Experience New Orleans the way the locals do
The city of New Orleans loves a party, and this time of year gives the city one more excuse to put on a show. The holiday season is when locals showcase their exuberance in a way that few outsiders ever see. If you’ve ever wanted to experience the city the way locals do, this is the time to visit.
Holiday Musts in the Crescent City
For a taste of true Creole-Cajun Christmas, do what the locals do.
Wander into Jackson Square, which is illuminated by hundreds of candles, where you can join carolers and take in free holiday concerts inside the stunning St. Louis Cathedral.
Travel by streetcar, the romantic yet humble mode of public transport. The charm factor is upped this time of year, since trolleys are festooned in garlands.
The 25-acre City Park transforms into a winter wonderland with rides, local vendors and twinkling lights hung from ancient oak trees.
Shop for gifts at the French Christmas Market, a European style market with stalls and food that has been a tradition since the late 1700s.
Watch a Christmas parade complete with floats and marching bands. There’s even an “only in New Orleans” event known as the “Running of the Santas,” where costumed racers are propelled forward, thanks to the pelting jams of a live DJ. Bonus: Spectators are treated to free beer.
Creole families traditionally celebrated Reveillon (the “awakening”), the day after Christmas Eve. Visitors can sample traditional favorites like snapping turtle soup and seafood gumbo on upscale menus at some of the city’s best restaurants.
Beyond The Holidays
Of course, New Orleans doesn’t wait for Christmas to celebrate. It holds its rightful place as America’s party capital. Not even the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina has unmoored the city’s passionate soul. The city’s charm is in its indelible spirit, infused by generations who’ve washed up on her shores, not solely to make a life but also to celebrate life. The influence of this melting pot is found everywhere, from art and architecture to music and style to street life and food.
As for that legendary New Orleans food, don’t miss some of the city’s best restaurants:
Galatoire’s offers unexpected white tablecloth elegance tucked amid the craziness of Bourbon Street. Outside, they may be holding jug-size hurricanes but inside, the civilized set is ordering a fine grand cru from the sophisticated wine list to pair with crab remoulade, just as it has done for generations.
When you want to mingle with locals, head to Ralph’s on the Square, where baudy murals and a view of City Park are the backdrop for knock-out dishes like barbecue shrimp, which is really buttery heads-on shrimp served with garlic bread for soaking.
Brunch at Brennan’s is an institution. Spread among multiple rooms in a French Quarter home designed by Edgar Degas’ great-grandfather, this is the place that invented bananas foster, and it continues to deliver the best tableside flambé in the world.
You can’t mention NOLA without mentioning Café Du Monde, the birthplace of beignets, those clouds of dough topped with powdered sugar. Outposts abound, but if you don’t mind waiting for a table, the original French Market location remains the most atmospheric.
When you’re in a city where bars serve cocktails in to-go cups, you know you won’t go thirsty, but there are two in-the-know bars that elevate the experience:
Loa, a lush little boite that kicks out the city’s most innovative cocktails with house-made syrups, including one infused with Spanish moss, and Cane and Table, a hip hideaway, where you can get a civilized French 75 in an elegant coupe sans pretension.
Culture
NOLA is not all hedonistic pleasures. The city also offers a variety of diverse cultural experiences. Among the best:
The sprawling National WW II Museum is United States’ only officially sanctioned museum focused on this pivotal time. Why here? Because Andrew Higgins, a New Orleans native, invented the iconic D-Day Higgins boats that were instrumental in the storming of Normandy.
The House of Voodoo, which is housed in the home of 19th century Voodoo queen Marie Leveau’s home, has been blending education and entertainment for about 50 years. You can learn about rituals, folklore, and can even take home a talisman for good energy in the new year.
The spacious New Orleans Museum of Art is one of the few places in the country where you can stand alone before an African masterpiece or a famous Picasso. An extraordinary collection spans the airy museum and its recently expanded five-acre sculpture garden.
The Mardi Gras Museum is a warehouse that doubles as the workshop of the craftspeople, who build the distinctive floats that have made Mardi Gras and other parades (the city hosts more than 50 each year) so famous. You can marvel at past floats and get a peek at those about to make their debut.
Overnighting
Staying in a B&B housed within a colorful shotgun cottage in the French Quarter or a genteel guesthouse in the Garden District will undoubtedly give you a sense of what its like to live in the city. However, I favor International House, an arts-fueled hotel with loft-like rooms near the French Quarter that’s situated on a quaint street that’s reminiscent of the calmer days of New York’s Soho. It has the added benefit of showcasing rotating galaxy of art stars, along with aBanksy rescued from a city wall that’s now positioned in the lobby.