What to do?

My husband and I are staying in the area pre-cruise. We will get in Friday early evening and cruise Sunday. Neither of us have ever been to New Orleans before. What should we do?

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Please go through these posts in the New Orleans section and you will see lots to do. I highly recommend the WWII Museum. It has been expanded again. You can easily spend several hours there. There is a first class aquarium right next door to the port and right on the edge of the French Quarter. If you have little ones, there is a nice Children's Museum in the warehouse district and the Audubon Zoo in the Garden District. There are also tons of restaurants all over the city and you will find many music venues. But one of my favorite things is free - just walking around the French Quarter. There is the moonwalk right along the Mississippi River. Then you can cross over Decatur Street and go to Jackson Square and see the artists with their paintings. There are antique shops on Royal Street and everyone has heard of the bars on Bourbon Street.

Post an idea of what you like to do and I can give you ideas.

Please go through these posts in the New Orleans section and you will see lots to do. I highly recommend the WWII Museum. It has been expanded again. You can easily spend several hours there. There is a first class aquarium right next door to the port and right on the edge of the French Quarter. If you have little ones, there is a nice Children's Museum in the warehouse district and the Audubon Zoo in the Garden District. There are also tons of restaurants all over the city and you will find many music venues. But one of my favorite things is free - just walking around the French Quarter. There is the moonwalk right along the Mississippi River. Then you can cross over Decatur Street and go to Jackson Square and see the artists with their paintings. There are antique shops on Royal Street and everyone has heard of the bars on Bourbon Street.

 

Post an idea of what you like to do and I can give you ideas.

It's just going to be my husband (53) and I (50). We like to sight see, especially with some sort of guide to give us the history. I think we would enjoy a walking, bus, carriage, or boat tour. We certainly want to see the French Quarter, although I'm not sure what to expect at all there, the Garden district, swamp tours, food tours (although I'm not a seafood fan, so I may not enjoy that here). We enjoy a good wine, especially with dinner. I think we would enjoy a plantation too, but will probably save it for another time. I have no idea what we will do at night. I don't recall if I mentioned we are staying in a Metairie, so multiple trips in one day would be costly, so no going back to our room until we're in for the night, which makes me a bit concerned about doing a walking tour and getting all sweaty. No idea how we will spend our two evenings. Oh, and of course I enjoy shopping. [emoji6] I like to walk around and see local, hand crafted items and beautiful architecture.

What's the moonwalk?

I wouldn't be interested in anything to do with witchcraft, voodoo, ghost tours, or visiting cemeteries. We aren't big drinkers, so we aren't into the bar scene either.

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I see that you are cruising in July, so that will be hot and humid. I would recommend sightseeing in the morning and then maybe shopping or the WWII museum in the afternoon. If you are in the city, there is the Riverwalk Outlet mall adjacent to the port where you will get on your ship. There is also an upscale mall called Canal Place where they have Saks, Tiffany, Brook Brothers, etc. across the street from the Aquarium.

Most Metairie hotels should be able to book one of the sightseeing tours you mentioned. A plantation (bus) tour on Saturday would be doable since you are cruising on a Sunday. There should also be city tours available. I will try to check on this for you later this week.

The Moonwalk is our version of a boardwalk or riverwalk. It is named after former Mayor Moon Landrieu and goes along the Mississippi River. http://www.lotsafunmaps.com/New_Orleans/Moon_Walk.html

There is an excellent wine restaurant that has locations in both Metairie (on Veterans Blvd) and on St. Charles Ave. in the city - it is called Marcello's. http://marcelloscafe.com/ I am not a big wine drinker, but they have an excellent selection. Any of the larger restaurants in the city - like Antoine's, Emeril's and of the many Brennan family restaurants will also have excellent selections. For restaurant info try www.nomenu.com for a local food critic's recommendations.

I see that you are cruising in July, so that will be hot and humid. I would recommend sightseeing in the morning and then maybe shopping or the WWII museum in the afternoon. If you are in the city, there is the Riverwalk Outlet mall adjacent to the port where you will get on your ship. There is also an upscale mall called Canal Place where they have Saks, Tiffany, Brook Brothers, etc. across the street from the Aquarium.

 

Most Metairie hotels should be able to book one of the sightseeing tours you mentioned. A plantation (bus) tour on Saturday would be doable since you are cruising on a Sunday. There should also be city tours available. I will try to check on this for you later this week.

 

The Moonwalk is our version of a boardwalk or riverwalk. It is named after former Mayor Moon Landrieu and goes along the Mississippi River. http://www.lotsafunmaps.com/New_Orleans/Moon_Walk.html

 

There is an excellent wine restaurant that has locations in both Metairie (on Veterans Blvd) and on St. Charles Ave. in the city - it is called Marcello's. http://marcelloscafe.com/ I am not a big wine drinker, but they have an excellent selection. Any of the larger restaurants in the city - like Antoine's, Emeril's and of the many Brennan family restaurants will also have excellent selections. For restaurant info try www.nomenu.com for a local food critic's recommendations.

Thanks so much! Marcello's menu looks amazing!! I can see us dining here Friday night. [emoji16] So much to do, I'd love to go a day earlier or stay a night in the French Quarter post cruise.

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You can head down to the French Market, which is an open air market, where there are two main sections. One section has tons of vendors selling all sorts of local items and just a lot of other odds and ends. The second section is mostly a farmer's market with fresh food items. Good way to buy some reasonably priced souvenirs.

If you want to do a tour of St. Louis Cemetery #1, I would HIGHLY recommend Save Our Cemeteries. They do a really great tour for $20(?). I've done it twice now and both time our guides were wonderful! Since you will be there in July, book an early morning tour and take lots of water - the temp inside the cemetery goes up because of all the grave sites.

Another fun thing that I've done in the past is to take the Streetcar to Audobon Park and then walk through the park to Audobon Zoo. Then you can take the zoo shuttle back to the streetcar to get back or maybe just a cab or Uber. Years ago, the zoo used to have an option to take a paddlewheeler to the Aquarium of the Americas, but sadly, they've discontinued that option.

I also HIGHLY recommend the WWII Museum. It is wonderful and you might even encounter a few WWII veterans. My oldest son and I did this and we could have easily made it a full day. There was construction going on when we were there last June and I'm itching to go back and see what it's like now. It is air conditioned, so this might be a good option after a tour at the cemetery.

As for food, I always love getting a muffaletta at Central Grocery. I get it to go and then go next door to get wine/beer and head to the levee/Moonwalk to sit and eat and watch the ships go by and do some people watching. It's a totally New Orleans thing to do!

I love NOLA - to visit, just not to live there (BTDT). Enjoy your visit!

The WWII museum is a must but IIRC closes at 5pm - you would need several hours to do it justice.

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these are the classic NOLA restaurants... http://nola.eater.com/maps/new-orleans-25-classic-restaurants-must-try

We used the La Vie Orleans private tour and they were great. They have recommendations on their web site but also are open to suggestions. It all depends on how long and how much you want to see. Here is there web site: https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/privatetoursneworleans/items/?full-items=yes

For an absolutely FANTASTIC meal don't miss going to Galatoires!

http://www.galatoires.com