Round Trip: New Orleans

Travedu Staff

Our staff has been to many places throughout the country, and we figured we’d share our personal highlights of this beautiful nation with you.  In our inaugural Round Trip, we discuss New Orleans, Louisiana.  One of the most culture-rich cities in the United States, the Big Easy has a lot to offer. 

Benji – First, listen to this and then put on some Dr. John.  Now, you’re ready.  Mardi Gras is eight months away, and you should already be planning on attending the country’s best party of the year.  Forget New Year’s Eve in New York or football Saturday mornings on a college campus, the festivities in New Orleans leading up to Ash Wednesday are the most fun you’ll have.  I stayed with a friend a few years ago to partake, and it was the best five days of the year by far.

 The key to Mardi Gras is planning, which may sound like the antithesis of the weekend, but it’s necessary.  If you want to fit in as much as possible, then you will want to arrive on the Thursday before Fat Tuesday, when the parades begin and the city goes into full party mode.  You’ll leave on Wednesday and spend the next three days recovering.  You’re taking a little more than a week off when it’s all said and done, but it will be worth it.  And that’s all the planning you need to do.   

Don’t forget, you are allowed to drink on the streets of New Orleans, as long as you’re carrying your drink in a to go cup.  No bottles!  Everyone is just trying to have a good time, and people will be incredibly welcoming, so join in and take advantage of people’s hospitality.  And finally, don’t be that person who picks up beads from the ground.  It is just embarrassing and you will be mocked. 

Dan - New Orleans is a culinary powerhouse famous for creole cuisine, French pastries, and Po’ Boy sandwiches.  I spent a week there sampling all sorts of food, and here are a few of my favorites.

 The Joint – Credit goes to Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives for turning me on to this hole-in-the-wall barbecue joint, which has been famous to the people of New Orleans well before it played a part on the show. Sporting an exterior reminiscent of a lemonade stand, the ribs, brisket, and pulled pork are far from stand fare. Throw in the generous sides — I got mac & cheese — and you’ll understand why many call this the best barbecue in New Orleans. It’s a 40-minute walk from the French Quarter, where you’ll probably be staying. That may sound long, but I found it to be a welcome window into the real city.

Willie Mae's Scotch House & Dooky Chase – Born and raised in northern New Jersey, I don’t have much experience in the way of fried chicken, but luckily, the chefs at these establishments aren’t from Jersey. To state that they offer the best fried chicken I’ve had would be an understatement. I knew upon arrival in New Orleans that I needed to try “real” fried chicken, and it shattered my expectations. Throw in Willie Mae’s cornbread and Dooky Chase’s mac & cheese ... unbelievable. I couldn’t tell you which one I enjoyed more, but Willie Mae’s gets more attention on “America’s Best” lists while both Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have visited Dooky Chase. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.

Jordan - Buzz Nola Bike Tours is a great way to see the city while riding in style.  This shop offers cruiser bikes built for comfort, and outfitted with padded seats and fat tires, making it easy to navigate all over the flat sprawling city.  Three different bike tour routes offer in-depth overviews of New Orleans’ neighborhoods and are offered a few times daily. You can also opt for the rental if you are interested in exploring on your own.

Natural and environmental disasters have left the Gulf Coast battered, but Louisiana’s swamps and fisheries are still thriving.  Lost Land Tours provides kayaking day trips through the tupelo swamp only 40 minutes outside of the city.  You will get a chance to spot alligators, endangered bird species, and explore the ecosystem.  Lost Lands is a nonprofit ecotourism company dedicated to educating visitors about the threats to coastal wildlife and conserving this rich and vibrant environment. 

New Orleans offers action-packed inshore fishing for those willing to make the 18-mile trip east of the French Quarter and toss a line in the gulf.  Jakamo South and Salty Dog Charters are two popular private charter companies that offer flats fishing.  Flats boats have shallow hulls making them capable of navigating even the skinniest waters along the grassy coast — where all of the big ones hang out.  You can expect to catch Redfish and Speckled Trout along with many other species.  Most charters include ice and fish cleaning so you can keep your catch and prepare a southern-style fish fry after your day on the water.

Meta - Jazz is to New Orleans as powdered sugar is to beignets: the sweet addition to an already exceptional entity. It is an integral part of New Orleans’ cultural identity, as evidenced by the bands that dot every street corner, the dozens of jazz clubs scattered across the city, and the world-renowned New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a celebration of jazz music in almost every conceivable iteration. 

Early NOLA jazz, known as Dixieland, came into existence in the early part of the 20th century. It was an innovative combination of brass band marches, ragtime, blues, Quadrilles, and improvisation, which resulted in an exciting sound. The Dixieland style is distinct, with one instrument playing some variation of a melody while other instruments improvise around that melody. 

As artists toured other cities, New Orleans jazz influence began to spread. Soon, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and other cities were experimenting with jazz, each of them adding its own distinct flair. What started as a small group of musicians playing in brothels and bars had become a celebrated nationwide phenomenon. As with many genres, jazz eventually fell out of the limelight, but it continued to impact the music others were making. The syncopation, improvisation, and collaborative interaction encouraged in jazz can be found in everything from swing music and rhythm and blues to rock and roll and hip-hop.

A hundred years later, trumpets are still blaring in New Orleans as jazz continues to be a source of entertainment, a marker of identity, and a display of pride in both culture and community.

Katie - This August marks the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina arriving on the Gulf Coast.  Its 175-mph winds collapsed New Orleans’ levee system, leading to mass destruction and a death toll of about 1,500 in the region.  The storm’s effects devastated the city’s tourism industry, which had thrived the year before.  The hotels that remained standing and had once housed college students on Spring Break and cultural tourists filled with relief workers and government officials.  Katrina displaced many of the New Orleans natives who ran the popularly visited bars and restaurants, leaving a ruined ghost town in its wake.

Ten years later, and New Orleans has shown why it is a city that cannot be beat.  2014 marked a record year for the city’s tourism, with 9.52 million visitors spending $6.81 billion, according to Travel Pulse.  In 2006, just 3.7 million people visited New Orleans, spending $2.8 billion. 

While some of the city’s success can be attributed to its hosting of the Super Bowl in 2013, there are a few other more primary factors that have allowed New Orleans to rebound so dramatically.  The first of which is the entrepreneurs who returned to the city to revive the historic businesses in the French Quarter.  Many owners did not completely abandon their devastated storefronts, like the Café Du Monde and Antoine’s.  New Orleans has also made an ideal location for conventions and other similar gatherings due to its space and affordability.  Finally, tourists in general are attracted to the resilience of the city, and come to see for themselves how New Orleans refused to let Katrina dictate its future.