New Orleans.. Ideas?
 

A couple of my friends and I are going up to New Orleans for a Spring Break trip, It will be only a couple of days due to Spring Breaks not matching up... We already have a hotel on St. Charles Ave and will have a car so anything is accessible.

I already have the WW2 museum, Aquarium and zoo, and Bourbon St. planned. We'll have two full days in the city to explore. We're from Florida and I don't think a Swamp tour will really thrill us all too much. Is there any other recommendations? We're not the typical college crowd (not to mention only one of us will be 21, but we fit the broke college kid bill perfectly!) so any good museums or any other sights will be greatly appreciated.

I have five things which will be a lot of fun for your crowd:

1) A jazz concert in Preservation Hall - it is a very peculiar and most authentic place.
www.preservationhall.com

2) The Voodoo Museum - you will have a lot of fun there. It is not exactly a museum, more an attic with an omnium-gatherum. Just don't take it serious!
www.voodoomuseum.com

3) For a casual lunch and dinner, ACME Oyster House is an excellent place. Eat smoked oysters, crayfish, gumbo and wash them down with a pitcher of local Abita beer!
www.acmeoyster.com

4) For a little more stylish, but still informal dinner in historical ambiance, Tujague's will be a good place for you. They serve a five-course dinner according to recipes dating back to 1856. Nice bar.
www.tujaguesrestaurant.com

5) For a day trip out of town, you may drive up the Mississippi to visit two or three plantations. My favourites (which are in easy reach from New Orleans) are these:
- One of the oldest plantations:
www.lauraplantation.com
- Perhaps the grandest and certainly the best-known plantation:
www.oakalleyplantation.com

Don't miss Cafe du Monde for beignets! Cheap and delicious. The Lucky Dog hot dog stands are also supposed to be very good, and Central Grocery serves up giant muffulettas.

Since you are on a budget, if Tujaque's is out of reach, they also have a bar where they serve some food - we go for the brisket sandwiches. Really good. I don't know if you have to be 21 to enter the bar, but because they serve food, I don't think so.

Other good budget food places in the FQ: Johnny's Po-Boys and Napoleon House. Cafe Maspero does good mufaletas. Uptown, I think the place is called Camilla Grill - also very good.

On Bourbon street at night there are bands playing in lots of the bars - I've never been carded for entering, just for buying drinks. So not being 21 probably wont be a problem if you want to just go in and listen to the music.

I think when I was your age, hitting Bourbon Street every night never seemed to get old. :)

Thanks for all the feedback!
Bourbon Street most definitely won't get old, but during the day it'd be nice to get some touristy sights in...

Might want to check out guidebooks by Fodor's or Frommer's for good ideas. Just took a trip to NOLA recently, and this thread includes my initial attempts to refine an itinerary there as well as give a trip report on attractions. There's also a list of restaurants that I wanted to go to (no report back yet on food, but short answer -- didn't at all like Mother's or Cafe Beignet, was lukewarm on Deanie's FQ and NOLA and Antoine's, liked everyplace else very much despite missteps here or there on some things):

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...y-184065-2.cfm

We've been there many times, and I agree with several things mentioned here. Preservation Hall, Johnny's Po'Boys, Cafe Du Monde and Tujaque's Brisket Sandwiches. If the weather is nice, just hanging out at Jackson Square and people-watching, listening to 'free concerts' is fun, too. Many photo ops, if you wander the streets. Just keep walking, and you will find something interesting around every corner. Take a trolley to the Garden District, and visit a cemetery, etc.
Have fun, and keep an open mind!! :)

A word of caution about visiting cemeteries and doing boatloads of aimless walking around New Orleans.

Some cemeteries are okay to visit on one's own, but would not recommend that people explore St. Louis #1 or Lafayette #1 without an organized tour, and to avoid St. Louis #2 altogether (tour companies don't normally offer the last of these anyway as an option). Cypress Grove, Greenwood, Metarie, and St. Louis #3 are better choices to explore on one's own, especially in a group, but keep aware of your surroundings even here.

There are several areas where you won't likely run into problems if you walk, but the city has patches (even a block or two) that are unsafe interwoven with patches that are perfectly fine -- unlike in many cities, there isn't really a well defined large section of town to avoid, and dicey spots exist in areas considered good for tourists to walk, including the Garden District, Faubourg Marigny, Central Business District, Warehouse District, even the French Quarter. Be aware of your surroundings if you walk a lot, and if your instincts tell you to turn back, heed them.

Absolutely what bachslunch said! We never did get into the cemetery in the Garden District b/c it was closed, so I did not know this. Always travel in groups!!!!

Thanks again for all the feedback! It's really helpful. Definitely using my instincts as we walk around... My friend and I are a little creeped out by cemeteries so I don't see that one happening... It should be a fun trip, I wish we had more than a couple of days for it.

Since you're staying on St. Charles Ave., you can take the streetcar to the quarter or Uptown. You should definitely take the streetcar all the way up and get off at Carrollton and eat at Camellia Grill. You'll go right by Tulane, too.

Most bars will let you in as long as you are 18. It's very loose here. Driver's license and/or college id's are needed. Some bars in the Quarter like Pat O'Brien's will not let you in unless you are 21. Buying drinks may be a little more difficult if you're not 21, but as long as one is 21, getting drinks is pretty easy. Note that I'm not advocating underage drinking, but if you want to have a drink it's not a big deal. I'm speaking as a parent of a 19 year old who tells me these things. Now what's important about this is that you can get into some of the great music clubs particularly on Frenchman St. even if you are not 21.

More parental advice--take the streetcar and taxis everywhere. Park your car at the hotel and don't use it again. You don't want to get lost and you don't want to drink and drive and you don't want to have your car towed for illegally parking. Parking is tough especially in the Quarter. The city is small so taxis don't cost much.

One more suggestion and then I'll leave you alone: there are walking tours of the French Quarter and I think they still do the Garden District that the National Park Services gives. I believe that they are free and will much more honest than the ones you pay for.

Have fun and be safe.