My friend and her husband are trying desperately to convince my boyfriend and me to go to New Orleans over Christmas/New Year’s this year. My boyfriend is very reluctant because we don’t know what there is to do around there or what it’s like in terms of weather.
So, tell me what it’s like in New Orleans in December. What’s the weather like, are there leaves on the trees, is there interesting stuff to do besides look at old houses and graveyards? Any recommendations as far as restaurants, activities, etc.? Alternatively, if you think it sucks, let me know that, and why you think it sucks. BTW for reference we are all in our thirties and I’d say our budget is not extravagant but not terribly limited, either.
First of all, New Orleans certainly doesn’t suck. It is one of the great vacation destinations in the U.S. if not the world. There is more to do there than you can fit in several months.
I am pretty surprised that you don’t know much about New Orleans. Almost everyone seems to know about the year-round partying, Bourbon Street, the legendary food, musical hertitage even if they haven’t been there. Any of that ring a bell?
Weather - that part is tricky to answer. It could be almost any temperature. My wife and I flew to New Orleans for Y2K celebrations and it was 80 degrees on December 31st. OTOH it can get pretty could in December too (meaning down to 30 degrees F but not much lower).
Regarding the weather…in my 32 years, I’ve probably worn short pants and short sleeve shirt on Christmas Day 20 times.
I’ve seen snow twice in my life. Once was in March about 10 years ago, the second time was last Christmas.
I think it’s hit 0 degrees once in my life…the city shut down and nobody left their house. Old people died of exposure due to insufficient heaters…others lost their houses to fire due to faulty space heaters.
One time, it rained and then the temperature fell below 32 and the roads iced over. Everyone was immobilized…we don’t know how to drive on ice. Intersections became demolition derbies.
Even though it snowed last Christmas, I don’t think there was another freeze through the entire winter.
Generally, the temperature probably averages 50-60 degrees (F) through December and January with a couple of really cold spells (60 degrees is cold…really cold would be 40).
If you come down for Christmas, you’ve probably got a 9 out of 10 chance of seeing nice warm weather. And if not, remember, the bars never close here! A Hurricane from Pat O’Brien’s will keep you warm.
Yeah, I’m gonna have to plead ignorance about New Orleans in general, sorry. Yes I have heard of Bourbon Street, but I know nothing about it. And I have heard that there is great food there (I read that in Gone With the Wind :)). None of us are heavy drinkers, although we all do enjoy drinking, but it definitely won’t be our main pastime while we’re there.
Thanks for the links, the zoo and tours sound like fun, as well as the museums. Any more info would be much appreciated!
[This question has come up many times. Here are the search results for similar threads](This question has come up many. Times here are the search results for similar threads)
I personally recommend the zoo, swamp tours, and the “Haunted New Orleans” walking tour of the French Quarter for starters.
There is too much stuff to list. Give us an idea of what types of things you like. What hotel do you plan on staying in?
I’ll probably be duplicating some of what’s been posted above and what’s on the other thread links that have been provided. Fair warning, and all that.
The weather can vary from + low 30s up to the 70s. The past few years, Christmas usually came with a cold snap - - mid 40s for highs during the day, mid 30s for lows. You’ll just have to be prepared for a variety of situations.
There are leaves on the trees, given that palms and live oaks are evergreens. The deciduous trees will be bare or brown, depending on whether they hold their leaves until spring or not. It shouldn’t be bare and gray, in other words.
As others have said, there’s much to do in the city.
(1) The Streetcars are great. The St. Charles line ($1.25/ride or cheaper with 3 or 5 day pass) are vintage 1920s cars that go from Canal Street Upriver to Carrollton and back. They are not heated, so on chilly days you’ll need to bundle up. You can access the Garden District from the St. Charles line, HOWEVER: you aren’t going to see one square foot of the Garden District unless you get off the streetcar somewhere between Jackson Avenue and Washington Avenue and walk into the neighborhood on the river side of the tracks (get a map). You can simply stroll around the area between St. Charles and the river between Jackson and Washington. The area is relatively safe, but I’d keep my eyes open and go during daylight hours.
The Canal Street and N. Carrollton Avenue Streetcar are open. These cars are air conditioned and heated, so it’s a more comfortable way to get around than on the St. Charles line. The cost for these new routes is $1.50 a ride. You can ride out to City Park and to the Cemetaries on these new lines. If you go, it’s worth stopping at the intersection of Canal and N. Carrollton and walking two blocks up to Angelo Brocato’s ice cream store - - his granddaughters still serve up the century-old Sicilian recipies, and it’s cheap, too!
(2) The ferry from the foot of Canal Street to Algiers point (leaves on the hour and half hour; returns 15 after and 15 till the hour) is free to pedestrians. You can walk down to the deck and ride at the rail - - great view of the F.Q., since you’re higher up than most of town (river level is higher than street level, in other words.)
(3) If you do Cafe du Monde, you’ve only had half a F.Q. experience. Go across Decatur Street and downriver a few short blocks to Central Grocery. Order half a muffaletta sandwich (Italian meats, provolone cheese, green olive relish, olive oil, great bread) get a bag of Zapp’s Chips, a beverage of your choice, and go eat on the levee or in Jackson Square if the weather is nice. This is the authentic, working man’s lunch from the days when the F.Q. was a blue collar Italian neighborhood.
There is a National Park office in the French Quarter and the Park Service offers free historic walking tours. The Lousiana State Museum in the Cabildo (next to St. Louis Cathedral) and the Mardi Gras museum in the Presbytere (other side of the Cathedral) are great and not too expensive.
The Aquarium and Imax are nice. If the weather is good, go Uptown to the Audubon Zoo. It’s not very crowded in winter and the animals are still active.
(4) Camellia Grill is great for an old-fashioned diner experience. Cash only there; not cheap; you’ll need to get there before it opens (7:45 on the weekend) or the wait’s not worth it. If you come up to that neighborhood on the Streetcar, I suggest you bring your walking shoes, get off at Audubon Park, stroll the paved walk that loops around the golf course (1.5 miles) and enjoy seeing everyone out - - family reunions, college students, little kids on bikes, little kids feeding ducks, etc. If you go up later in the day and are looking for dinner, Vincent’s (corner of Fern and St. Charles - - Upriver from the Park) is probably the best Italian restaurant in town. It takes credit cards.
(5) The D-Day Museum is intense - - if you go, don’t try to see it all. Stick to the European Theatre exhibit and save the Pacific Theatre for another visit.
(6) If asked, you got your shoes on your feet and there are 12 letters in “your last name.”
(7) Talk some friend into taking a cab up to Dick and Jenny’s restaurant on Tchoupitoulas (chop-a-two-lis) near Napoleon Avenue. Dick used to be a chef at Gallatoire’s; the food is just as good as Gallatoire’s, you don’t have to be “dressed”, and Dick charges about 1/3 what you’d pay in the F.Q. There are lots of non-rice options there. If you go, you can order several appetisers and get a filling meal fairly inexpensively.
(8) There is interesting shopping outside the F.Q. in the Warhouse District (Art, mainly) and on Magazine Street www.magazinestreet.com.
(9) Have fun! Say good morning to people in the morning. They’ll usually say good morning back to you. If somebody calls you baby, that’s a good thing, yes indeed.
Others have pointed out the FQ and the haunted history and the bars and music. Few ways to go wrong, there. Good music can be had at the Maple Leaf (Uptown on Oak near Jaques Imos), the Funky Butt (near the FQ), House of Blues (FQ) and Tipitinas.
Thanks for the input, everybody. I’m pretty convinced, now the hard part will be convincing my boyfriend! The D-Day museum and the excellent food is a good start.
Hubby and I visited N.O. between Xmas and New Year’s a few years back and it was very cold, but still fun. They were having an odd cold snap and it was cloudy windy and cold. Low’s got to about 29 at night and only mid to upper 40’s during the day. So we did a lot of indoor things and just walked fast. We used the streetcars in the Garden District to stay warm and they are fun just to ride. You really don’t need a car at all. Since it was so cold, we just ate all the time. We only ate dinner as a meal and the rest of the day we just grazed our way through the places. I recommend making reservations at the popular restaurants. I also think N.O. is best when you stay at a B&B or Guesthouse. And yes there are leaves on many trees…the Live Oaks and Palms all keep their leaves.
N.O. is one of my favorite towns to visit and has some of the best restaurants in the country. I can’t believe someone has to be “convinced” to visit there. My hubby doesn’t drink at all and he loves N.O.
Oh yeah I second a muffaletta at Central Grocery. Ivorybill gave you some excellent suggestions. I’ve done all that was suggested.
The food is more than excellent. New Orleans is one the top five cities in the U.S. to eat. Mebbe even in the top one. If you’re not afraid of dropping a fair amount for a dinner (and also assuming you eat meat), Dickie Brennan’s Steak House is a must. You can see the menu here: http://www.dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com/index.php An excellent wine list, too.
Shit! I almost forgot the Clover Grill. Great little divey place for breakfast or a lunchtime sandwich; inexpensive, too. Cajun Man recommended the Clover Grill to porcupine and me before our trip there over Thanksgiving '03. Ya gotta go there.
Man, I really hate to disagree with ya Uncle Beer, and I know that Dickie’s is just a fine, fine establishment, but New Orleans isn’t a steak town. As such, if I were here for a short visit, I’d skip Dickie’s in favor of your recommendation for Bayona (a Susan Spicer restaurant), brunch or lunch at Commander’s Palace, or supper at G.W. Finns.
Others worth trying:
Peristyle - it caters to locals, though it’s in the FQ; they check their caller id to separate out the hotel crowd, but don’t be turned off - Anne Kearney is the chef, and she is a master of sauces, which is the essence of truly fine cooking. It’s romantic, lovely, not too big, not too loud, and just out of this world. And even those calling from hotels can get reservations. However, if choosing between patrons on a waiting list, they will likely choose the local person first.
Bistro at Maison de Ville - this is in the heart of the quarter. And walking into this place is like walking off of a New Orleans quarter street directly into a small pleasantly dark Paris bistro. The Maitre’d is french, and the food is divine. It’s very small, and very close, so if that’s an issue, you might feel a little confined, but it’s an outstanding restaurant.
Herbsaint - Another Susan Spicer restaurant - is in the warehouse district/downtown.
**Uncle Beer[/] beat me to the punch. Not that I’ll let that stop me, though.
There are lots of street performers and pickpockets and con artists in the FQ. Two classic gambits down here are “I bet you $5.00 I can tell you where you got your shoes” or I bet you $5.00 I can tell you how many letters are in your last name."
If you take the bet you lose. These are generally played by charismatic cons, so losers wind up paying them.
If you go to the French Quarter, eventually someone’s going to come up to you and say something like, “For $20 I can tell you where you got your shoes.” If you’re foolish enough to take him up on it, he’ll tell you, “You got 'em on your feet!” And he will hound you and cause a scene until you give him money.
