Every twelve to eighteen months, we go down to New Orleans (specifically the French Quarter) to indulge in a day of a unique lifestyle. You see the worst of what a city can be with its homeless and those who are totally lost, but you also find yourself shoulder to shoulder with Southerners who live by and represent the best of Southern manners and style. New Orleans is a place where you can spend hours at Crescent City Books or Beckham’s bookshop browsing row after row of used books which offer you the opportunity to find a treasure which will expand your mind and life. New Orleans is also a wonderful place from which to take day trips into the interior of Louisiana, where you will find small towns which seem to freeze in time, and which offer a lifestyle far removed from the craziness of their larger cousins. Quiet, neat streets, free of litter, where local civic pride is clearly evident and where the hellos and welcomes are truly meant.

With the above in mind, I thought I might share a few minor, hopefully helpful and/or interesting observations should you ever venture to New Orleans. Such points as:

• New Orleans is well known for numerous specialty drinks such as the Hurricane, the Pimm’s Cup, and others, but not being an umbrella sort of male and preferring a more solid type of drink, I enjoy a good Sazerac made with a fine rye base. It is great fund to sit at the revolving bar at the Monteleone hotel and slowly sip a very nicely made sazerac amongst a lively crowd, or to wander over to the Roosevelt hotel bar for a quieter environment in the middle of the day for a refreshing sazerac, but there is a price to be paid; namely a drink that is about fifty percent more expensive than can be found at other fun locations. Be sure to visit the Monteleone Hotel, but do not be afraid to ask for a sazerac at the Chart House or any other place of refreshment. In reality, it is hard to screw up making a sazerac and the cost savings will help to erase any guilt over the ending bill.
• Café du Monde has several locations where you can enjoy a cup or coffee or hot chocolate with a wonderful serving (usually three in number) of beignets, those tasty, powdered sugar-coated pasties which are a wonderful way to start the day. The original location near the old French market is interesting as if you visit the city over the course of a couple of years, you will get to know who the latest batch of immigrants is as the servers seem to come from that group. It is a place where the lean and hungry who are learning the American way can get their start and begin their climb up the opportunity ladder of our country. Other locations can be glitzier, but the original location is the most interesting. Unfortunately, they are not open 24/7 any longer, but they are open from 7:15 until 11 or 12 in the evening, depending on the day. The old hours might be at times, a bit too exciting.
• Cigars: the Big Muddy still retains some of its old-time courtesies including smoking cigars in public. There are a number of cigar shops in and around the French Quarter so you might want to get a current list of them from the internet and scope them out. Don Leoncio Cigar Bar on Canal Street has a nice inventory as well as a selection of liquid refreshments to match the cigar of your choice (please do not be so rude and low class as to smoke your own cigar in such an establishment). The prices are fully retail (which is a drawback in my mind, but they do have to keep the doors open). If you are new to cigars, you might enjoy the Cigar Factory on Decatur St where they make their own cigars. It is interesting to watch, and they are particularly good at working with the novice smoker in picking a blend for your taste. The cigars are also less expensive (about 50%) so that is a bit easier if you are just starting out.
• If you have an extra day, you might enjoy a ride up to the state capital, Baton Rouge, or some of the smaller towns like Lafayette. Both are between 2-3 hours north and you will pass by Lake Pontchartrain and see the natural beauty Louisiana. After the craziness of New Orleans, a visit to the rural towns in the state will be a nice contrast to the big city. The towns are neat, well-tended and reflect a much slower pace of life.

New Orleans has much to offer; a lively sports spirit, excellent museums, wonderful food and other, shall we say, types of entertainment. It is a city with it’s own flavor and pace and I am sure that after one visit, you shall be back again and again. Enjoy!