I simply CAN NOT wait!!!!

Ever since reading my frist Anne Rice novel ';The Lives of the Mayfair Witches';. I have dreamt of visiting your glorious City.

She seems to have a way of making everything seem as though you are actually living it, smelling it, breathing it. (Most autors do.) But, there is something special about the way Anne Rice describes sights and smells that seems to make everything beautiful or charming or quaint or however you%26#39;d like to phrase it.

As for the ';CRIME'; come on people! Crime is everywhere! Do you not step foot outside of your house? (I don%26#39;t care where you live!) New Orleans is no different. I hail from Chicago Illinois, and though we are not on the top of the list of crime activity, I must say that I have never been mugged or robbed or shot at or anything else for that matter. It%26#39;s just a matter of knowing how to conduct yourself and what to watch for. If you%26#39;re told to stay in the French Quarter then stay in the French Quarter! It%26#39;s that simple! So someone may try to con you out of a bit of money such as the fellow who bought the pink hat for $10 on the pretense of helping one charity or another. Whats $10 dollars when you walk away feeling and knowing that you have at least tried to help someone? Whether it goes towards your intended purpose or not you have at least tried to do a good deed. And that you should feel good about! Besides you got a hat out of it so whats to complain about? Not that YOU complained. But, many others would have.

Ahhhh enough said on that point. On to what I plan to do.

I pretty much have my itinerary mapped out. I know it%26#39;s going to be VERY HOT!!! I will bring lots of drinking water with me! Don%26#39;t worry I don%26#39;t want to miss one second of my time spent in New Orleans due to heat exaustion lol.

I have scheduled my husabnd and myself for 5 tours, a trip to Ripley%26#39;s Believe it or Not!, and a day at the Audubon Aquarium and Zoo.

My itinerary is as follows.

1. Vampire Tour (Conducted through Haunted History Tours)

2. Honey Island Swamp Tour (Thank you for recommending saved me a total of $34!! over using Gray Line Tours) =)

3. Ripley%26#39;s Believe it or Not!

4. New Orleans Ghost Tour (Conducted through Haunted History Tours)

5. Aquarium and Zoo using the shuttle from aquarium to the zoo and back.

6. Cemetary and Gris Gris Tour (Conducted through Gray Line)

I want one of those Gris Gris bags!!! Just gotta have it!

7. Garden District Ghost Tour (Conducted through Haunted History Tours)

I%26#39;ll have to save any Plantation tours as well as Mardi Gras World for the next time round. Though I certainly want to view all of them.

Hubby is already about to have a heartattack with all the money I plan to spend. hehehe

I plan to eat at the following resturants.

1. Zydeco (Formally Dixie Roadhouse) Gotta have some BBQ!!!

2. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (hubby love his seafood! Me not so much ewwwwww but, I can deal with it for him.... He is bringing me to New Orleans after all!) lol

3. Pat O%26#39;Briens Courtyard Resturant (Want one of them there Hurricanes)

4. Cafe%26#39; Du Monde (Gotta try a beignet! They look so yummy!!!)

I also want to visit

1. Southern Candy Makers

2. The French Market

3. River Walk Market Place (If not the same as the French Market.....Is it?)

4. And of course a few bar hops on Bourban Street.

I guess that%26#39;s about it. If anyone has any other suggestions I%26#39;m open to hear them. Wether they are about a tour not being worth it, or maybe someplace else to eat. Whatever your thoughts, they are welcome! (I scratched the steamboat tour after reading the comments here about it.)

I am bringing my car along lol I don%26#39;t wanna fly!!! I am staying at the Quarter House Resort on Chartres St. So everything seems to be within walking distance so my car can just stay parked. Quarter House Provides parking at some garage for $18 day. Not bad eh??? OHHH I do want to visit the Garden District on my own durring the day just to see things I may not be able to see at night. (Anne Rice%26#39;s house)

Oh geez I almost forgot! And I really need to ask this question.

We want to go fishing! (on our own) is it possible to fish off shore? If so where? We would be fishing for Catfish, Large Mouth Bass, any and all pan fish.. ect...

Thanks So Much!!!

Shannon

P.S. I have a question about Katrina. I know this is gonna sound really dumb on my part considering I%26#39;ve wanted to visit New Orleans for quite a long time now. You%26#39;d think I know the geography.

How is it that New Orleans was so hard hit? I have always assumed that New Orleans was directly on the Gulf. And since the time is comming so close to my arrival I have been google earthing everything lol. I see that it is not. There is quite a bit of land between the Gulf and the City. Well at least the French Quarter half. Where was the devistation mostly? Was it not the Gulf that flodded the City

or was it the Mississippi?

Am I just underestimating the power of a hurricane.

Thanks Again,

Shannon

I simply CAN NOT wait!!!!

Wow, thats a big itinerary you have. You will have fun. Just don%26#39;t get stressed trying to do too much. How long will you be there?

As far as the flooding, I am not an expert, but my understanding is this. Go back to Google Earth. See that big body of water directly North of the city? That is Lake Pontchartrain. It is connected to the Gulf. Basically, the storm surge swept through the lake and into the canals that connect the lake to the Missippi River. The canals should have been able to handle it, but probably were not built or kept up as well as they should have been.

I simply CAN NOT wait!!!!

Yes it is alot to do. But, I have it set at one thing per day, other than the stores and stuff like that. Most of the tours are only about 2 hours so that leaves alot of the day with nothing to do. I think lol

I will be there for 1 week check in on a friday and check out on a friday! You think it%26#39;s too much?

To answer one of your questions, River Walk is a mall, it is not the same as the French Market. They are on the same street but five or six blocks apart. I%26#39;ve been to New Orleans 30+ times and never been to Ripley%26#39;s...if I were you I%26#39;d sure skip it in favor of Mardi Gras World or a plantation tour, both of which would be much more %26#39;New Orleans oriented%26#39; than a Ripley%26#39;s tour. Other restaurants suggestions would be Napoleon House for muffalettas (inexpensive and great atmosphere) and Clover Grill on Bourbon Street for breakfast or lunch/dinner.

Since you like the Anne Rice novels you might want to check out a bar on Decatur Street called the Whirling Dervish....it supposedly has a vampire history (according to our guide on our vampire tour). The night our tour stopped there, it was full of customers in gothic attire; it was a very interesting place. That was at Halloween though, so I don%26#39;t know how it is on a regular night.

Enjoy your visit to this beautiful city!

The thing behind Ripley%26#39;s is that it was a thing My dad and I used to watch every week! never missed it and now that he%26#39;s not with us anymore i would like to go just kinda as a i didnt forget daddy type thing.

that bar sounds great!!!! the vampire tour is scheduled for our first night there so I hope they will go there again as they did with you.

If not I%26#39;ll be sure to ask about it! thanks for the info!!

Shannon

Shannon,

The thing to remember about Katrina is that the winds knocked down trees, damaged roofs, blew out windows, and did some structural damage. But the hurricane hit the city only glancingly, and when it had passed, everyone thought (briefly) that New Orleans had dodged a bullet.

And then the levees failed. What devastated New Orleans wasn%26#39;t the hurricane. It was the flood caused by the failure of the levees built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Here%26#39;s a fantastic interactive map from the Times-Picayune that will help you visualize how the city flooded. At the bottom of the map you can choose from various animations. Keep an eye on the clock in the lower left corner of the map, because it%26#39;s shocking to realize how fast it all happened:

www.nola.com/katrina/graphics/depths.swf .

The city%26#39;s oldest neighborhoods hug the river, and were built on the highest, least swampy strip of land. That so-called ';sliver by the river'; sustained only minimal or light flooding and fared far better than the rest of the city. The ';sliver'; includes the Garden District and the French Quarter, which are as beautiful as ever.

Since Bubba Gump is a national chain, I%26#39;m wondering if you might not prefer one of New Orleans%26#39; great indigenous restaurants? For strictly seafood, you might take your hubby to the Acme Oyster Bar, or Deanie%26#39;s. But there so many great restaurants that would make you both happy! Give us an idea of your budget, and I%26#39;m sure people can offer you great advice. Are you planning to try a po%26#39;-boy? A muffaletta? Will you stop at beautiful Napoleon House for a sandwich and a Pimm%26#39;s cup?

You might also want to check out the food boards at Chowhound:

http://www.chowhound.com/boards/9

and Neworleans.com:

neworleans.com/forum/…38.0.html

I love your enthusiasm, and I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll have time for everything on your list. But stay flexible, and be willing to go with the flow. New Orleans is a city that rewards spontaneity!

Thank you for visiting, and have a wonderful week!

Ripley%26#39;s closed permanently last week! Sorry.

aww don%26#39;t worry about ripley%26#39;s closing, there are ripley%26#39;s scattered about the US I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll get to one another time. I%26#39;ve been to 6 different ones, and they%26#39;re mostly the same, but compared to the cooler things you can do in NO, I%26#39;d rather just go to a Ripley%26#39;s in Niagara Falls or St Augustine

Thank you Slate for the info and link on Katrina. It was very informative and helpful in clearing up any misunderstandings on my part.

What is a Mufulatta? ( did I spell that right? I forgot to look before I hit reply)

and Pimm%26#39;s cup?

Yes I guess Ripley%26#39;s will have to wait for another time and place.

I have spoken to my hubby and we have decided to replace Ripley%26#39;s with Mardi Gras World. In a way I%26#39;m kinda glad cuz I can sometimes get down when brooding over my dear old dad! At least I know My spirits will stay HIGH by going to Mardi Gras World instead.

I havent yet had the chance to check out some of the other resturants mentioned. But, I will. thank you for the recomendations.

Does anyone Know anything about fishing in the area? or maybe off in one suburb or another? We usually go to northern Wisconsin for fishing vacations and this year I finally got my hubby to do something else. I told him ';I%26#39;m sure there%26#39;s fishing somewhere. It%26#39;s the south isnt it';

Thanks again to everyone,

Shannon

The muffaletta is a Sicilian-Italian-New Orleans sandwich, which originated in 1906 at Central Grocery in the Quarter. Nuthin%26#39; delicate about it, and one sandwich easily feeds two! A couple of links:

www.gumbopages.com/food/samwiches/muff.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffuletta

A Pimm%26#39;s cup is a refreshing, lightly-alcoholic drink served at Napoleon House, on the corner of Chartres and St. Louis Streets. Whether taking refuge from the heat or a sudden tropical downpour, Napoleon House is the perfect old New Orleans bar in which to wile away a lazy hour. The Impastato family has owned and operated the bar since 1914. The building itself is 200 years old.

Many stores, bars, and restaurants have kept shorter hours since Katrina, so check for updates:

http://www.napoleonhouse.com/

Napoleon House is least likely to be crowded mid-to-late afternoon, between 3:00-6:00.

Anne Rice doesn%26#39;t live Uptown anymore. A friend of a friend actually lives in her old house on First Street now. They%26#39;ve re-painted it and it%26#39;s not nearly as lovely as it was when it was lavender. But....I loved the Mayfair witches too and that series was so intertwined with the First St. house that you should still take a peek. You%26#39;ll recognize all the features...