New Orleans: must-see-and-do?

kyylieeeeee

Hi all!
My boyfriend and I just spontaneously booked a vacation to New Orleans, and we're leaving 2 weeks from today. We'll be there for 2.5 days. So does anyone have any suggestions on things that one must absolutely do and see while down there? I've never been before, he has. I won't care at all about dieting/eating healthy while I'm there, so food and alcohol receommendations are more than welcome (favorite bar/restaurants?)!
We're not very into super-touristy things (Bourbon Street? No thanks.), like to get in a bit of trouble, and we're thinking about renting a car for a few hours so we could check out the Abita Brewery and the far-out reaches of the Ninth Ward and St Bernard's Parish where my boyfriend helped build a bunch of houses after the hurricane...but the car can obviously take us to other locales if people have great suggestions :] We also really, really, really love food and drink.
Other potentially helpful info: our hotel is in the Warehouse District, we are both of legal drinking age, and budget isn't too much of an issue but we also don't want to spend TOO much.

I figured I might hear some unique and fun suggestions on MFP versus a typical tourism site!

Thank you :]

adjones5

when I was there I spent the majority of the time on bourbon street but we did go to an alligator (or maybe crocodile? I can never remember which is which) farm and we got to hold them. It was cool.

ladybg81

Just walk. New Orleans is amazing. Cafe Du Monde (sp?), French Market, maybe a trolley ride. We LOVE going to New Orleans and you picked the perfect time of year to go. We are going back in early spring to take our son for a trolley ride to the zoo. We did the Aquarium last time. LOVE New Orleans.

ckmama

You can drive to the MS gulf coast if you like gambling and a nice view it isn't that far. Really what you do in N.O. is drink and eat. They have lots of cool shops in the district around the Zoo. Of course there are all the downtown typical N.O. things to do to fill your time, river boat ride, riverwalk, sidewalk shows, eating, drinking, shopping in the french market, eating some more. They have the alligator farms not far and since it's fall you should google festivals in the area. If you have time you could drive to the LA coast?

The abita brewery also runs along the rails to road bike path, you can rent bikes there I believe, it is 31 miles of ride one way. St. Tammany Trace.

You could drive a couple of hours to Tunica Trace (falls) it's a hiking place, no camping. And it isn't mountain type hiking, some hills. Plus theere are nightclubs like the house of blues and other unsundry places.

My advice: watch where you park. Had my car towed 2 times both from what appeared to be legal spots. $120 plus cab fair to get into the impound lot.

engineman312

i love new orleans!!! omg, its the best. definetly do some drinking and walking around on burbon street. if drinking isn't your thing, thats fine. you can still enjoy yourself. lots of great things to do and see. last time i went i took a cemetary tour. it wasn't a haunted house type thing. it was during the day and very very historical.

check out a place in the quarter called brennans, its right across the court house on royal street. great price fix brunch for $35 dollars. i've never eaten with real silver before then. go to Yo Mama's Bar and Grill for a peanut butter bacon burger. yes, it is as delicious as it sounds. its on st peters between burbon and royal. go to decauter street for an endless supply of resturants and shopping. check out cafe du monde while your there, and go to the market cafe for lunch. coop's place also on decatur, is great too.


i need to book a trip there soon.

Starleng1

:drinker: You have to eat at ACME Oyster house...my favorite. We just went a couple of months ago. My husband is from Louisiana and we go alot. However, we always go to the same places so this time we signed up for Groupon, Living Social, and a couple of other websites where you can get half price meals and half price attractions. This way it saves us the trouble of where to go and to try new resturants and tours. It was awesome. The resturants were all good and we did a swamp tour and some other things. We even got half price drinks at some bars.

moor9559

W.I.N.O is a great wine bar where you can buy wine by the ounce (great for figuring out which one you want to drink) and they have a small menu too. It's located on Tchoupitoulas, near Poydras. The Napolean House (located in the French Quarter on Chartres) has a great muffaletta and a very good Pimm's Cup (gin based drink - very good). Check out Royal Street - it runs parallel to Bourbon Street but is a completely different atmosphere. The French Market - located on Decatur in the Quarter is a great place to get souveniers at a discounted price. Riding the St. Charles Streetcar into the Garden District is fun. Yo Mamas (located in the Quarter off of Bourbon but I can't remember which street) is a tequila bar and they serve peanut butter hamburgers, which are quite tasty. The bar itself is interesting with a pole and cage on stage and wrist cuffs can be found too. New Orleans is fun place to just walk around and see. I've been lucky enough to spend 6 weeks there for work this summer and am heading back for another 2 here soon! Enjoy!

AJay513

NOLA is one of my favorite cities!
I typically do the tourist thing because I just love to see & learn all the culture.
So I’ll just tell you my favorites:
Johnny’s Po Boys on St. Louis St.
Stanley’s on St. Anna St. a great pepperoni and caesar salad po boy
A Court for Two Sisters does an awesome jazz brunch
Mother’s is a NOLA classic
The French Market area is nice. The stuff they sell isn’t great but there is a nice outside bar, I can’t remember the name, it’s in a park area, where they play jazz music, you can get a drink & then go shopping.
The only bars I’ve ever been to have been on bourbon. A lot of them are the same ol same ol but I really, really love Howl at the Moon- it’s the most unique bar on the street and such a good time!
Every time I’m there I have to go on a swamp tour cuz they are just such a good time! I always go with Cajun Encounters to Honey Island. Just love it! Got to pet a baby alligator last trip.
Oak Alley is really beautiful to see.
Went on a city tour last time to see the new houses Brad Pit built. Very, very cool!
Haunted cemetery tours are pretty cool.
Café Du Monde is 24 hours to get the classic beignet (just fried dough with powdered sugar) but that area has good shopping and some good jazz bars that are suppose to be less touristy & it’s not on bourbon.
This summer was the first time I went to the New Orleans Cooking School, which I thought was really cool. It’s a cooking class but you don’t cook. You just watch someone cook some NOLA classics & then you get to eat it. They also give you their home brewed beer and their home-made pralines are the best in the city by far!
Have fun! It's an AWESOME place!

BrendarB

For sure Cafe du Monde.

In the Garden district there's a place called Garlic Cove - awesome garlic bread
Go to the Funky Pirate on Burbon St. and get the Hand Grenade - it is strong and delicious!
Central cafe is the place to go for a Muffalatta - get it to go, grab some drinks and such and find a place to chill near the river.

Other than that - you really can't go wrong in New Orleans - it is a fun town, nice people, just walk around and enjoy! Have fun!