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Archive for the ‘New Orleans Traditions’ Category

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New Years Resolutions – A To-Do List for Your Next New Orleans Trip

January 8th, 2013 by cindee

Two green streetcars heading downtown on St. Charles Ave. with church steeple in background.

Taking a ride on the streetcar

For their New Year’s resolutions, some people vow to eat less or exercise more. Others vow to perform more acts of kindness or to work even harder to get that big promotion. And some people’s New Year’s Resolution is simply to visit New Orleans in 2013.

Whether you’re traveling for the Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, or New Orleans’ fall food fests, your next visit to the city should include a few of New Orleans’ favorite eateries and attractions. We’ve compiled a list of some of the traditional and lesser known sights, tastes, and sounds that should be on your to-do list the next time you visit:

1.       Eat oysters. Various restaurants around the city shuck some of the biggest and best tasting oysters in the world—sure, we’ll a little biased—so you’ve got quite a few options on this one. Whether its happy hour or dinnertime, you should check out places like Acme Oyster House, Felix’s, Royal House Oyster Bar, or Bourbon House in the French Quarter, Drago’s or Lüke in the CBD, or Casamento’s or the Blind Pelican Uptown. And just about all of them are accessible via the St. Charles streetcar line just steps from Southern Comfort B&B.

2.       Live music on Frenchmen St. Bourbon St may be a top destination for many tourists. And while the strip admittedly has a few decent jazz clubs, Frenchmen St is one of New Orleans’ hidden treasures. The Blue Nile and d.b.a. consistently host some of New Orleans’ favorites of all genres, and you can catch other up-and-coming acts at the Maison (check out their huge window showcase of the musicians performing on stage) or the more intimate, acoustic atmosphere at the Apple Barrel. Located at the far edge of the French Quarter from Canal St, just follow Decatur St all the way down past Esplanade Ave.

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Tags: best place to eat gumbo in New Orleans, Mardi Gras parades on St. Charles Ave, Places to eat oysters in New Orleans, St. Charles Ave Streetcar
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New Years Eve 2013 Celebrations in New Orleans

December 27th, 2012 by cindee

 

Like any holiday, New Orleans celebrates New Year’s Eve in a big way, from fireworks over the Mississippi River to parties at hotels, bars, restaurants, and homes across the city. Downtown, Uptown, Mid-City, or the Marigny—all of New Orleans’ neighborhoods will be alive with partygoers, including natives and those visiting the city for the holidays.

One of the most popular and memorable New Year’s Eve traditions is to go down to Jackson Square for the famous Fleur de Lis drop at 9pm. People flood the square and the streets in anticipation and enjoy light shows courtesy of both the drop itself and the midnight fireworks show over the Mississippi. The event is free and open to the public, and the French Quarter and surrounding areas’ establishments stay open after long into the night for continued late-night merriment.

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Tags: Fleur de Lis drop, Jackson Square New Years festivities, New Years Eve In New orleans 2013. River Front Fireworks
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New Orleans Reveillon Dinners

December 23rd, 2012 by cindee

Photo Courtesy of New Orleans Tourist Board

 

A beloved local tradition around the holiday, New Orleans restaurants and their Reveillon dinners have been gearing up throughout the month of December in preparation of Christmas and New Year’s. From the French word for “awakening,” Reveillon dinners were historically held after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and again on New Year’s Eve as families and friends gathered to celebrate the holidays. Due to the city’s strong French heritage and love of tradition, New Orleanians continue to revel in the Reveillon dinners every holiday season.

In New Orleans, 47 restaurants across the city will continue this tradition by hosting their own unique Reveillon dinner throughout this month. Original Reveillon menus generally consisted of Creole delicacies, various egg dishes, and sweets, but these local restaurants have developed unique variations of the meal to reflect their house specialties and their take on the spirit of the season.

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Tags: Borge, Christmas Dinner in New Orleans, Commanders Palace, John Besh, New Orleans Reveillon Dinners
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Feux de Jois: Louisiana’s Christmas Bonfires

December 3rd, 2012 by cindee

Christmas bon fires along the Mississippi River levees

Getting ready to light the bon fires

Another New Orleans Christmas tradition involves a different type of light from Celebration in the Oaks. Feux de jois, or “fires of joy,” is a local Christmas Eve pastime that involves lighting bonfires along the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Legend has it that the bonfires guide Papa Noel—or Santa Claus—downriver in his paddleboat, through the dense river-rolling fog, to help his late-night, present-filled journey along.

Since the 1720-30s, these Christmas bonfires have caught the attention of thousands of visitors to New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Gramercy, Lutcher, Reserve, and other Louisiana towns. Another explanation for the founding of this custom—brought over by the first European settlers—was that long ago, before the levees were ever built, these bonfires used to serve as lighthouses that helped to guide friends and family, who were visiting the area for Christmas Eve, down the river to their landing destinations.

On Christmas Eve, you can take a “Bonfire Adventure” with Gray Line New Orleans, which includes a narrated motor coach tour of bonfires built by local communities, a River Road Plantation Tour, and a Cajun Country Dinner. On this tour—or your own personal tour—you’ll see giant structures resembling teepees lining the levees of the Mississippi—more than 100 in all. They’re constructed out of trees, bamboo, sugar cane, and any other flammable product, covered in kerosene, and lit simultaneously around 7pm.

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Tags: Bon fires on the Mississippi, Christmas Bon Fires, Feux de jois, Louisiana Christmas Bon Fire, River Road Plantations
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Fall in Love with New Orleans’ Fall Season

September 24th, 2012 by cindee

Moss draped cypress trees in City Pary

City Park Lagoon

In New Orleans, fall is the favorite time of year for many locals and visitors alike. The sweltering heat and humidity of the summer gradually, and then suddenly, give way to the crisp air and cool breezes of the autumn months. Muggy evenings turn into ideal walking weather, and the welcomed cool of the early mornings lingers a bit longer with each passing day.

We don’t have quite the vibrancy of the changing leaves as other parts of the country might. But what we lack in leaves, we make up for in sumptuous blooms of fragrant fall flowers and the sky’s lovely hue—a bright blue you have to see to believe.

Because of the magnificent weather, locals and tourists both love to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Rides on the streetcar, walks through the French Quarter, and strolls through picturesque City Park and Audubon Park become part of regular routine. Visits to the Audubon Zoo also top fall to-do lists, along with long walks along the Mississippi River, the Riverwalk, and Woldenberg Park.

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Tags: Audubon Park, Audubon Zoo, BBQ & Blues Festival, City Park, Fall Festivals in New Orleans, Seafood Fest 2012, Voodoo Expereince 2012, Woldenberg Park
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Easter Candies of New Orleans

April 11th, 2012 by cindee

Lent is over, and we’re still enjoying our Easter candy here in New Orleans, but this year just isn’t the same.  Although the familiar Elmer’s Chocolates, second largest manufacturer of the heart box in the country and the maker of Heavenly Hash Gold Brick, and Pecan Eggs is still located in the area, it moved across the lake to Ponchatoula in the early ‘60s. Nonetheless, it’s a venerable local company, established in 1855 in New Orleans and today run by the third generation of the Nelson family.  The company’s founder was Christopher Henry Miller, a German immigrant to New Orleans. His first shop was on the corner of Jackson Street and Levee Street in New Orleans.  Later it became Elmer-Miller, the name of Augustus Elmer was added, when he married into the Miller family.   In 1914 it became The Elmer Company . Roy Nelson bought the company in 1963 from the Elmer family, who first began making Heavenly Hash Eggs in 1923 and Gold Brick Eggs in 1938.   Elmer’s didn’t invent the Heavenly Hash recipe, but bought it from a department store.  Today the company makes 15 million candy eggs a year, and we eat a lot of them in New Orleans!

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Tags: 2012 French Quarter Festival, Elmers candies, Merlin Chocolate Bunnies
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Commander’s Palace: A New Orleans Classic!

July 26th, 2011 by cindee

Commanders Palace
New Orleans is home to some of the most original and well known restaurants in the world.  Commander’s Palace stands out as a “must do.”  Experience the graciousness of a bygone era. This is dining at its finest with impeccable service and mouth watering classic Creole dishes.   Located in the heart of the Garden  District this culinary tradition is run by  the world famous Brennan family, a powerhouse of culinary culture and success .  They Many famous chefs, including Emeril, have gotten their start at this legendary restaurant.

Commander’s Palace was the first restaurant to bring the wonderful and unique tradition of the Jazz Brunch to New Orleans.  Jazz Brunch is world- renowned and an unforgettable experience.

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