Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Louisiana Lost Land Tours
( 504-400-5920;
http://lostlandstours.org
)
Wonderful
tours that include kayak paddles into the wetlands and a motorboat tour of
Barataria Bay. Excursions focus on land loss and wildlife threats, and are led by
folks who genuinely love this land. Check out their blog on environemtnal issues in
South Louisiana,
http://lostlandstours.org/category/blog
, maintained by Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist Bob Marshall.
Annie Miller's Son's Swamp & Marsh Tours
( 985-868-4758;
www.annie-miller.com
;
3718 Southdown Mandalay Rd, Houma; adult/child $15/10; )
The son of legendary
swamp guide Annie Miller has taken up his mom's tracks. The tours run about 50
miles outside New Orleans; call to arrange transportation.
Cajun Encounters
( 504-834-1770;
www.cajunencounters.com
;
without/with pick-up
from $25/50, night tours $40/70)
Popular, well-run and offering a wide variety of tour
options, including night tours.
City Park & Mid-City
City Park
PARK
(
www.neworleanscitypark.com
; City Park Ave)
The Canal streetcar (
Click here
)
makes the run
from the CBD to City Park. Three miles long, 1 mile wide, stroked by weeping willows
and Spanish moss and dotted with museums, gardens, waterways, bridges, birds and the
occasional alligator, City Park is the nation's fifth-largest urban park (bigger than Central
Park in NYC) and New Orleans' prettiest green lung.
New Orleans Museum of Art
MUSEUM
(
www.noma.org
; 1 Collins Diboll Circle; adult/child $10/6; 10am-6pm Tue-Thu, to 9pm Fri,
11am-5pm Sat & Sun)
Inside City Park, this elegant museum was opened in 1911 and is
well worth a visit both for its special exhibitions and top-floor galleries of African, Nat-
ive American, Oceanic and Asian art (don't miss the outstanding Qing-dynasty snuff-
bottle collection). Its
sculpture garden
( 10am-4:30pm Sat-Thu, to 8:45pm Fri)
contains a cutting-edge collection in lush, meticulously planned grounds.
Fair Grounds
PARK
(1751 Gentilly Blvd, btwn Gentilly Blvd & Fortin St; late April-early May)
Besides hosting the
regular horse-racing season, the fair grounds are also home to the huge springtime New
Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
