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New Orleans/Baton Rouge

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Wallace, May 17, 2010.

  1. Wallace

    Wallace Guest

    Did a search on New Orleans and found a few suggestions, but figured I'd start a new thread as they were quite old. Mrs. Wallace and I will be traveling to Baton Rouge for five days later this month, with a one-day excursion down to New Orleans. SportsJournalists.com came through huge on my last vacation (plenty of suggestions led to some great times in San Francisco), so I'm hoping we can get some great tips here as well on things to do in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

    We're going to a two day concert in Baton Rouge and will spend four days there, two of which we have completely open, so we're looking for any suggestions there. Our New Orleans trip will be one day, down in the morning and back at night.

    Any suggestions on restaurants to hit, landmarks to see, places to avoid would all be welcomed. Thanks everyone.

    Edited for douchebaggery in spelling
     
  2. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Re: New Orleans/Baton Rogue

    r-o-u-g-e

    red stick, not rogue stick
     
  3. Wallace

    Wallace Guest

    My brain to keyboard functions are suffering this morning.
     
  4. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    In New Orleans, you can't go wrong with a stroll through the quarter. Park at Jax Brewery and head away from the river. You're there. You can play food roulette (lots of restaurants have their menus on the front door, so you can browse until you find something you like) or you can go for the home run -- a place like Emeril's or Commander's Palace.
    Commander's Palace is pricey for dinner but lunch isn't too bad. Two people should be able to get out of there for $100, give or take. It's a lot of money but it's well worth it. It's as much an experience as it is a meal. Just give yourself a couple hours to eat.
     
  5. bumpy mcgee

    bumpy mcgee Well-Known Member

    Making a trip to NOrleans in July . Other than it being hotter than balls, don't really know what to expect or what to look for, so count me as one who will take interest in this thread.
     
  6. finishthehat

    finishthehat Active Member

    In Baton Rouge, if you're a big college football fan, it'd be worth it to take a walk around Tiger Stadium on campus. They have riverboat gambling in BR if that's your thing.

    New Orleans, if you don't feel like walking, take a streetcar ride out to a nice neighborhood.
     
  7. Wallace

    Wallace Guest

    The concert we are going to is actually in Tiger Stadium, so I'm really looking forward to getting the chance to check that place out and to score some LSU swag.

    Thanks for the suggestions so far.
     
  8. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    There's a pretty good restaurant/bar right off campus (as in right across a narrow street) called The Chimes. It's attached to the Varsity Theatre, which has lots of concerts and bands in its own right. The Chimes has decent food and a HUGE selection of beers from around the world. Definitely worth checking out. Not to mention, it's one of the few decent restaurants within walking distance of campus. Most everywhere else in that area is fast food.
     
  9. finishthehat

    finishthehat Active Member

    I don't know if they were taken out in the recent renovation, but there used to be (long unused) freshmen dorms built into Tiger Stadium.
     
  10. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Shit. Wish I would have known that when I went to Baton Rouge.
     
  11. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    As Batman said, parking at Jax Brewery will put you in a good place to make a nice walking tour of the French Quarter.

    To find Jax Brewery, get off the interstate and find Canal Street, then head toward the river. Pass North Peters and make a U-turn (you cannot turn left at many/most red lights in New Orleans), then turn onto North Peters, which will fork into Decatur. Jax Brewery will be a few blocks down Decatur. You can park there for about $3/hour or $10-12 for all day (finding free parking is nigh impossible to find in New Orleans, even at a hotel).

    Here's what I would suggest if you only have one day/afternoon:

    Once you park at Jax Brewery, cross Decatur (bearing to your right/northeast) and visit Jackson Square, which has a huge cathedral and numerous street artists and musicians.

    Continue to your right out of Jackson Square and across the street to Cafe du Monde for beignets (French powered donuts) and coffee.

    Continue up Decatur to Central Grocery (a deli, really), which invented the muffaletta (pronounced MOOF-a-lotta) sandwich --- capicola, salami, mortadella, emmentaler and provolone on round french bread, covered with an olive salad paste. Phenomenal. If that's not your idea of a good meal, there should be plenty along Decatur to suit your fancy (there is a Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant at Decatur and Ursulines, for one thing, plus Cafe Maspero --- at Decatur and Toulouse, one block back down from Jax Brewery --- makes a mean French onion soup).

    After lunch wherever you go, continue up Decatur to the French Market, a cool outdoor market with plenty of local flavor and unique souvenirs. If you pass through the French Market, you are out of the French Quarter, and there's not much I'd recommend unless you really know where you're going.

    So backtrack to Cafe du Monde and cut through Jackson Square and walk down Pirate's Alley. Lots of cool little shops in that vicinity, plus the William Faulkner House (where he wrote his first novel) is there.

    If you hang a right out of Pirates Alley onto Royal, you can then hang a left on St. Ann's to Bourbon Street. Just about everything you'd want to see on Bourbon Street will be on the 6-7 blocks between St. Ann's and Iberville. (Just an FYI, anything to the right/northeast on Bourbon past St. Ann's is geared toward the gay/lesbian community). You can take Iberville back down to Decatur and back to your car.

    Hope that helps. PM me if you have any other questions.
     
  12. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    One thing I forgot ... the World War II Museum (which is in New Orleans because they built the Higgins boat military landing crafts there) is excellent if you have the time. It's not in the French Quarter, but easy enough to get there. Just go on the other side of Canal and find Tchoupitoulas (Chop-it-TOO-liss) Street and follow that until you get to the WWII Museum.

    Again, good luck.
     
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