About New Orleans:Mardi Gras Day will be February 16th, and there are parades celebrations for the 10+ days before MGD. The bad thing about Carnival is it tends to take over for the last 5 or 6 days: Many attractions close, restaurants go to limited menus, etc. so avoid NOLA during that time unless you want to visit for Carnival.http://www.mardigras.com/http://www.mardigrasguide.com/New Orleans (and the rest of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi) is still recovering from Katrina. However, there has been huge progress in the pst 4 years and most of the metro area now looks like Katrina never happened. The tourism/entertainment industry has fully recovered.Mardi Gras and the Jazz Festival are world famous events, but New Orleans hosts many festivals and celebrations throughout the year: www.nola.com/festivalsThere is always music, but the bands change: Go to www.bestofneworleans.com and click on Music then Listings or to www.offbeat.com and click on Listings, then Music. Note that music clubs often advertise No Cover , meaning there is no charge for entering. However, clubs with No Cover often require that customers buy a beverage each for every set of music (which can be every 20 minutes) so KNOW THE PRICE before you sit down. Clubs do that because some people will sit in the club all evening drinking nothing (clubs only make money from the drinks they sell - not from the music). It is also a good idea to pay for each round of drinks (in clubs on Bourbon Street) as it is delivered so there can t be any confusion at the end of the evening.Preservation Hall has traditional live Jazz, and doesn��t serve alcohol so all ages are welcome: www.preservationhall.comAn incomplete guide to bars clubs: http://www.10best.com/New_Orleans,LA/Nig��www.neworleanscheapdrinks.comLouisiana is the only US state that offers tax-free shopping for international visitors, but not all merchants participate in the program: http://www.louisianataxfree.com/ Purchases of art may be tax-exempt: http://www.crt.state.la.us/culturaldistr��Rstaurant suggestions: http://www.10best.com/New_Orleans,LA/Res��Check www.frenchquarter.com and http://www.nola.com/visitor/ for ideas about other things to do.For places to stay:www.frenchquarterhotels.comwww.villaconvento.comwww.indiahousehostel.comHope you have a great time, wherever you go!
Go to Pass Christian, Mississippi- AMAZING city. Still recovering from Katrina but a beautiful place with lots to see. New Orleans is great (pretty much back to normal in the main places like Bourbon Street) but if you re not interested in clubs and cities I would advise against it. They do have great food and amazing live music though, I just got back yesterday and the weather was decent, shouldn t be too terrible in January. Go to Arizona and Texas!! The food is soo good. See the Grand Canyon!! Colorado is literally the most beautiful state I have ever been in, the Rockies are amazing and perfect. Have an amazing time either way.
New Orleans-Great at anytime of the year. You will not even know the hurricane happened... Come to Lafayette area. We are about 3 hours west of N.O. and are the home of Cajun Country. Lots of fun festivals with great music and FABULOUS food.
new orleans is da ****!
1. National park info: http://www.nps.gov/index.htm2. New Orleans will be worth it. The weather will be cool to cold and Carnival season will be in full swing! Mardi Gras will be on Tues. Feb. 16, 2010, (http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mardi�� so you could make it here for MG or you could wait until after Feb. 16th if you want things to be a little calmer. As for Katrina, while we are still heavily impacted by the storm and levee failure, you will not be affected by any of the aftermath. The French Quarter was barely damaged and all things that would interest a tourist are fully operational. The only way you are going to experience Katrina damage is if you take a Katrina tour or drive to the heavily impacted areas yourself. The areas have been cleaned up and to those who are not familiar with them pre-Katrina, the areas will only seem to be tons of overgrown empty lots interspaced with with abandonded houses. The tours will give you some idea of the way things were before the storm. Most of us in the damaged areas are not offended by the tours and want the world to know how badly things can go wrong. So, don t feel badly about taking a tour; we don t feel exploited we are glad that someone remembers us.3. I m not sure what you mean by like in the movies, but I would suggest a swamp tour, (you will see tons of ads for them when you go to the French Quarter like for Honey Island etc.), and for you to visit some of the big old homes like Oak Alley, (http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/), Laura Plantation, (http://www.lauraplantation.com/), Nottoway, (http://www.nottoway.com/), The Myrtles, (http://www.myrtlesplantation.com/), Rosedown, (http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/lou�� etc.Hope this helps; have a good trip!