I need some suggestions for three days in New Orleans in January. It will actually be about 2 days. We will arrive around 3pm on a Thursday and leave around 8am on the following Sunday.

1st Day - Check into B/B - LaFitte Guest House
What to do next? Ideas for casual fun dinner?

2nd Day - Friday - Will be doing the NO Cooking School at 2pm. What would be fun to do today?

3rd Day - Saturday - All day is open - Romantic Dinner tonight. Suggestions? Reservations needed?

4th Day - Go home.

This will be our 21st wedding anniversary and our first trip to NO. What are some *must do* things?

Thanks in advance!

I would also suggest some historic activities. The National Park Service offers free walking tours at 9:30am, also consider a cemetery tour. http://www.gnofn.org/~fcabildo/Welcome.htm

Don't miss Preservation Hall for true authentic jazz.

Eat at Coop's on Decatur.

Go to the Egyptian exhibit at the NO Museum of Art. I haven't seen this yet but they did a great job with the Monet exhibit a couple of years ago.

(of course) drink lots at Lafitte Blacksmith Shop on Bourbon Street. You can stagger across the street to your hotel.

For your romantic dinner, Bayona on Dauphine. Definitely make reservations well in advance.

Go to the Aquarium. See if the IMAX has a show of interest to you. The Aquarium would be good for the morning before your cooking school as they are within walking distance of each other. Eat gumbo at the Gumbo Shoppe. Saturday, take a cruise on the Natchez paddleboat.

For a casual, fun dinner with local flare, try the Napolean House on Chartres and St. Louis. Great old historical building and good local dishes. Generally speaking, finding good food isn't a problem in New Orleans.

In terms of fun stuff to do, definately spend a bit of time one night at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. It's located on Bourbon Street (at St. Philip, I believe), a few from the end of the more raucous part of Bourbon. It's one of the countries oldest bars and a great piano lounge.

Thanks for the replies! I am sure we will go to the Blacksmith shop as it is across the street from our BB.

Any more suggestions?

At the top of my list of unique New Orleans things is the ferry across the Mississippi to Blaine Kerns Mardi Gras World. You take silly pictures in Mardi Gras masks, see an interesting film about the floats and tour the warehouse where they keep the giant heads of Elvis and Michael Jackson (sans handcuffs) It was a little eerie but great fun. I even liked the gift shop. Another memorable thing we did was to take high tea at the Windsor Court Hotel. What a great place to people watch. The Hotel was still decorated for Christmas and it is a beautiful place to experience a formal afternoon tea.

On line you can access coupons on the Good times guide site. They have 2 for one on the boat rides, free drinks with entrees etc.

Don't overbook yourselves. I could literally spend all day roaming the French Quarter, watching street performers and artists, people watching, admiring the architecture, and browsing in some of the shops.

I posted a reply yesterday but it never showed up. I had lsited about 15 places of interest too. Darn Internet! *{J}*

Fodors deletes advertising threads. It could be that constant mentions of the same company are considered advertising. Take the hint.

A casual fun dinner can be had in any one of a hundred or more places in New Orleans. It just depends on your own interests. Most places (with some very notable exceptions) operate on a casual basis anyway.

For a first afternoon and night, you might consider a ride to the new D-Day Museum, really interesting and stirring. You can catch the streetcar at the intersection of St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street, and you can get off where the line turns at the end, and you'll be a block from the museum. When you are finished, ride the streetcar back to Canal and then walk to your hotel.

If you like antiques, the shops on Royal Street are handy to explore and are full of wonderful items. If you like art galleries, there are several good ones on Royal. A little farther away, but near the streetcar line, are more antique shops on Magazine Street.

The Garden District is full of lovely old homes and is fun just to drive through. My other favorites, which I think have already been mentioned, are the aquarium, the shops around the old Jax brewery, the River Walk shops, all of the streets around the St. Louis Cathedral, and the N.O. Museum of Art in City Park.

As for restaurants, having grown up in that area and now a frequent visitor to it, I have some favorites that I would particularly recommend.
-For a casual fun dinner, try the Red Fish Grill right on Bourbon Street.
-Also a favorite for lunch or dinner is the Marigny Grille, just east of the main French Quarter area and an easy walk from your hotel.
-For a great lunch of honest-to-goodness Cajun or Creole dishes in a setting not known to many tourists, try Mandina's on Canal Street.
-You can have a relaxed, quiet dinner at Gabriella's on Esplanade Avenue. It's a place that strikes a happy medium between ritzy and dingy, and the food is inventive and great.
-For the absolutely best dinner you ever had, in a somewhat noisy and touristy atmosphere but with wonderful food, go to Jacques-Imo's. Better to take a taxi than to try to drive there.
-But if you want a memorable dinner in a romantic setting with impeccable service, you must go to Broussard's restaurant, right in the quarter on Conti Street. Without a doubt, it's the best place to enjoy a romantic evening, and the food is superb.

It's my favorite city. Have fun.

Thanks for the post, Wayne. You've mentioned several places that aren't seen very much on this board and that's a good thing. I'm with you on Mandinas and the Marigny. They are superb.