New Orleans: the good times roll every hour of every day in this one-of-a-kind Louisiana melting pot

Travel America, July-August, 2004 by Carolyn Thornton

Summers in New Orleans can be hot and steamy, but that never stops anyone from savoring a feast of sights, sounds, and activities in a city that never sleeps.

Early in the morning fruit and vegetable vendors unload local produce and products--onions, garlic, peppers, spices, and more--at the open-air Old French Market in the French Quarter. Neighborhood dogs jog with their owners along the Mississippi River levee while cargo ships slip past Moon Walk.

The scent of freshly brewed cafe au lait and deep-fried puffy beignet donuts advertises the landmark Cafe du Monde. Except for hurricanes, this place never closes. At any hour you'll find tourists sitting next to residents, some still dressed in evening finery. All are trying to judge the wind direction in order to avoid a breezy dusting of the powdered sugar topping.

A rumble of pushcarts announces the arrival of portrait artists and painters who set up outdoor studios along the iron fences surrounding Jackson Square. At the center of the square, a statue of Andrew Jackson astride a horse honors this hero of the Battle of New Orleans. "If one leg of the horse is raised (on a statue)," a Jackson re-enactor explained, "the rider died in battle. If two legs of the horse are raised, the rider triumphed, as in my case. If all four legs of the horse are off the ground, the horse died."

Behind Jackson Square, the bells of St. Louis Cathedral proclaim the start of early service. Next door in the Presbytere Museum, it's Mardi Gras year-round with the permanent exhibit "Mardi Gras: It's Carnival Time in Louisiana." On the cathedral's opposite flank, the Cabildo Museum chronicles the history of the state.

From Louis Armstrong Park on Rampart Street to Canal, the French Quarter is a microcosm of New Orleans. You'll find art galleries, dusty old book shops, pricey Royal Street antiques, and exotic Bourbon Street dancers. On Canal Street at its border, the old has become new with the "clang-clang-clanging" return of streetcars.

Absent since 1964, the cars once again travel from one end of the French Quarter, past the Aquarium of the Americas, to the Riverwalk shopping mall. A transfer at Harrah's Casino near the ferryboat crossing connects to the Canal Street line. While the main line literally dead ends at one of the city's cemeteries, a branch line trundles through typical neighborhoods of "shotgun homes" and mansions to reach City Park. The park is home of the New Orleans Museum of Art and the new Sydney and Walda Bestoff Sculpture Garden with some 50 sculptures set around lagoons amid centuries-old live oaks.

Canal's red ladies connect with the olive green St. Charles Avenue streetcars, the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the country. The St. Charles line runs past Garden District mansions, Gothic churches, universities, restaurants, shops, and Audubon Park and Zoo (famous for its albino alligators). By hopping on and off the streetcars, newcomers can experience much of the Big Easy for a bargain couple of bucks. Zoo-goers can board the John James Audubon riverboat for an alternate means of returning to the loot of Canal Street.

On the "American" side of Canal Street, the Warehouse District rivals the French Quarter for diversity and attractions. Museums, loft apartments, award-winning restaurants, and hotels have revitalized this former commercial sector that serviced steamboats and ships. During White Linen Nights on the first Saturday of summer months, art lovers dress in white for gallery hopping and impromptu dining.

The Warehouse District's newest draw is the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, an overwhelming collection of 2,700 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and photographs that showcase the visual arts of the South. Connected to the ultra-modern Ogden, the red-stone Confederate Museum houses the second largest collection of Civil War memorabilia in the U.S.

The Louisiana Children's Museum opened the new "Little Port of New Orleans" exhibit with a kid-size paddle-wheeler and navigational games. ArtWorks debuted in the spring as a home for artists' varied works and educational outlets. Also new, the McKenna Museum of Art focuses on African-American art.

The National D-Day Museum explains the hometown link of New Orleans-built Higgins landing boats and liberty ships along with a vast collection of videotaped oral histories. Nearby, the Contemporary Arts Center features a free cyber-cafe and a New Orleans rarity--free parking.

To escape the city heat, nature lovers can sign up for a swamp tour. Several companies offer hotel pickups. The closest is New Orleans Swamp Wildlife Tours in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Reserve. It's the country's largest wildlife refuge within city limits, only 15 minutes from downtown. In addition to native wildlife, water birds, and alligators, tours pass the ruins of historic forts and small fishing villages.

Historic plantations on both banks of the Mississippi River can be seen on packaged or self-guided day tours. Destrehan, one of the oldest homes in the Mississippi River Valley, is located on the east bank, minutes from Louis Armstrong International Airport. Built in a West Indian style, Destrehan played host to pirate Jean Lafitte, inspiring legends of buried treasure.