New Orleans/Baton Rouge

And while you're at the museum, go across the street to the new theater and watch the 4D film on WWII. It's pretty awesome. I saw it a few weeks ago when I was down there for Jazz Fest.

 

Baton Rouge is a drinking town with a football problem.

But seriously, you can find really good seafood restaurants here all over town, but it's perhaps not the kind of seafood you're accustomed to eating. Rich sauces, lots of fried stuff, heavy, heavy, heavy. But oh so delicious.

The USS Kidd Veterans Memorial gets its share of visitors. Mike the Tiger's habitat on campus at LSU is worth seeing, and it's right across the street from Tiger Stadium, so I doubt you'll miss it. The Old State Capitol is close to the Kidd. The current one is not that far away either and perhaps worth seeing. Check out the bullet holes in the wall where Huey P. Long was assassinated. Zoo's not bad. Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center. Old Governor's Mansion. Pentagon Barracks Museum. Magnolia Mound Plantation.

Perkins Rowe is an interesting mixed-use campus (restaurants, shops, apartments, offices, cinema) that will briefly make you forget you're in Baton Rouge (it's not like anything else here). Denham Springs, nearby, is chock full of antique shops. Also in that area: a big-ass Bass Pro Shops location.

But yeah, it's probably going to be hot and humid. PM if you have specific interests you'd like to ask about. I don't know if I'll be here (probably will be covering something two states away), but give me a shout. If I can help, I'll be glad to. Hope you enjoy your trip. Do your best to pack as much New Orleans in as you can. It's much more interesting than Baton Rouge, in my humble opinion.

 

If you go to Cafe Maspero, make sure you bring $40 or $50 in cash. They don't take credit cards.

And if you want a hell of a burger, I can't recommend highly enough the Chartres House Cafe. It's on the corner of Royal (runs parallel to Bourbon St.) and Chartres. Nice little bar, you can eat in the courtyard or in front of the doors and watch the people stroll by, and the prices are incredibly reasonable. My wife and I had dinner for two, with a bloody mary (which she swears by) for about $40, including a nice tip. The burger I ate was one of the best I've ever had.

http://www.chartreshousecafe.com/

 

Good tip about the cash-only policy at Maspero. They do have an ATM over near the rest rooms, though.

And if the line outside is too long to get inside the restaurant, you can always go a few blocks down to Pierre Maspero's and get essentially the same food with less of a tourist vibe. It's less well known but no less worth checking out than the more popular one mentioned on this thread.

http://www.pierremasperosrestaurant.com/

 

If you want a burger in NOLA, I'd recommend Port of Call (http://www.portofcallneworleans.com/). It's a bit of a hike from the Quarter, but the burgers are totally worth it. If you take one of Steak's many good recommendations, make sure you at least stick your head in St. Louis Cathedral. It's really beautiful in there. I have dined with Johnny Dangerously at Cafe Maspero's (the wife and I usually get two big honkin' deli sandwiches and split them). Other good food options are Mother's (not quite in the Quarter, but close) and Mr. B's Bistro (great Sunday jazz brunch).

If you need an interesting place for a cocktail, try the Carousel Bar in the Monteleone Hotel. You also can't go wrong with Pat O's, just remember the rule: Two Hurricanes is not enough, three is too many.

There are several great used book stores in the Quarter worth checking out, too, just make sure you plan your trek so you aren't lugging around great volumes of, er, volumes.

 

If you want to really splurge for dinner I highly recommend Gallatoire's on Bourbon Street. It's one of the oldest restaurants in New Orleans and has been in that location for over a century (which explains why a 5-star restaurant sits a door or two down from the Hustler Club).

Very pricey but well worth it. Great food, great service, great people watching.

Be advised that gentlemen must wear a coat and tie and you will need a reservation.

It sits on Bourbon just past Royal as you walk away from Canal.

 

Oddly enough, Cafe de Monde is the one place my wife mentioned before I started this thread. Needless to say, an SportsJournalists.com endorsement has her even more excited.

 

Possibly the best restaurant in the world, in my mind.

They take reservations for upstairs, only. You want to sit downstairs (which, trust me, is where you want to sit), you stand in line.

 

All good.

. . . except that if you waste valuable time in a Margaritaville when you have onlya few very valuable hours in NO, you should be shot.

 

This. Hands down one of the top 3 burgers I've ever had. Maybe No. 1.

And there's a place inside the Sheraton called Dragos (I believe). Damn good grilled oysters.

 

I'd agree with that Ben. I only mentioned it on the off-hand chance Wallace might be a Parrothead.

 

If you like oysters, in NO you've got to get to Acme Oyster House (but not in your Sunday finest). It's a good city for strolling and it just seems like there's a great place on every corner.