The resilience of New Orleans allowed it to start rebuilding after Katrina with a blast of Dixie jazz. While there's still work to do, there's plenty of that old-style N'awlins naughtiness that encourages you to dine in excess, stay up all the sultry night, and steal a kiss in Jackson Square. Not to leave families out of the equation, however, New Orleans vacation packages can be equally filled with riverboat rides along the Mississippi, soul-stirring concerts, and all the brass-band parades and freshly-shucked oysters a kid could ever hope for.
While many New Orleans vacations take place around Mardi Gras in the architecturally fascinating French Quarter, at any time of year you'll find a city draped in beads, grasping at its southern bourbon, and feasting upon jambalya and muffuletta. Behind the merry-making mask, though, is a city of considerable artistic and intellectual heft. A robust literary legacy includes the ranks of Tennessee Williams, John Kennedy Toole, and Walker Percy.
No doubt, it's a city that inspires, and many who come fall in love with its bewitching bayou blend. If you love it, too, and want to give something back, you'll find service projects ranging from house-building to environmental clean-up.
Events in New Orleans
Aquarium of the Americas
Daily
Bursa
Journey into the waters of North and South America without all the time and effort usually involved at the Aquarium of the Americas...
Sep 2010 (annual)
The Sperrins
Audubon Zoo features gorillas, orangutans, a komodo dragon and the Louisiana swamp exhibit but the rarest animals in the zoo are two...
Daily
Aunt Sally's Original Creole Pralines
Aunt Sally's Original Creole Pralines is the most famous of New Orleans' many candy stores. Their pralines are available...