New Orleans itinerary
 

Hey guys

This is a list of some of the things I definitely want to do in N.O. - I'm almost sure I won't be able to do many of them because of the FQ Fest, but in any case:

- Royal Street shopping **Easy enough to do - the day I arrive, I'm spending in the FQ, where I'm staying at the Soniat House

- cemetary tour

- Garden District/Magazine street shopping

- Mardi Gras World (Canal Street Ferry/CBD)

- National D-Day Museum (Warehouse) ***A must for me - I'm a huge history buff. I love the Civil War (my favorite period in time), but I'm not sure if I should make time for the Confederate Museum

- New Orleans Museum of Art (Mid-City) **Would love to go, but I can probably squeeze this out, since NYC has the Metropolitan

- Audubon Zoo/Park (Uptown)

- Presbytere (FQ)

-New Orleans School of Cooking (FQ) **definite -

-Crescent City Farmer's Market (Saturday) - love markets like this

**Preservation Hall
**Snug Harbor
**Maple

Rock and Bowl?

I believe I'm being overly ambitious, but I have plenty of time to narrow my list down.....re: restaurants, I know I won't ever have enough time to do that. I'm trying to combine some of the "nicer", though not necessarily fancier places, with plenty of "divey", neighborhood kind of places (like Ugly's, Mandina's, etc......)

Any thoughts? tips?

thanks!
Betsy

If you're in town for the French Quarter Festival, that means you can buy little samples of New Orleans food at the various vendor tents set up in the Square and throughout the quarter by restaurants . And you'll be able to hear great music just by walking the streets where musicians are playing exclusively for the FQ Festival. So be sure to take advantage of everything the Festival has to offer. And have fun!

How many days are you going to be there? The Civil War museum is right next to the D-Day museum and should be able to do both in 4 - 5 hours. I would do this instead of shopping in the Garden District/Magazine street. I would also try to fit in a visit to one of the plantations up the river. While strolling through the French Market, I would recommend a stop at the Mint. I liked it better than the Presbytere. Take a break to have a biegnet at Cafe du Monde. Good place to people watch. I would recommend dinner at Irene's Cuisine. Eat there when it opens and then head over to Preservation Hall and get in line.

Tandoori Girl, the FQ Fest is going to be a ball - can my stomach handle all that eating?I don't know, but at least with the music, it will go down well!

Dutch, I'll be in town for 5 full days. I did mean to put the Old Mint on my list - that I definitely want to do. The Presbytere will be easy for me since it's in the FQ, and I can do that most anytime.

I heard the D-Day museum itself is worth of at least 4-5 hours, so it's questionable as to whether I can fit in the Confederate Museum, despite it being across from the D-Day. I'm not sure I can handle a completely full day of museum hopping...

I'd love to do a plantation, but I don't really see that happening on this trip, not with the FQ Fest happening, too. I hope to re-visit New Orleans (I'm sure I'm going to fall in love with the city) some day, and definitely do some of the things I missed then.

I'm a bit torn on Irene's. Locals love it, which is great, but does it have a distinctive touch that distinguishes it from other Italian restaurants? I can get great Italian in NY, so unless I go on my first night in town, I'm not sure I'd make a point of going.

So much to think about....whew!

thanks again!

We really enjoyed the D Day museum and Preservation Hall. We also liked the swamp tour we took as we had never been to one before. Your other choices sound good, too. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll have a great time. Enjoy!