New Or-leens, Nawlins, NOLA, The Big Easy. All these are different names to describe a city unlike any other. If you've ever spent time in New Orleans, you know that its culture is matchless. The people are a unique hybrid of loving and wild. The food is so mouthwatering you will never want to eat anywhere else. The parties are always a celebration of life, and tasty libation. The music is heard on every block. New Orleans is a city of jazz, sin and love and it is guaranteed to snatch your heart.
It's your first time in New Orleans. You're staring at a list of 30 different flavors and have to make a quick decision... Jungle Juice? Strawberry? White Russian? The car behind you starts honking, so you blurt out Jungle Juice. Good choice. One of the most unique parts of New Orleans is the numerous drive-through daiquiris. Yes, a drive-through where you can drive away with delicious, frozen, alcoholic goodness.
You drive over to Audubon Park and walk (daiquiri in hand) through the beautiful, oak tree-covered park. You sit on a bench next to what a stranger said is the "Tree of Life," a magnificent oak. You hear the laughter of children as they make their way into Audubon Zoo. This park is a special piece of New Orleans because it is a place for New Orleanians to come together for festivals, picnics, horseback riding, swimming, jogging and enjoying nature.
Empty daiquiri and hungry stomach, time to find lunch. You overhear that Magazine Street is a really fun place to visit, and it doesn't disappoint. It is a varied, six mile long street that follows the curve of the Mississippi. It is filled with unique shops, classic restaurants, engaging bars and everything else you can imagine. Fried oysters with a side of red beans and rice is lunch, and you're convinced this is a food paradise. Full as can be, you stumble down the street and see a little hut selling sno-balls, a New Orleans born treat that you must not confuse with a snowcone. Your first bite of the chocolate sno-ball with condensed milk makes you never want to leave this place.
After parting with the extraordinary Magazine Street, you snake through the unkempt, yet enticing streets until you hear the bells of the streetcar and decide to hop on. As you ride down this street bursting with old Southern mansions and beads from past Mardi Gras celebrations seemingly growing from the trees, you notice a pattern of black and gold. You quickly learn that the Who Dat Nation is a strong force that bonds this city together.
You hop off the streetcar at Canal Street and head into the most famous and oldest neighborhood of the city, the French Quarter. You're transported to Europe with the architectural flavor of balconies home to plants and beads. You head toward Bourbon Street (because you cannot go to New Orleans without walking down that stinky street, where good decisions go to die, at least once). The sound of jazz and laughter fill your ears as you walk toward Jackson Square. You walk up by the river and have an incredible view of the stunning St. Louis Cathedral. Memories fill your mind as you remember the countless news reports of Hurricane Katrina filmed just in front of this New Orleans landmark. You're reminded of the enduring strength this city possesses.
You look to your right and see the legendary Cafe du Monde. Time for a cafe au lait and a stack of French style beignets.
Powder sugar all over your clothes, you watch the sun set over the Mississippi and you've never seen anything quite as beautiful. You walk back down to the booming nightlife erupting in the French Quarter. A wedding is marching down the street, bride and groom hand in hand as a jazz quartet blares "Second Line".
You head over to Pat O'Brien's and order a world famous hurricane. Here's a toast...to the magic and wonder that is New Orleans.
