New Orleans?

[Clue]

Hello,

Anyone know any good places in New Orleans?

Is the Voodoo Temple any good?

[ExDC]

(My first post, dawg!)

After Katrina, my Dad went to work in New Orleans remodeling houses and such.. I lived with him for 2 years, and worked doing carpentry and general slaving. If you need a job, manual labor is always available. Keep this in mind if you need to make 50 bucks to get out of there.

Weather... Hotter than living FUCK in the summer. Humidity and 95+ degrees during the day will absolutely drain you if you're doing anything stressful outside. Keep this in mind if you have to do anything like walk/run/bike anywhere during the day. Otherwise, from about late September to May, it's beautiful. I live in the midwest and where I'm from it's either extremely hot or chilling cold for most of the year, so being able to walk outside in shorts and and t-shirt in December was amazing.

As for places... Common sense will help dictate where to go and where not to go, for the most part. Katrina displaced a lot of the crime-doing (black) peoples and such, but some parts of the city still suck. There's really 3 parts of the New Orleans most locals know, from what I could tell, with 2 parts officially being small cities. There's New Orleans, which is pretty much anywhere east of the 17th Street Canal. Wrongdoings abound here, and it's the most crime ridden area in the city, so keep an eye out for anything weird. There is an exception though, the Tulane campus is beautiful and pretty safe,plus, try checking out a cool little store called The Mushroom if you want a place to spend some time and a little money. On a more positive note, this is where the majority of New Orleans culture happens and happened, and you'll be sure to be impressed. Nice places include the Garden District, City Park, the French Quarter (best drinking in town, but watch out, the bums will suck you dry if you let them), and Tulane. The cops here (called "Crescents") are assholes, 4srs don't fuck with them. They're used to Lil' Wayne and Birdman stealing peoples VCRs, so they won't hesitate to curbstomp you if you get belligerent.

The other two are Kenner and Metairie. Metairie is a more upscale area to the west of the 17th Street Canal, about 80% white, and predominately Catholic. You have a far better chance of not getting mugged by Jaykwon the hostile negro here, plus the people are just plain nicer. If you're into bicycling/jogging/walking this is the place to do it, because most of Metairie is fronted by Lake Pontchartrain. Don't go swimming in here, lest you get a whole lot of AIDS, but there are nice paths to jog and bike, plus if you find a nice dock there's some good fishing to be done. The main streets here are West Esplanade and Veteran's Boulevard, you can probably find what you need there. If you were going to live in N.O., I'd recommend living here. As far as Metairie cops (J.P.s) go, they can and will harass you after dark. Stray crackheads venture over from the 9th Ward and wreck stuff, so the cops still have to be on high alert, and won't think twice to pat you down.

I don't know much about Kenner except it has lot's of supermarkets and houses that need work... you'll end up going here a lot if you DO end up working construction.

As for places to stay away from... GTFO if you find out you're in:
The 9th Ward (The unwiped asshole of New Orleans. It got washed out the hurricane, but it still sucks)
Anywhere around the Superdome (Rabid bums everywhere)
Canal Street (You can exercise less caution here, but watch your back. Stay off the uptown side)
Fat City (If you're here on purpose, you're buying crack, smoking crack, or arresting someone for buying/smoking crack)
The Canals (They're dirty as fuck, if you go swimming in one, see a doctor)
Lake Pontchartrain (All the water that flooded N.O. during Katrina got pumped out there, dead babies and all)
Between Saint Charles and Claiborne (Bunch of projects, this place is scary as hell)

Good Places to frolic about:
Between Saint Charles and the River (Original, Old New Orleans)
Magazine Street (You'll love it, 4real)
Bourbon Street (It's a given)
Garden District (Absolutely beautiful)
Lake Pontchartrain Waterfront (Fishing, Running/Walking/Bicycling)

Both lists are just to name a few. Like any other city, you'll really have to explore.

As for a more unabridged section on cops, the police around New Orleans vary from place to place, but they have one similarity, in that they will take your shit for a very short time before they go Robert Davis on your punk ass. Keep interaction time with cops very low, and fairly courteous and you'll be OK. Sadly, the list of things that will get you accosted by the law is growing as people get more and more unruly. This list includes, but is not limited to:
Walking around at night,
Looking suspicious,
Flipping cops any kind of shit whatsoever,
Behaving abnormally.

As for outlying areas.. Gretna is an area across the Mississippi River, but it's scary as hell. It seriously freaked me out, but I don't know why. Venice is an area about 50 miles south of N.O., and most of what I could remember was Debris, Fishing Hole, Bait Shop, and Oil Refinery. Jean Lafitte was a pirate and a pretty cool guy, he made profits smuggling goods around Barataria Bay and didn't afraid of anything. For being such a cool dude, people named a wildlife reserve after him, and keeping with his legacy, the place kicks ass. You'll see some cool shit guaranteed. The fishing town named after him, Lafitte, is a neat little place too. Definitely check it out.

I've mentioned fishing too. You can say it's a waste of time, but it's thrilling AND a nice opportunity to catch some free food. Find some friends and you have yourself an activity for the day. Most of the fish caught here that can be cooked easily are crappie, speckled trout, halibut, redfish, and largemouth bass. There are lots of good places to fish around the city, but don't bother with the Canals. All you'll catch is Hep B. Try outlying areas around the city. The Lake Pontchartrain waterfront, especially Pontchartrain Point hold lots of fish to be caught. Ask around for what baits to use, but for redfish and specks, try shrimp rigged 3 feet deep under a hefty float. Watch your fishing poles though, they'll get stolen if you leave them out.

Good places to eat are everywhere, find them yourself. Seafood is exceptional down in N.O.

Rent isn't too bad, try finding a trustworthy roommate or two, and you should be cool.

As a footnote, I've mentioned crack a lot throughout this guide. For some reason there is a large demographic in New Orleans that is stuck in 1987 for some god damn reason, thus meaning smokin' dem rocks is still big in N.O. These are the kind of people that will skitter around your lawn/house/car and sell anything that can net them money. Don't associate with them, they'll seriously screw you up. Unless you smoke crack too, in which case you're gravy.

Don't leave anything that matters to you out of your sight unless it's screwed down or locked up, lest it be gone when you look back. It's a sad fact.

Have fun, the place is truly magical.

And I don't know what the Voodoo Temple is.

[Clue]

Thanks.

Heat wasn't a problem because the weather was nice and cool with strong cool breeze all day.

Anyways,

I walked around the French quarter, bought some cds from the local bands and picked up a candle from a local voodoo shop. Has the symbol of the some trickster spirit on it from what I got from the shop owner.

Went to some cheap place called Mojo's on decauter for a thai wrap and chocolate cake. Wrap was about six bucks and four bucks for the cake

I've booked a place at the india house hostel located on South lopez.
Price is about 20 bucks a night plus a five dollar deposit on the key.

Ill finish this up when I get back north.

Later

[Thought Riot]

Check out the Zydepunks if they're in town. They have a bass, drums, fiddle, and two accordians. And they sing in 6 languages. One of the most fun shows that I've been to. Really, it's like high energy folk music. Fatter Than Albert too if you're into skapunk.

I was there checking out Tulane and spent a night on Bourbon street. It's a lot of stupid vice (whores, booze, etc), but a lot of the jazz is pretty good and there aren't any covers.

I really liked the city. I didn't have any problems in my travels, but I mainly stayed within the tourist-y areas.

[47 47 47]

Motherfuckin po'boys and Cafe DuMonde.

Thats all you should be eating / doing while you're there. I LOVE New Orleans

[Clue]

Didn't get a chance to do all that but thanks for the all the input.

Anyways, to finish up my last post.

The cd I bought was from the lazy six, who play in front of the catheral in the french quaters. Bought a Papa Legba Candle from Voodoo Authatica shop. and went to the india house hostel on south Lopez Street.

Didn't book ahead of time so I had to share a room with someone I didn't know from ohio.

They had some good bbq chicken and potatos for five bucks. No curfew, and the staff is great. Was chatting it up with some swed before I left for amtrak in the morning.

Bad thing is about the place is it isn't close by to the french quaters.

But for 20 dollars a night plus a five dollar key deposit, best place for the buck.