Wow, what an exciting city!

The city of New Orleans has always appealed to us and we couldn’t wait to soak up the great atmosphere.  Famous for its music, food, history, the Mississippi River and its great vibe.

Our original plan was to stay at Harrah’s Casino, because across America you can always seem to get luxury rooms at very low prices in casinos, but Harrah’s in New Orleans is an exception.  They are the only casino in the heart of town so they don’t have to offer any deals!  So we stayed at a nice hotel around the corner called The Ambassador.

We both enjoyed New Orleans so much that we just stayed on and on and on!  Our final ‘on’ was because the weather experts were tipping tornadoes in Oklahoma, which we would need to pass through to get to Colorado.  An easy decision!

 

 

There seemed to be a greater number of homeless around the place.  I guess the warm weather, atmosphere and music provide comfort for people with not much else in their lives.  Many pretend to be artists, musicians or fortune tellers.  Others cut straight to the chase with signs like “Money needed for weed!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our highlights in New Orleans included:

  • Meeting the Dalai Lama at the Convention Centre!  (It always pays to check the local newspapers for what’s on in town!)
  • The Garden District, with its nice feel, trendy shops and big old stately homes
  • The food!  Cajun flavours, seafood, beignets, variety and value for money
  • Bourbon Street, sleazy but worth a visit
  • The River Walk, new shops, eateries and attractively presented (but lacking customers)
  • A Mississippi River cruise, including some more Civil War historical sites

 

 

 

 

 

  • Mardi Gras Museum

  • The Mardi Gras Museum, full of great floats from the annual parade
  • The French Quarter, including the markets
  • Frenchmen Street after dark, for fabulous music
  • Artists and buskers and souvenir sales all over the place
  • The World War II Museum, lots of great displays

New Orleans is a fabulous city and should be near the top of any visitor’s list.  We just loved it.  And again we found that staying near ‘the guts’ adds a lot to any visit.