in all, not bad. Lucky Dog as pretty darn good at 3:30 am...When we were leaving to go back to the hotel, we saw a couple of guys on the corner of Bournbon and Canal passed out (prostrate) with the handgrenade drink in hand. Kinda funny.

Sun. - GF and I went to Cafe Du Mond (thanks for the heads up y'all) and enjoyed the walk through the French Market. Did the walking tour which other than a few interesting tidbits of information really was a waste of time and money. Went to ACME for dinner and it was alright. There was a 45 minute wait which wasn't too bad because the GF and I were able to have a drink from Jesters during our wait. Afterwards it was back to Bourbon Street and more partying. At 2am we walked on over to Harrah's and came out with $1.89 more than we went in with which I thought was a good thing. We played the slots for about an hour and a half. Then we walked back to the hotel and crashed.

Mon. morning we went on a swamp tour (Honey Island). I'm glad I did it because I was able to get a better understanding about the devastation that Katrina brought. The swamp tour itself was alright and I felt entertained. Got dropped off at the French Quarter and the GF found a restaurant called Oceanare right off of Bourbon. This place was really good. Dozen Big *** Oyesters for $8.00 The Blackened Redfish was awesome too. I would recommend this spot for folks who want seafood and an awesome dessert to go with.

A couple of closing remarks:

1) I was really surprised at how hospitable everyone was. I just don't see Dallas ever being able to match it.

2) George W. and FEMA aren't adored...

3) I had no idea of all the strip clubs on Bourbon Street...no we didn't go in, but I can see how it could be fun for a single guy.

4) Jazzfest was really cool. Cuisine was awesome. Had a great time. Would like to go back. New Orleans>Dallas.

I just wonder how crazy Mardi Gras will be in '08...

P.S. - I wore my Texas cap to Jazzfest and heard plenty of "Hook'em Horns" throughout the day...nice.

Thank you again everyone!
 
I'm so envious that you got to eat crawfish bread and I didn't.

seriously, does anyone know if it can be bought other than on the faigrounds during jazzfest?
 
I'm pretty sure you can get it various places in New Orleans throughout the year, don't think you can get it anywhere outside of Louisiana though.
 
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