New Orleans in late May?
 

Hi! My husband will be traveling to Baton Rouge in late May 2005 to bowl at the National Tournament. We're planning on staying a couple of extra days to explore New Orleans.

How's the weather that time of year? Is New Orleans busy during the Memorial Day weekend? Obviously we won't have a lot of time there, so we need to focus in on the must see things. I'd like to do a cemetary tour, eat a beignet or two ;-), see a plantation, and spend some time in the French Quarter. Does anyone have a favorite plantation and/or swamp tour?

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks! DU

It can be rather warm then but Baton Rouge is the same. Think tropical- warm & humid.
As a swamp tour I suggest Honey Island Swamp. It is not an airboat tour & my niece really enjoyed it when she visited here with her husband. There was just a terrible accident with the airboat tour recently & the speed & noise of an airboat has never appealed to me. It is just a personal preference & I am sure that all the boats are safe.

Since you will be in Baton Rouge why not do the plantation fix in St Francisville? The Myrtles is supposed to be haunted & very popular. We stayed the night at the Butler Greenwood House & it was nice. The town is small & you could easily do it in a day & then head to NO.

Good luck bowling!

May can be wet in Louisiana but it's a really nice time of year to visit, especially if you want to go on a swamp tour since the critters seem to be more active in the spring. Whichever group you go with I suggest only a half day trip, once you've seen a gator, nutria and heron you've seen them all and there's so much to see and do in the city. Or you could also check on some combos that include plantations and a swamp tour which will take a full day. Have fun in the city!!

My husband and I went to NO in May a couple years ago and the weather was great. We had some rain, but it didn't last all day and although it was humid, it wasn't particularly hot like in the summertime. The mornings were actually quite cool when we were there.

We took a plantation tour with Spinato tours, which was really great. I agree with benj that coming from Baton Rouge, you could see some plantations up there or on the way to NO.

We took a swamp tour with Capt Nick's Wildlife Safaris, which was great. He picked us up at the hotel in the French Quarter, stopped along the way for sandwiches, and spent a few hours floating around Bayou Barataria. It was very relaxing. We had a picnic on the boat, saw a couple alligators, some heron, etc.

For a cemetery tour, I recommend the Historic New Orleans Walking Tour Co - our guide was really great, very knowledgable, great storyteller.

Thanks for your help guys! We're really looking forward to our trip and hope to put your tips to use. Take care DU :-)

I hope you have a great time. I loved NO and can't wait to go back.

Dear monzmom
That tournament should be fun; good luck!
I live in Baton Rouge and can give you some restaurant ideas if you'd like.
I can also highly recommend the Alligator Bayou Swamp tour which is located just ouside (going toward NO) Baton Rouge.