NOLA Story

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THE LONDON FREE PRESS • SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2009
COVERSTORY
The Associated Press
Under the gaze of a Mardi Gras mask, patrons enjoy a meal
on the sidewalk at Patout’s Restaurant in the French Quarter
of New Orleans.
Photos by RALPH LEMBCKE Special to Sun Media
Billy Murphy is one of the city’s
many licensed tour guides.
The Hotel Monteleone is famous for many things: ghost sightings, as
a movie set and as a French Quarter watering hole.
The Hotel Monteleone offers a
great place to relax after a day
of sightseeing.
When the heat is on
Spring, summer and fall are
great times to visit NOLA to
maximize your tourist dollar.
While hurricane season officially
lasts from May to October, August
and September are the months
most likely to be affected by this
weather phenomenon.
To maximize your enjoyment of this
southern city during hotter months:
• Use lots of sun screen
• Have all travellers in your party
wear hats
• Be extra aware of hydration needs;
drink lots of water
• Plan afternoon excursions to
indoor, air conditioned venues, like
museums or the aquarium
•Plan walks around the French
Quarter, Garden District and
cemeteries for cooler morning or
evening hours
This Garden District home was the setting for some scenes in the
movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Beautiful homes are
centre of attention
BIG EASY
FROM PAGE F1
Tour companies, with
licensed guides, abound, offering ghost tours, cemetery
tours, plantation tours, river
tours, swamp tours, French
Quarter tours, steam boat
tours, vampire tours and
Garden District tours.
You can tour on foot, by
boat, carriage, limo or bus.
Our favourites were the walking tours, as they are the least
expensive, and you get an upclose perspective on all
aspects of this fascinating
place.
Some of the city’s most
beautiful homes and lush vegetation are the centre of attention during a Garden District
tour. A native New Orleansian,
Billy Murphy works for Historic New Orleans Tours. A
former actor and college professor, Murphy weaves
humour and history as he
leads groups around this
amazing set of homes. For
instance, as a cousin of Anne
Rice, he is happy to trade bits
of trivia regarding his favourite
author while showing off the
houses that she’s occupied in
the Garden District.
Murphy is definitely a name
dropper, showing us Trent
Reznor’s (of Nine Inch Nails)
house (now owned by John
Goodman), the house where
scenes from Benjamin Button
were filmed, Nicholas Cage’s
home, the famous Commander’s Palace restaurant, where
J. Edgar Hoover was known to
enjoy drinking gin fizzes, and
Archie Manning’s house, complete with the yard where Eli
and Peyton learned to play
football.
Walk through the French
Quarter with tour guide and
former chef George Thomas
and experience the city’s history through your tastebuds.
You’ll learn the difference
between Cajun and Creole
food and get to taste offerings
from several restaurants,
including muffalettas at the
Napolean House — more on
this later.
Part of the mystique of
NOLA is its cemeteries. Historic Tours provides a quality
experience here, too. Greg
Osborne shows off sections of
the French Quarter and its
architecture, including slave
quarters, St. Louis Cemetery
Number One (just off Rampart
Street), the burial site of
Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau
and the Voodoo Temple, complete with an explanation of
this important part of the city’s
culture by Priestess Miriam.
If touring sounds like
hungry work, try one of the
French Quarter’s most popular
places for casual dining, Acme
Oyster House. The near-constant lineup at the door moves
quickly but, more importantly,
tells you what a great place for
local cuisine this place is.
Grilled oysters (rich bites of
local flavour), Cajun crawfish,
and etouffee are a few of the
array of fresh seafood choices
here.
Across the way is Felix’s and
the raw oysters can’t be beat,
especially if you’re too hungry
to wait in line at Acme.
The Napoleon House is
home to a delectable, large
creation called the muffaletta,
New Orleans’ second most
famous sandwich (after
shrimp and oyster po’ boys,
which are seafood subs gone
wild). This place was built as a
Tipping
In New Orleans, many people make
their living depending on the kindness of strangers, but visitors to the
city may be unfamiliar with local tipping customs.
The Associated Press
A driver waits for a fare on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
home for that notorious
French ruler while he was in
exile, but later became an Italian grocery store and is now a
sidewalk eatery with just one
of the city’s amazing patios,
complete with palm trees and
pond.
Away from the Quarter, the
River Shack Tavern lives up to
acclaim earned from its debut
on Guy Fiere’s Food Network
show called Diners, Drive-ins
and Dives. The po’ boys, alligator sausage and fried green
tomatoes are excellent, and go
down well with the local beer –
Abita. Enjoy them all while
perched atop one of this
restaurant’s unique bar stools,
with legs crafted to resemble
human legs in clothed in fun
ways.
In Jackson Square, Cafe Du
Monde is internationally
famous for local favourites
chicory coffee and beignets.
Breakfast for two runs you
around five bucks and can be
topped off with a short climb
up the stairs of the city’s old
retaining wall for a panoramic
view of the Mississippi River
and New Orleans Harbour —
hosting huge container ships
and riverboat paddlers.
Staying in the French Quarter, at somewhere like the
Hotel Monteleone — famous
for its lush roof-top pool,
carousel bar, ghost sightings
and its appearance in a movie
with Ashley Judd called Double
Jeopardy — is a lot of fun but
also demands the traveller be
tolerant of late night noise and
walking wet streets early each
morning. Sometime after the
quarter quiets down in the
small hours of the night and
businesses start taking deliveries at 6 or 6:30 a.m., all the
streets are washed down to
cleanse them of the previous
night’s revelry. So when out on
a morning walk, beware the
soggy sidewalks, but a walk
around the Quarter is a thing
of beauty and will ensure this
city is enmeshed in your heart.
Bellmen — generally $1 a bag
Waiters — 15% - 20% of bill
Oyster shuckers — Just as you
would drop a few bucks in the sushi
chef's direction, don't forget to tip
your oyster shuckers if you find
yourself bellied up to an oyster bar.
Bartenders — generally $1 per drink
Musicians — If the club does not
have a cover charge, look for a tip jar
near the stage. Send the band home
with a couple of dollars each.
Street musicians — If you stick
around for a song, or take a picture
of the band, drop a couple of bucks
in their tip bucket.
Street performers — Mimes,
magicians, dancers, live statues — if
you stay for the show and especially
if you take a picture. It's customary
to throw them a couple of dollars.
Tour Guides — If you are on a large
group tour (20 or more people) $3
from each person is a good tip. If it is
a personal tour, say you and the
family, $15 - $20 is good.
Taxi — generally 15% of fare.
(Information courtesy of New
Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp.)
If you go:
www.neworleansonline.com
www.tourneworleans.com
www.noculinarytours.com
www.hotelmonteleone.com