New Orleans, LA Let the Good Times Roll |
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Nestled in a half-moon shape between the banks of the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain, New Orleans is known as "the Crescent City." Driving into the city over this beautiful lake is a treat in itself, for the 24-mile-long Ponchartrain Causeway is the longest bridge in the world. Over 30,000 cars cross it every day, and it's listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Everything about New Orleans is unique, including museums like Chez Vodun, which features a voodoo temple and artifacts from Benin, West Africa, where the voodoo religion originated. The Musee Conti Wax Museum, better know as "The Wax," tells the story of the city and the Louisiana Territory from its founding to the present. Over 300 years of history come to life through 154 proportionately accurate wax figures displayed in historically correct settings. Visitors come "face-to-face" with the likes of Napolean, the pirate Jean Lafitte, and Louis Armstrong. School tours last 45 minutes, and students get to visit the haunted dungeon. New Orleans is known as the birthplace of jazz, and the strains of Dixieland are heard everywhere. There are many performance venues for student musical groups, including both indoor and outdoor sites in the French Quarter. Groups that perform a selection of 1940's-style or patriotic music are always welcome at the National D-Day Museum, which also offers educational programs and tours.
Just outside the city lie acres of grand old plantations, once valued for their sugarcane production. One of the most frequently visited is "Laura," a Creole plantation dating from 1805. It has won awards for the painstakingly accurate restoration and portrayal not only of the manor house and its antiques and gardens, but also the slave cabins, outbuildings, and sugarcane fields on the property. Packed with information gleaned from the National Archives in Paris as well as the writings of the woman for whom the plantation is named, a one-hour tour depicts the true-life stories of the Creole slaves, women and children of the plantation. This is also the birthplace of the West African folk tales that eventually became the famous stories of Br'er Rabbit. For a unique adventure, come to New Orleans, where the good times roll! Contact us at EPN Travel Services today to help you plan your tour. Photos - Jack Edwards, Carl Purcell - New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau |
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The city of New Orleans has been likened to a stately Southern belle who isn't afraid to show her fun side. Everything about this colorful and diverse city is a feast for the eyes and the senses, and every day is Mardi Gras in "the Big Easy." 
New Orleans is home to the Audubon Nature Institute, a complex of educational facilities, including the Aquarium of the Americas in the French Quarter. More than 530 species of aquatic life reside in a million gallons of fresh and salt water. Local favorites include the Mississippi catfish, the paddlefish, alligators, and pettable baby sharks. Right next door is the Entergy IMAX Theatre, featuring a five-and-a-half-story screen, showing movies like "Ocean Wonderland 3-D," shot on location on the Great Barrier Reef and in the Bahamas. The affiliated Louisiana Nature Center, which features a teaching greenhouse and planetarium, is known for its fun and quirky hands-on projects, like preparing a meal entirely of edible insects.