My New Orleans Guide

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Few cities can boast a thriving float-making industry. New Orleans can, and no float maker thrives more than Blaine Kern, who makes more than three-quarters of the floats used by the various krewes every Carnival season. Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World offers tours of its collection of float sculptures and its studios, where you can see floats being made year-round. Yes, they were back at work on the 2006 Mardi Gras, despite losing many already-completed floats, shortly after Katrina. (Nothing can stop the party!) Visitors see sculptors at work, doing everything from making small "sketches" of the figures to creating and painting the enormous sculptures that adorn Mardi Gras floats each year. You can even try on some heavily bejeweled and dazzling costumes (definitely bring your camera!). Although they could do more with this tour, the entire package does add up to a most enjoyable experience, and it is rather nifty to see the floats up close. All tours include King Cake and coffee.

Our Local Expert Says:

Magazine Street is where the Uptown locals go to shop and hang out. There are so many fun things to see and do on Magazine Street!

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Magazine Street is a six mile stretch of shops and eateries, beginning at the edge of the French Quarter and ending at Audubon Park. The fun, trendy street is loaded with specialty stores, galleries, restaurants, and bars. Between Canal Boulevard and Jackson Avenue visitors will find many antique stores and art galleries, including the Glassworks and Printmaking Studio. Closer to Jackson Avenue are funky stores, along with great, cheap restaurants such as Juan's Flying Burrito for Mexican fare and J'anita's for breakfast and BBQ. Between Washington and Louisiana are no less than twelve restaurants, three bars and two coffee shops, as well as tons of clothing boutiques, including retro and "recycled" fashions at Funky Monkey and Buffalo Exchange. Past Louisiana, the shopping continues down Magazine Street - antiques, art, books, apparel, and plenty of restaurants and bars along the way for when you need a break. Have a roast beef po-boy at Ignatius, near Napoleon Avenue, or sip a blueberry mojito on the back patio at St. Joe's, near Jefferson Avenue.

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Redesigned in the early 1990s to much critical applause, the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) is a main anchor of the city's young arts district (once the city's old Warehouse District, it's now home to a handful of leading local galleries). Over the past 2 decades, the center has consistently exhibited influential and groundbreaking work by regional, national, and international artists in various mediums. The CAC staggers its shows, so there should always be something worth seeing hanging on the walls; it also presents theater, performance art, and music concerts. Individual exhibitions hang for 6 to 8 weeks, and performances are weekly. The basement here flooded, a bunch of windows broke, and the roof peeled back, with all the water going into the basement, destroying the electrical system and elevator. But the only exhibit was on the second floor, which had no damage, which was one bit of good luck. That they reopened as soon as January 2006 is remarkable.

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This boat tour is a fun and informative way to see a scenic swamp and wildlife refuge. You might see a whole zoo-full of creatures including alligators, bald eagles, waterfowl, owls, beavers, raccoons and even black bears. Tours generally last about two hours.

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Dedicated to the late piano master Professor Longhair and featured in the movie The Big Easy, Tip's was long the New Orleans club. But due to circumstances both external (increased competition from House of Blues and others as well as the club's capacity being cut in half by city authorities) and internal (some gripes about pre-Katrina booking quality) its star has faded some. It remains a reliable place for top local bands, though, and if you can catch Troy Andrews or especially Dr. John on one of his excursions back to his city, it's a must.

The place is nothing fancy -- just four walls, a wraparound balcony, and a stage, all of it overseen by a giant drawing of 'Fess his own self. Oh, and a couple of bars, of course, including one that serves the people milling outside the club, which as at other top locales is as much a part of the atmosphere as what's inside. Bookings range from top indigenous acts (a brass-bands blowout and a jazz piano night are the perennial highlights of Jazz Fest week) to touring alt-rock and roots acts, both U.S.-based and international. It's uptown and a bit out-of-the-way, but it's definitely worth the cab ride on the right night. A stop can make for a...

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This is what a New Orleans club is all about, and its reputation was only furthered when it became the very first live music venue to reopen, just weeks after Katrina, with an emotional, generator-powered performance by Walter "Wolfman" Washington. It's medium-size but feels smaller when a crowd is packed in, and by 11pm on most nights, it is, with personal space at times becoming something you can only wistfully remember. But that's no problem. The stage is against the window facing the street, so more often than not, the crowd spills onto the sidewalk and into the street to dance and drink (and escape the heat and sweat, which are prodigious despite a high ceiling). You can hear the music just as well, watch the musicians' rear ends, and then dance some more. With a party atmosphere like this, outside is almost more fun than in. But inside is mighty fine. A good bar and a rather pretty patio out back (the other place to escape the crush) make the Maple Leaf worth hanging out at even if you don't care about the music on a particular night. But if the ReBirth Brass Band is playing, do not miss it; go and dance until you drop.

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Right now, this is our favorite live-music venue in New Orleans, but that's because of our particular New Orleans aesthetic bent: We are partial to cramped rooms where the band plays without much (if any) amplification, and what they play is usually fresh takes on classic and big-band jazz. To be honest, the interior has been a bit neglected and is a little on the shabby side. Don't come here for faboo design, but rather for some of the most reliable live music on Frenchmen. You'll have to hang around a bit to grab those few seats by the window, and in the meantime endure some space-crowding from the enthusiastic jitter-buggers, but once you've settled down, you may not want to leave for a long while. Traditional and gypsy jazz is regularly featured in both early and late shows. On Fridays, you'll find us hanging around the doorway, listening to the New Orleans Jazz Vipers, not to mention other nights for Va-va-voom and more.

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Ranked as "Crescent City's Top Dance Club" by Gambit Weekly and "One of the Top 50 Dance Clubs in the Country" by Details magazine, this famous gay club offers great music and a incredibly fun time, whether you are straight or gay. The occasional go-go boy atop the bar is just one of the reasons this is such a hot spot. The club is filled with dark corners, and various dance lights go off constantly. There are frequent theme nights, so call ahead if you want to dress accordingly. This is the place to be and be seen.

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If your idea of jazz extends beyond Dixieland and if you prefer a concert-type setting over a messy nightclub, get your hands on Snug Harbor's monthly schedule. On the fringes of the French Quarter (1 block beyond Esplanade Ave.), Snug Harbor is the city's premier showcase for contemporary jazz, with a few blues and R&B combos thrown in for good measure. Here, jazz is presented as it should be: part entertainment, part art, and often, part intellectual stimulation. It's all due to the late owner (who died suddenly in mid-2007) who never missed a show at the place to which he dedicated his life. His family vows to continue the place as he did, as a legacy. This is the surest place to find Ellis Marsalis (patriarch of the Marsalis dynasty) and Charmaine Neville (of the Neville family).

Not only does Snug offer good music, but the two-level seating also provides generally good viewing of the bandstand. (Beware the pillars upstairs, especially if you don't get seats along the rail and have to sit a ways back, though.) You should buy tickets in advance, but be warned: Waiting for a show usually means hanging in the crowded, low-ceilinged bar, where personal space is at a minimum -- not recommended...