Alone in New Orleans in May
 

I am being sent to a conference in New Orleans in May. I was hoping to find a fellow female colleague to join me but have been unsuccessful. How dangerous will it be for me to be alone at night? Where should I avoid? Can I go to a cafe or something at night without looking like a hooker? Help!

haha. it is up to you to go somewhere "without looking like a hooker", no one else can do that for you.

I'm sure you'll get lots of advice on places to go and not go, but if you're there in early May, check on the dates for Jazz Festival. You might be in luck (or out of luck as my friends there think -- they hate it).

Use common sense and you will be fine - no deserted streets after dark, cabs late at night, no drinking to excess, and so on.

You shouldn't have any safety problems in the French Quarter - there will be plenty of people around. Your biggest worry will be pick pockets and purse snatchers, so keep your stuff close. Other parts of the city that you might be interested in - Garden District, Fauburg Marigny, and so on - take cabs at night.

As far as going to cafes, go ahead. You will only look like a hooker if you dress like one.

If you stay at the hotel that the conference is in, you may not end up alone after all. If you are the friendly, talky type, you will meet people at the conference that you can hook up with for dinner. And you may not be the only one traveling solo and looking for someone to hang out with.

Here's a gauge to relative safety of the Quarter: Not only did my sister bartend there for years without even one incident, my 70-year-old mother is planning to become a "Nawlins snowbird" to avoid the dread Northeast winters (she'll room with my cousin, who has a studio and loft in the Quarter). Mom has absolutely no qualms about living, walking about and partying (I envision quite a bar tab at Pat O'Brien's!) at all hours, so....

Really, it's like any other large city. Take the usual precautions. Rowdy people tend to get a little extra-rowdy in NO, but hold onto your belongings just a bit tighter, stay in the main areas, you'll be fine. And hookers look like hookers-- it's not like they're disguising themselves and leaving the FM pumps and microminis at home....

I guess I should mention its a medical conference with lots of MD's in attendance ... I figure the hookers will look a little high class. I'll be wearing mostly suits. I'm glad to hear about the 70 year old snowbird who has no problems there. I hope to muster up the courage to go to a cafe solo.

It would truely be a shame to go to NO and not go out and see the city. I hope you muster up the courage to go out alone. Personally, you couldn't keep me in a hotel in NO. I don't even know if I could manage to stay for the actual conference activities - LOL.

As for hookers who hang around looking for conference customers, they tend to hang out in the hotel bars, not in cafes, restaurants, and clubs. Besides, even the high class hookers don't run around in business suits.

While we are on the subject of wardrobe, I would bring some casual clothes so that after the conference you can ditch the suits when you go out in the evennings. Unless you are going to a fancy restaurant, you will be overdressed in a suit.

I visited NO alone for a professional conference a few years ago. I stayed in one of the big hotels a few blocks from the French Quarter (I think the Marriott). Big hotels that are farther away often have free shuttles to and from the French Quarter.

I felt 100% safe walking around the French Quarter and immediate vicinity during the day. I especially liked walking around early in the morning--there couldn't be a safer time. I also took the streetcar one morning for a great breakfast at the Camillia Grille. After dark, I was just careful to stick to busy streets. You can always take a taxi if you feel uncomfortable--ask the restaurant maitre d to call you one.

All the restaurants in the French Quarter are very used to convention/conference people, including women traveling/eating alone. I make a point of NEVER eating in the hotel restaurant--I want to experience local foods well done. Bring a book or newspaper if you think you'll feel uncomfortable just sitting alone. But don't deny yourself the fun of eating in NO's many terrific restaurants!

Thanks for all the great advice. I WILL go out on my own .... keep a sharp eye ... and hopefully have a good time!

One additional comment -- Bourbon Street is the sleaziest part of the French Quarter, where you'll want to do most of your carousing. I'm not sure about this but I would imagine that if there are hookers abounding, they would abound on Bourbon Street. You might want to limit your trips to Bourbon Street to daytime.

I've done a lot of solo traveling and what's been said here is excellent advice. I used to carry spray, but now that it's illegal, I carry a police whistle. I never once had to use either. As a solo diner, I simply reminded myself that I was an object of little interest to people with companions of their own. I spent my time looking at people, etc. The diners have no way of knowing that you're a tourist. I'm sure the ladies of NO eat alone quite often before classes, at lunch, after church. That said, taking a book or newspaper makes sense.

Grayline has an evening dinner tour called Crescent City Nights - it leaves the Jax Brewery at 6 pm and includes - dinner at Tujague's, a cocktail and music at a French Quarter jazz club, and you end the evening with beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, with either a cab, or shuttle ride back to your hotel.

Not to make this sound like a commercial endorsement for Grayline, I would hardily recommend this tour as you will be with a tour guide and others like yourself, who might not feel comfortable on their own, at the same time will give you a combination of getting a little NO history with the chance to see other sights in the French Quarter.

Tandori girl has the wrong idea...

Hookers do not "abound" on Bourbon Street..at least to my vision. Actually Cops abound on Bourbon Street. Now get off Bourbon onto side streets to the North and that may be different.

Perhaps this is a stupid guy question but why are you worried about hookers or being mistaken for one? Don't lean up against the building outside of a strip club with skimpy clothing and heavy make-up and you should be fine. I suspect most high class ladies of the evening do not hang around on the streets.

You will see all sorts people and dress in this town...enjoy it! Oh and if you look and dress like Britney Spears, perhaps you should get a male colleague to hang with you. ;-)