New Orleans Back In Business And Better Than Ever

I n 2005, Hurricane Katrina                                           hit New Orleans hard and        A walk along the city streets      the subsequent flooding         gives one the feeling that the     caused immense disruption to the      vibrant urban culture is           city and its people. For a long       flourishing anew. Old favorite     time visitors were unable to          restaurants, with their celebrity  enjoy the architecture, food,         chefs, have been joined by new     music, nightlife, shopping and        places opened by bold creative     the distinctive joie de vivre         restaurateurs. Jimmy Buffett's     that New Orleans was famous for.      Margaritaville Cafe pays homage    But now, just over two years          to the conjunction of great music  later, the Crescent City is back      and food, and the Tire Swing Bar   in the tourism business and           makes a mean cocktail. Ride the    better than ever.                     streetcars down Canal Street,                                            between attractions, or along the  With a new motto, "Soul Is            river. The shops and boutiques     Waterproof," high-profile events      along Magazine Street are again    such as the Sugar Bowl and Mardi      packed to the hilt with            Gras, and the Jazz and Heritage       interesting goods. Don’t miss the  Festival are returning, and the       New Orleans Museum of Art, among   historic heart, including the         the nation’s best, and the         French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny,     premier art museum in the Gulf     Warehouse and Arts District, the      South region.                      Garden District, Magazine Street,                                        Audubon Park and Zoo, and St.         The Mardi Gras parades are back    Charles Avenue, are again             in February this year and it’s     welcoming visitors. Around 8          time to party and catch the color  million people are expected this      and movement of this vibrant and   year, compared to the 10 million      raunchy annual celebration of      visitors who came in 2004.            city life. The krewes will have    even bigger and brighter floats       beverage stalls featuring          on show. If you have to miss the      authentic local cuisine in         parades, you can get the feeling      Jackson Square, Woldenberg         of Mardi Gras year-round at           Riverfront Park and elsewhere.     Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World,                                          the world’s largest float             And then there’s the New Orleans   designing and building facility,      Jazz & Heritage Festival in May,   where more than 80 percent of the     which features 12 stages of jazz,  New Orleans' floats are               gospel, cajun, zydeco, blues,      constructed. New Orleans’             African, Latin, R&B, rock,         celebrated nightlife, from piano      Caribbean, folk, funk and much     bars and pubs, to music clubs are     more. Known as JazzFest, this      open to the small hours of the        year features Stevie Wonder,       morning, and three casinos are        Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Sheryl  again operating.                      Crow, and the Neville Brothers.                                          Obviously, New Orleans is back in  Billed as “The World’s Largest        the swing.                         Block Party”, from Friday, April                                         11 through Sunday, April 13, the                                         annual French Quarter Festival         throughout the French Quarter,        align="center">                    and be tempted by the 60 food and      About the Author: Rod Ritchie, a travel writer and editor, writes for many publishers including AA Publishing and Fodors. Go America offer cheap flights to America plus discounts on USA hotels and car hire USA hotels and car hire. Published At: www.Isnare.com