There are alot of sites to see in New Orleans that don't cost an arm and a leg... or even a ton of money, like they'd lead you to believe when you request any visitors information. Sure you'll want to get the standard souveniers, the t-shirt for your cousin, the jigger shot glass with the drunk guy leanin' on the Bourbon Street lamp post for the in-laws. And ya' gotta' go to the Aquarium and see the IMax theater dawlin'. Go see the flea market in the Historic French Quarter and the Audubon Zoo too! but first... GET A MAP!
O.K. Got a map? No, not that dinky tourist map in the middle of the "tourist trap magazine", a real street map so you see the layout of the whole city. All these places are easy enough to get to on the bus or street car and that's the best, cheapest and most scenic way to go.
Now... Ready? Set? Lets Go!!
Ol'Man River
Do you know what 750,000 gallons of water (per foot per second) looks like? Would you like to see 45 million gallons of water pass by in just one minute? By the way... thats 2 BILLION, 7 HUNDRED MILLION GALLONS of water passing you by in just 1 hour OR... 64 BILLION, 8 HUNDRED MILLION gallons of water going by in just 24 hours! Are you getting thirsty yet? Go to the foot of Canal Street and see for yourself! The Mississippi River is truly SPECTACULAR!
AND... while ya' down there, take the Canal Street/Algiers ferry across that Mighty Mississippi for free! If you're driving it's only a buck for the car each way but just walk on for the trip there and back. It's better than a rollercoaster ride any day of the year!
On the 'Avenue'
Speaking of rides, (am I smooth or what?) if you take the Saint Charles Avenue street car from Canal Street, just a buck, the half hour ride to Carrollton Avenue is BEAUTIFUL. Majestic oak trees line the avenue and the mansions of the world famous Garden District are incredible. When you see Audubon Park on your left, you'll see Loyola University and Tulane University campuses on the right. If it's early enough you might want to go to the park... you could easily get very lost... in the beauty that is. If you wanna' see more, stay on the street car 'til you get to Carrollton Ave., at that corner there are places to eat, drink and be merry. Two blocks to the right (just past the Burger 'Doodle' King) is Maple Street if you'd like an adventure (of the nice kind), there are book stores, coffee houses, and great food shops from chinese to pizza for about 6 blocks. A very interesting 'green' shop too about three blocks down. Of course, to the left is the levee and Ol'Man River. Yep, everybody on one knee now and sing... He jus' keeps on rollin' aaaaaahhhh... long!
A day at, on, or around the Lake
Here are some maps to check out. Print'em up and this will make more sense to you. The BIG map is 184Kb and the small map is 96Kb.
How about this for a day out... You've heard of our Lake Pontchatrain? Does a picinic strike ya' fancy? Just take the Canal Street bus from downtown for a buck, get a transfer for ten cents more then catch the Canal Boulevard bus to the lake. Call the RTA Rideline at 569.2700, they can answer any questions you might have but have your map handy (remember THE MAP?). You may have to walk all of a block or two at the end of the ride but when you come to the top of the levee you will see the truly BEAUTIFUL LAKE PONTCHATRAIN. There are shelters out there but bring a blanket, it's nicer under the trees or on a bench by the sea wall steps.
Speaking of Lake Pontchatrain (there I go being smooth again), do you know New Orleans has the longest bridge in the world? 23.9 miles! Yep, and we're proud of it! If you've got a car, the Pontchatrain Causeway is a beautiful ride... just for the joy of it (and a buck-fifty to cross). But save the buck-fifty on your return 'cause after you cross over you can go to I-12, take a right to Slidell and then catch I-10 back to New Orleans OR take I-12 left to Hammond, then go I-55 south to I-10 back to New Orleans. It's about a two hour trip all the way around (either way) but a very nice (rd: scenic) ride.
Here's the real "technical" information just incase you're really taking notes out there! The original span opened to the public over 40 years ago in 1956 as a two way, two lane bridge. In 1969 a second two lane span opened, substantially increasing the bridge's safety when each span became a one way, two lane route for many commuters. The parallel spans are 80 feet apart and seven crossovers connect the spans for use as pull-over areas for auto emergencies. Each span has a road width of 28 feet. Over 30,000 cars cross the Causeway bridge each workday and the Causeway Commission is constantly striving to make the bridge safer for motorists. Lake Pontchartrain is the largest inland estuary in the United States. Technically this 610 square mile body of water is an estuary, not a lake, because it connects to the Mississippi Sound and has salt-water content.
Variation on a theme? ~ I-310 just west of the 'burbs off of I-10 openned up a few years ago. You can drive to Boutte on the interstate and enjoy a great view of the swamps, if you don't drive too fast that is. They really should add a place to pull over on I-310 'cause the view is beautiful. You can return to the city by way of highway 90 or go back to I-310 for more road trip!
Special thanks to my friends helping edit some of these 'pages', I don't always speal too good.
Thanks for visiting and for sending the Email ya'll, I welcome your comments.
George(please remember... I'm a local, not a travel agent, ya'll have to do the foot work for ya'self!)
See ya' later alligator... after 'while crocodile!