galelstorm

Hi all,

OK, I've been reading about plantation tours, cemetary tours, swamp tours, even voodoo dabblings. Can anyone tell me what makes the cemetary tours so intriguing? And any more info on where and what to see as far as the voodoo thing out there (shops, etc.)?
Also I would love to experience the Acadian (Cajun) culture. Would we need to rent a car to travel far to do so?
Finally what about the Museum of Art?

benj

The NOMA is very nice & the setting in City Park is nice to just wander around. They have some interesting exhibits from time to time. Try checking their website for current info.

Cajun country is really centered around the Lafayette area. Abbeville & surrounding places are nice but Lafayette is bigger & less like a cajun town. You need to drive about 2-2 1/2 hours to get there. There are some tours, I believe. Vermillionville is a restored Cajun village that you might enjoy. Plenty of good food in the area.

Cemetary tours seem to fascinate people because of the above ground burial plots. Many of the tombs are quite ornate & unique. We are below sea level here so ya don't dig down far for a burial!

The voodoo thing is really a tourist come-on. After Anne Rice got everyone all excited with her vampire novels it started getting more notice.

There are several good shops in the Quarter depending on what you like. For perfumes be sure to check out Hove on Royal St. They have unique items that would make nice gifts. For interesting antique type jewelry try Joan Good's in the 800 block of Royal St. She is a real character & has been there about 30 years. A good place for buying local music is Louisiana Music Factory across from the House of Blues. They also usually have local musicians play there on the weekend. Free to listen.

If you want a fun & pretty good tarot reading then try Bottom Of the Cup Tea Room on Royal St. I think they are lots better than the ones around Jackson Square.

Post your experiences from your trip & let us know how it was.

J_Correa

We took a cemetery/voodoo tour with the New Orleans Historic Walking Tour Co, which was really interesting. The guide was great - told us lots about NO history and culture as well as some legends and tall tales. We walked through the FQ, toured a church brieflly, and then went into the cemetery. The cemetery was incredibly interesting. The voodoo portion was take it or leave it for me - the tour went to a voodoo temple and a priestess spoke for a little while. It was interesting, but nothing that I didn't already know.

We were thinking of taking another walking tour with the same company, but we just ran out of time.

We also took a 1/2 day plantation tour with Spinato tours, which was terrific. Laura plantation was our favorite, which unfortunately just suffered a large fire. Oak Alley was also interesting.

galelstorm

benj,

Thanks for all your input. It means something coming from a NO native. I have been doing alot of reading on this site and am addicted. Is the river boat ride something to cram into the 2-3 days we'll be there? Or should we just enjoy one day of touring, plantation, cemetary, Garden District and take the other to just hang out in the FQ. So many bars and restaurants...so little time!
I will certainly post my trip report when we return. Hope the weather in mid November is still good.

J Correa

Thanks for the tips on the tours. I have read a lot about the historical tours and they seem to be THE one. I read the thread regarding the fire at Laura Plantation, how sad. Hopefully they can restore what suffered.

ccolor

Concerning your question about the riverboat tour. It's always cool to me to ride on a steamboat, so we've done it a couple times. I'd say to just do the ride and not the dinner cruise, though. I've seen a lot of negative comments about the food and there's just plain something wrong with having bad food in N'Awlins!!!

sanjan

We went to NO last spring and did every tourist thing available. Worth the trip: cemetary tour, oak alley, jazz at the Preservation Hall, horse and buggy ride through the french quarter, breakfast at Brennan's, Harrah's, French market, Central Market maffallata's and every nite on Bourbon St.
I didn't care for the Voodoo tours, the steamboat ride was just O.K. (good on an afternoon when we were tired.) I loved taking the St.Charles St. street car and doing my own tour of the garden district, the park and university topped off at the end of the line at Camille's Great breakfasts or meal. We went to a lot of restaurants but I loved Grandma's, NOLA's and Commanders Palace. Have fun.

galelstorm

sanjan,

Thanks for first hand experience info. What is the Garden District like? Also what is the menu like at Grandma's?

galelstorm

ccolor,

I'm with you on the river boats. I learned how to water ski on the Ohio River way back when, and have fond memories of the boats and their wakes. I can already picture it, cocktail in hand, gazing out at the lovely scenery!

Dan

Where is Grandma's? I've never heard of it.

J_Correa

That Garden District is beautiful - quiet streets lined by magnificent oaks, blocks of incredible old homes.

One of the days we were in NO, we rode the St Charles streetcar through the GD out to Riverbend, had lunch at a little place out there. Then rode the streetcar back to the GD, got off and wandered all over the GD. It was a perfect day.

pepper131

I think the swamp tours are cool since there is no swamp where I am from. We like to do Capt. Arthur's air boat tours. You need a car to get to him though.

We tried to drive through Cajun Country once, but really didn't know where to go - so if you do it, do some research.

I've always wanted to do a cemetary tour of the really old one (I think it's St. Louis #1 or 2), it's in a really terrible neighborhood and would only do it with a tour. On our last drive into N.O. (we live in Dallas; my husband is from N.O.), we drove along the east side of the riverroad and found a very old cemetary with a lot of the tombs written in French. The west side of the river is more scenic.

The plantation homes are interesting since they show a way of life that does not exist anymore. There is one that has it's original slave's quarters (rare!) lined up through some live oak trees. It's called Evergreen and can only be done with a tour from New Orleans.

I've never taken a riverboat tour and wonder how scenic it might be. Parts of the river that I've seen are very industrial. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

Having been to a real Haitain Voodoo ceremony in Miami; the voodoo in New Orleans doesn't seem valid to me. But the real Voodoo is most likely practiced away from the tourists.

If you are N.O. on a Thursday evening, I suggest catching a cab into the 9th ward to catch Kermit Ruffins at Vaughn's. It's not a great neighborhood, but taking a cab in and out - you'll be fine. Make sure the cab driver knows where to go-many of them don't. Basically you go down Royal way past Esplanade. They will call for a cab for you from Vaughn's when you leave. Make sure you give your name to them. I've seen many arguements over who's cab is who's.

The weather will be tolerable in mid Nov. A little cooler than you might expect.

For drinks, if you want to get away from Bourbon St., the Columns on St. Charles. Napoleon House for their speciality-Pimm's Cup. And even though it's a chain, I love the House of Blues because of the amazing collection of Outsider Art. Which reminds me...Look for artist Eric Buchanan around Jackson Square - he has a decorated yellow bike.

pepper131

One more thing...if you are around on Friday for lunch in the Quarter - Peristyle has a wonderful fixed price 3 course lunch. Menu changes every week. It's on the corner of Dumaine and Rampart. Call ahead for reservations!!!

strass

We've visited friends in NO a few times and done both a Garden District/Lafayette Cemetery tour and a ghost tour. Both were terrific! The Garden District isn't to be missed. And we did love the ghost tour--I forget the name of the company; it's run by a real character named Chaz and was highly enjoyable. Lots of interesting sites, creepy stories, and even a stop for a drink!

ultraviolet

I've been to New Orleans several times and have been on several tours with SAVE OUR CEMETERIES which is a non-profit orgnanization which is involved with cemetery restoration. The guides are volunteers (don't worry--they're trained) but don't expect the theatrics of other tours. The money you pay for tours goes to SOC to help them with their restoration projects.

Check out their site for tours and info:
http://www.saveourcemeteries.org/

You might also be interested in the free tour of the French Quarter given by the National Park Service.

It runs daily, but there's a 25 person limit on a first-come-first-served basis.

Find info here:

http://www.nps.gov/jela/pphtml/facilities.html

I hope you enjoy your trip to NO. It's a wonderful city!

sanjan

Glad you asked, The garden district is on the main route for the Streetcar, (It's the one used in The Streetcar Named Desire) buy an all day pass, It's cheap and you can use it for the riverwalk too! The garden district has these beautiful victorian houses, with hanging gardens over the decorative metal railings. It takes a good long time to travel all of St Chas. St and there's plenty of time to take in all the beautiful sites. Make sure you get a window seat on this antique car and look for the park and Tulane and Loyola Universities. With the pass you can get on and off at will. There's a car every 15 minutes during the day and about every hour at nite. You can get the passes at the enterance of the Riverwalk.
Grandma's has the best cajun and soul food in the State. The red beans and rice, the fried chicken and po'
boys are beyond description. The place is not fancy and is in the business district not far from emirl's NOLA.
There's a take out window and always a big line. We ate so much all the time that when we went to Grandma's , we had just red beans and rice and split a oyster po'boy. Wish we had room for more. This is a must. That's from the locals' suggestions.

Dan

Do you mean Mother's, by chance?

sanjan

Dan,
You're right!I don't know why I called it Grandma's. I think it's near Magazine St? I even called it that in NO. Everyone knew what I was talking about. Thanks again

Dan

Mother's is pretty famous. I find it a tad overrated but then again for 3 years I worked nearby ate there often!

J_Correa

We enjoyed our lunch at Mothers - had some really good po boy sandwiches. It was a fun place, very busy, lots going on.

I do think that the way some people talk about it - like it's the end all be all of diners and po boys - that some people get their expectations up too high and are disappointed.

It's basically a famous greasy-spoon type of place with some really tasty sandwiches at a pretty decent price. I love those type of places.