New Orleans Street Musician
Credit: WLDavies
NEW ORLEANS: THERE’S
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE IN
THE CRESCENT CITY
BY JENNY PETERS
New Orleans celebrates 300 years of existence in 2018; it’s one of
America’s oldest cities, steeped in history and inhabitants that have
always had a legendary true zest for living. Everyone knows there’s
“music in the streets both night and day” (as Paul Simon so famously
sings in “Take Me to the Mardi Gras.”), but music is just one part of the
puzzle that makes NOLA such a special place to explore.
NOLA is for . . .
HISTORY LOVERS
THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM
The National World War II Museum is an incredible museum, filled
with everything you could possibly want to know about America’s
experience in the devastating war that engulfed the world in the 1930s
and 40s. With fascinating interactive exhibits, actual planes, tanks and
other war materials and much more on its six-acre campus, this is not
to be missed. Be sure to visit the Higgins Boats — small troop landing
boats invented here by Andrew Higgins that changed the course of the
war for the Allies in both the Pacific and European fronts.
ABOVEGROUND CEMETERY TOURS
New Orleans is an awfully wet place, sitting as it does on the banks of
the mighty Mississippi, which is why the city’s cemeteries all consist
of aboveground tombs dating back hundreds of years. Guided tours
abound, weaving in tales of ghosts and voodoo; pick one that includes
the famed St. Louis Cemetery #1 in the Tremé neighborhood (you must
have a guide to enter this resting place) and Lafayette Cemetery #1 in
the Garden District to visit some of the oldest graves in the city.
PLANTATION VISITS
Southern history is on display at numerous plantations near NOLA.
Take an afternoon to see Destrehan plantation dating back to 1790 and
located just west of the airport. Or go a bit further to see the Whitney
Plantation (circa 1752), whose story focuses on the experiences of
the slaves imprisoned here. Go east of NOLA along the river to see
the Chalmette Battlefield, where the 1815 Battle of New Orleans was
fought, and where the Malus Beauregard Plantation House still stands.
FAMILY ADVENTURERS
THE AUDUBON NATURE INSTITUTE
Families visiting NOLA will marvel at all the things to do within the
Audubon Nature Institute. It’s a nonprofit organization that manages
10 museums and parks dedicated to nature, which means fun kids’
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