“Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?”

Located in southeastern Louisiana on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, New Orleans is a city full of history, culture, mystery and sensuality. It is called the “Queen of the Mississippi River”, the “Paris of the Americas”, and is known for its Old World charm and “joie de vivre.” It’s said that it’s rather like a small piece of a foreign country that broke away and traveled upstream to attach itself to the United States, more akin to the culture of South America (with an added dash of France and Spain) than any other modern American metropolis. Its music is sweet, its food divine and its atmosphere is enchanting. Yes, Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen is buried here. And, yes, streetcars still clang along “The Avenue” just as they did at the turn of the century; and the food – New Orleans defines Cajun, Creole and Soul! It embodies Old World Charm and New World Sophistication.

Everything is slower, more leisurely, in the “City That Care Forgot” – except perhaps for Mardi Gras Madness, Jazzfest Jazzin’, and of course Bourbon Street – we do have our moments!

Where else in the world can you:

• Watch the sun rise over the West Bank (!) of the river as you sip café au lait and indulge on those irresistible puffy powdered sugar concoctions called beignets?

• It may just be a Tuesday before Ash Wednesday to you, but to us – IT’S MARDI GRAS! New Orleans is famous for Mardi Gras, a mirthful Carnival that earns us the moniker “The City that Care Forgot”! High stepping marching bands precede colorful floats rolling through the streets of downtown, with masked riders hurling trinkets and doubloons to an eager crowd.

• Every major city has a Central Business District, but we have the FRENCH QUARTER! The French Quarter is an historic neighborhood, though its complexion changes radically from the gentrification of Royal Street to the raucous timbre of Bourbon Street. There are many nooks and crannies, alleyways and haunted homes, historic sites and famous “watering holes”. Perhaps stop in for a Hurricane at world renowned Pat O’Brien’s?

• Creole is one thing – compare it to CAJUN! A Cajun fais-do-do is a swampland jubilee! Gather on the bayou for a cochon du lait (roast baby pig), boiled crabs (you can even go crabbing in the bayou, baiting your own traps and boiling your bounty), jambalaya and etouffee! Cajun dance couples will teach you the “Two Step” to keep your toes tappin’ and your fingers snappin’. Sunset on the Bayou – watch out for the alligators!

• For those whose tastes run more along the lines of Scarlett O’Hara, revisit the plantation days of a bygone era, the days of antebellum splendor, the halcyon days when the stately mansions of gentlemen planters lined the Mighty Mississippi River. Evenings were spent in privileged leisure, while guests lounged on the gracious verandas, sipping chilled mint juleps and watching the great steamships ply the river on their journey to New Orleans.

• Ever envision yourself as a dashing Riverboat Gambler? Over 200 years ago, New Orleans became the heartbeat of the Southern economy as majestic sternwheelers, full to capacity with boisterous entertainers, fashionable travelers and, most importantly, cargo, steamed in and out of her great harbor. Well, step aboard the gangplank of our riverboat and take an excursion that will afford you an experience of the best of both worlds – the splendor of the bygone days on the Mighty Mississippi and the energetic present and future of commerce on the river today.

• At home, you may travel North, South, East and West – we head Uptown, Downtown, Riverside, Lakeside – so stroll two blocks Uptown and on the Riverside of Tchoupitoulas Street (we even had Indian tribes to name our streets after!) drop in and dine at Emeril’s; or grab a bite with Chef Paul Prudhomme at K-Pauls’ Louisiana Kitchen in the French Quarter; and don’t forget James Beard Award winner Annie Kearney; or John Besh (chef at August, one of the top ten restaurants says the New York Times); or perhaps the indomitable Susan Spicer of Bayona and Herbsaint fame!

• We are the “graduate school” of festivals! The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival; Festival in the Oaks; Creole Christmas; Des Allemands Catfish Festival; Breaux Bridge Gumbo Festival; French Quarter Festival; Louisiana Shrimp festival; Bayou Blues and Zydeco festival; and festival “cum laude” – Mardi Gras!

• Do your tastes run to deep sea fishing? We’re right around the corner from the Gulf of Mexico! Fish for trout, bass or redfish in Lake Pontchartrain. Skeet shooting on the North Shore? Hunt for deer in Honey Island Swamp?

• And then there’s the cuisine! From Red Beans to Roux, Courtbouillion to Catfish, Maque Choux to Muffalettas, New Orleans is at once Cajun, Creole, Spanish and French, a virtual melting pot for the bounty that our wetlands and woodlands have to offer forth. Renowned for our extraordinary cuisine, imagine a city in which a sidewalk vendor may rival a Master Chef in the preparation of a praline!

As a famous New Orleanian so aptly quipped: “New Orleans is like an old fashioned cocktail. It’s a collection of distilled spirits and effervescent souls vigorously shaken and poured into the levee rimmed bowl that is the Crescent City.”

For more information on New Orleans and all of the fun things there are to do, please visit: http://www.nomcvb.com/