3 Best Sights in New Orleans, Louisiana

Founded in 1854, this 1,300-acre expanse of moss-draped oaks and 11 miles of gentle lagoons is only 2 miles from the French Quarter, but feels like it could be a world apart. With the largest collection of live oaks in the world, including old grove trees that are more than 600 years old, City Park offers a certain natural majesty that's difficult to find in most other urban areas. The Art Deco benches, fountains, bridges, and ironwork are remnants of a 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA) refurbishment and add to the dreamy scenery that visitors enjoy boating and bicycling through. Within the park are the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Louisiana Children's Museum, the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, the New Orleans Botanical Garden, the kid-friendly Carousel Gardens Amusement Park, as well as a golf course, equestrian stable, sports facilities, and picnic areas. Check the park's website for seasonal activities and special events, such as music festivals, the annual Easter egg hunt, and the eye-popping wonderland that is Celebration in the Oaks between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. The Café du Monde coffee stand, behind the Sculpture Garden, serves hot beignets and café au lait 24/7. Most of the park's offerings are free, but several of the venues inside City Park charge separate admission fees.

Open seasonally on the weekends, the 18-ride Carousel Gardens Amusement Park ( 504/483–9402  $25 admission, unlimited rides) has a New Orleans treasure as its centerpiece: a 1906 carousel (one of only 100 antique wooden carousels left in the country) listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the cherished "flying horses," the park has rides like the Musik Express, Rockin' Tug, Coney Tower, Ferris Wheel, Bumper Cars, Monkey Jump, Red Baron miniplane, Scrambler, and Tilt-a-Whirl. The rides here are mostly geared to children, not hard-core thrill seekers, but adults and kids alike enjoy the miniature train that takes passengers on a gentle sightseeing tour through City Park. There are also two 18-hole miniature golf courses, one with a New Orleans theme and one with a Louisiana theme.

The New Orleans Botanical Garden ( 504/483–9402  $12), opened in 1936 as a Depression-era project of the WPA, is one of the few remaining examples of public garden design from the Art-Deco period. The garden's collections contain more than 2,000 varieties of plants from all over the world, complemented by sites such as the Conservatory, the Pavilion of the Two Sisters, and the Yakumo Nihon Teien Japanese Garden, as well as theme gardens containing aquatics, roses, native plants, ornamental trees, and shrubs and perennials. The garden showcases three notable talents: New Orleans architect Richard Koch, landscape architect William Wiedorn, and artist Enrique Alférez. Adding a touch of fun, the Historic Train Garden, open on weekends and included in Botanical Garden admission, offers visitors the chance to enjoy baguette-size cars rolling through a miniature version of New Orleans.

Featuring figures and settings from classic children's literature, the whimsical Storyland ( 504/483–9402  $6), adjacent to the amusement park, has been a favorite romping ground for generations of New Orleans kids. Youngsters can climb aboard Captain Hook's pirate ship, visit the old lady who lived in a shoe, and journey with Pinocchio into the mouth of a whale. In all, there are 18 larger-than-life storybook exhibits to explore.

With its huge, lighted gateway and its paths meandering through 32 acres of grassy knolls, lagoons, and historic landmarks, Louis Armstrong Park is a fitting tribute to the famed jazz musician's legacy. Elizabeth Catlett's famous statue of Louis Armstrong is joined by other artistic landmarks, such as the bust of Sidney Bechet, and the park now houses the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.

Inside the park and to the left is Congo Square, marked by an inlaid-stone space, where enslaved people in the 18th and early 19th centuries gathered on Sunday, the only time they were permitted to play their music openly. The weekly meetings held here have been immortalized in the travelogues of visitors, leaving invaluable insight into the earliest stages of free musical practices by Africans and African Americans. Neighborhood musicians still congregate here at times for percussion jams, and it is difficult not to think of the musical spirit of ancestors hovering over them. Marie Laveau, the greatly feared and respected voodoo queen of antebellum New Orleans, had her home a block away on St. Ann Street and is reported to have held rituals here regularly.

Behind Congo Square is a large gray building, the Morris F.X. Jeff Municipal Auditorium; to the right, behind the auditorium, is the beautifully renovated Mahalia Jackson Center for the Performing Arts, which is home to the New Orleans Opera and hosts an excellent year-round calendar of events—everything from readings to rock concerts. The St. Philip Street side of the park houses the Jazz National Historical Park, anchored by Perseverance Hall, the oldest Masonic temple in the state. However, be aware that the park is often nearly deserted, and bordered by some rough stretches of neighborhood; it's patrolled by a security detail, but be very careful when wandering and don't visit after dark. The park is open from 7 am to 7 pm year-round.

Easily the fastest growing brewery in the region, Urban South sells its Holy Roller IPA (a juicy New England–style) and the extremely popular Paradise Park lager (a light beer adored for its colorful can design) all over town. Stop by the large warehouse taproom for more playful and interesting specials, with everything from triple and grapefruit IPAs to Juvie Juice, a hard iced tea collaboration with Rapper Juvenile. Keep an eye out for crawfish pop-ups during spring.