Tell me about New Orleans

[Daeva]

Anything about it will be useful really. =)

[wasup]

its in lousiana

[Universal Mind]

I live in central Mississippi, and the nearest Louisiana border is a 45 minute drive from my house. New Orleans is a three hour drive from my house, and I go there all the time. It's my favorite city in the United States. If I were a world traveler, I might say it is my favorite city in the world. There is something very trippy about it. When I am there, especially in the French Quarter, Uptown, and the Garden District, I get a vibe of a long history of great artistry, including the invention and evolution of Jazz, plus a long history relevant to early American history. The Louisiana purchase was one of the most profound events in American history because it greatly increased our size, and New Orleans is in the heart of that territory. New Orleans also makes me think of the European settlement history that preceded the Louisiana purchase, and I see the descendants of those settlers all over the place. The voodoo history, the vampire history, the 1800's traveler history, and lots of other bizarre histories are manifested throughout the area. Bars are all over the place, and each bar has its own unique style and atmosphere. Unlike many places, you can buy a to-go alcoholic drink at a bar and then go outside and walk around with it. Interesting people representing all walks of life are everywhere. The air is full of sounds of many sorts. Musicians, painters, dancers, and other artists of many sorts and styles are on the street corners doing their things. Crazy people very commonly stand on street corners and yell out their passionate philosophies of life. The city is surrounded by the Mississippi River, the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, the enormous Lake Ponchartrain, and a whole lot of swamp and bayou territory. New Orleans is the most intense and beautiful cultural center I know of, and it is in the midst of a really beautiful nature scene. If I were richer, I would have a weekend home there.

[dragonoverlord]

Anything about it will be useful really. =) Ghetto....http://trevortravels.com/34/visitor-beware-new-orleans

[LucidMike14]

Sorry I've never been there, but I would like to someday

[Jeff777]

Anything about it will be useful really. =) Mardi Gras capital of the world.

[Universal Mind]

Ghetto....http://trevortravels.com/34/visitor-beware-new-orleans I don't know about ten year old kids chasing random people with knives on main streets during the day, but I should have mentioned the dangers to look out for in New Orleans. My post from more than six months ago was all about the positive, and I guess I got so caught up in what I love about the city that I forgot to mention the negative. It is one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., but it is not so much because of the sections I mentioned. Louisiana has the highest murder rate per capita in the U.S., and that is mostly because of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Only Louisiana and Mississippi have muder statistics in the double digits per hundred thousand. It is possible to be in the French Quarter and then cross just one street and be in an incredibly dangerous neighborhood. Be careful and know where you are! I would not walk around alone at night in areas that are not very populated. You can get to some of the coolest bars by walking a looooong way down Bourbon Street, and I do not recommend that walk if you are not in a large group. New Orleans has more cops on death row than any other city in the U.S. There very often are assholes looking for fights in the French Quarter. You have a significant chance of being blind-sided by a bizzare assholish comment thrown at you by a complete stranger. My sister got her ass grabbed by some drunk idiot teenager a few years ago, and she told my cousin, who walked over to him and scared the Bejesus out of him. Bums and con artists infest the French Quarter, and con artists infest the French Quarter, Uptown, and the Garden District. When I was in a bar in the French Quarter on New Years Eve 1994, when it turned midnight, some psychopaths on the other side of the river shot their guns to celebrate. Their bullets landed in the French Quarter and killed a few people. Sometimes people get held up in the Quarter and of course all over the rest of the city. If a stranger acts friendly, you warm up to him, and he puts his arm on you while talking to you, he is probably taking your wallet out of your purse. Bums will screw with you for money, but they are pretty much always harmless. They usually try to pull trick bets on people. One of the common trick bets is, "I bet I can tell you where you got them shoes." If you bet them, they say, "On your feet." Another one is, "I bet I can tell you how many letters are in your last name." If you make the bet, they say, "12. Three words with four letters each. 'Your last name'." My brother was there a week ago last weekend. He hung out in Uptown. He is convinced somebody put something in his drink at a bar so he would pass out and they could take his wallet. Don't ever leave a drink unattended or even unwatched there. I also would not use a credit card at bars there, especially the strip clubs. They have and will charge you for stuff you never asked for. There are other things to watch out for. If you mix up this post and my last one in this thread, you have the full picture of the major tourist areas. N.O. also has the best zoo I have ever seen and a phenomenal aquarium building. It has lots of other great stuff I have not mentioned. I love the place majorly, but when you go there, you are jumping into the water with sharks. Have fun, and be careful.

[hankwheels]

It was flooded by Hurricane Katrina. The gameshow "Wheel of Fortune" actually filmed in New Orleans ONE WEEK before Katrina hit... I just thought I would share...

[Xox]

Has a French quarter.

[suttsman]

I'll be there in 2010!

[dragonoverlord]

Do people in the French quarter actually speak French?

[Spartiate]

Do people in the French quarter actually speak French? I think some speak Cajun, which sounds more like Swahili than French.

[Universal Mind]

Do people in the French quarter actually speak French? It is very American. It is more of a tourist area than a residential area. It is just called "the French Quarter" because of its origin. Girls Gone Wild and Cops have both done a lot of filming there because it is such a major get drunk off your ass center for tourists. The cajuns in the area are English speakers. They just have their own style of accent.

[Universal Mind]

I just found a really cool You Tube video with an aerial view of downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter. The French Quarter is the area immediately to our right of downtown and on the Mississippi River, and it extends all the way to right before the spot where the video stops. http://youtube.com/watch?v=HT5kFdu0McI This is what the French Quarter looks like up close... http://youtube.com/watch?v=mLDnr65Pf...eature=related There are other great areas of New Orleans, like the Garden District, Uptown and Mid-Town.

[The Enterer]

I haven't visited since Katrina hit, but I used to visit it all the time. Great people, great food, great music.

[Universal Mind]

I haven't visited since Katrina hit, but I used to visit it all the time. Great people, great food, great music. It's great now. The really good tourist spots have bounced back to where it is as though there was never a hurricane.

[The Enterer]

Yeah? Man, I could use a couple days in N'awlins. I think I'll run it by the Missus...

[Universal Mind]

Yeah? Man, I could use a couple days in N'awlins. I think I'll run it by the Missus... Do it. But make sure you read what I wrote about watching out for the crime element. It is like a beautiful ocean by the beach, but with bull sharks swimming around in the water.