New Orleans

New Orleans is Louisiana's largest city — population 380,000 city + 1.3M metro on Mississippi River's Gulf Coast curve. Founded 1718 by French Bienville + ceded to Spain 1763 + sold to US 1803 (Louisiana Purchase). The most uniquely American city — French + Spanish + African + Caribbean cultural fusion creates something that exists nowhere else on earth.

Birthplace of **jazz** (Buddy Bolden 1895 + Louis Armstrong + Jelly Roll Morton + Sidney Bechet — born here on Storyville's red light district), home of **Mardi Gras** (Carnival celebration peaking Fat Tuesday before Lent — 1.4M visitors + 70+ parades), and capital of **Cajun + Creole cuisine** (gumbo + jambalaya + étouffée + beignets + po-boys + king cake + crawfish boil + bananas Foster — invented at Brennan's 1951).

Famous for **French Quarter (Vieux Carré)** — 1718 original colonial grid + Spanish architecture preserved post-1788 fire + Bourbon Street nightlife + 24/7 open container drinking legal (one of only US cities). Oldest neighborhood in US still inhabited. **Bourbon Street** at night = chaos but iconic — Pat O'Brien's Hurricane (invented 1940s) + Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop (oldest continuously operating bar US 1722) + Cat's Meow karaoke. **Royal Street** is the quiet alternative — antiques + galleries.

**St Louis Cathedral** (1850 — oldest continuously active US Catholic cathedral + Jackson Square front) anchors the Quarter. **Jackson Square** has street performers + tarot readers + sketch artists. **Café du Monde** (1862 — 24/7 open + chicory coffee + 3 beignets covered in powdered sugar = $5-8 — DC institution). **Frenchmen Street** is locals' alternative to Bourbon — live jazz nightly + dba + Spotted Cat + Three Muses + free entry.

**Garden District** (Antebellum mansions 1832 + Magazine Street 6 miles boutiques + Lafayette Cemetery #1 1833 with above-ground tombs — Anne Rice 'Witching Hour' setting + Sandra Bullock + John Goodman + Trent Reznor own homes here). St Charles Streetcar (since 1835 — oldest continuously operating streetcar US) connects Garden District to French Quarter.

Iconic NOLA food: **Beignets + chicory coffee** (Café du Monde 1862 — 24/7 — beignets $5-8), **Po-boys** (sandwich on French bread + roast beef or fried shrimp $8-15 — Domilise's Po-Boy locals' favorite), **Jambalaya** (Cajun rice + sausage + chicken + shrimp $15-25), **Gumbo** (Cajun stew + roux + okra + seafood $15-25), **Étouffée** (Cajun stew + crawfish or shrimp on rice $20-30), **Crawfish boil** (Cajun seasoning crawfish + potatoes + corn $25-40 Mar-May season), **Muffuletta** (Sicilian-American sandwich + olive salad $15-25 — Central Grocery 1906), **Bananas Foster** (rum-flambéed bananas $15-25 invented at Brennan's 1951), **King cake** (Mardi Gras cake + plastic baby figurine inside $20-40 Jan-Feb only). Drink: **Sazerac** (NOLA's official cocktail — rye + absinthe + Peychaud's Bitters $12-20 — invented 1850), **Hurricane** (Pat O'Brien's invention 1940s rum cocktail $10-15), **Vieux Carré** (cocktail + Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar $15-25).

**Best NOLA restaurants**: **Antoine's** (1840 — oldest US family-run restaurant — Oysters Rockefeller invented here + French Creole $80-150), **Galatoire's** (1905 institution — Friday lunch is religious + shrimp rémoulade $40-80), **Commander's Palace** (Brennan family Garden District 1893 + 25¢ martinis lunch + jazz brunch $50-100), **Cochon** (Donald Link Cajun farmhouse $40-80), **Café du Monde** (1862 institution $5-8), **Domilise's Po-Boy** (1918 locals' favorite $8-15).

Bottom line: NOLA is canonical American jazz + French Quarter + Cajun cuisine + Mardi Gras + Garden District. 3-4 days: French Quarter + Café du Monde 1 day + Garden District + Frenchmen jazz 1 day + plantation + swamp 1 day + departure. Mardi Gras (Feb-Mar) = chaos + 3-4x prices.