New Orleans Region
Experience the old world charm of New Orleans’ French quarter, world class creole cuisine, cruise on the mighty Mississippi River, and enjoy the birthplace of blues and jazz. You can also take a short drive to the swamps, historic plantations and fishing villages that surround the Crescent City.
Louisiana Landscape
The only way to truly see what a Louisiana landscape looked like before photography is through paintings and drawings. These artistic depictions, created long before cameras, could capture the details…
Rex Parade
The Rex parade is more than just beads and throws—it is a carefully curated spectacle, a moving tableau that plays out on the streets of New Orleans every Mardi Gras.…
Winter Birds
Winter birds create a top attraction for birdwatchers in Louisiana’s colder months, when migratory species settle into the region’s forests, parks, and waterways. A great place for spotting these seasonal…
Cathedral Light Show
The Super Bowl LIX celebrations began with a spectacular laser light show on historic St. Louis Cathedral and its neighboring buildings at Jackson Square. The dazzling displays are projected nightly…
Storyville
Storyville was once the center of gambling, jazz, and legalized prostitution in New Orleans. More than a century ago, this neighborhood became one of the most infamous red light districts…
New Orleans Snow Day
The City of New Orleans shattered all modern records for snow as the historic French Quarter and other neighborhoods were covered in white. The January 21, 2025, snowfall tied the…
Watercolor Artist
A story of resilience and beauty A New Orleans watercolor artist, Katherine Klimitas, discovered her passion for painting at an early age. Despite facing challenges that few could imagine, she…
Lincoln in New Orleans
New Orleans was a long ride by flatboat down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers for a young Abraham Lincoln. It’s a journey Lincoln made twice to sell goods from the…
Jefferson Highway
A granite monument on St. Charles Avenue in downtown New Orleans takes you back more than a century to a time when automobile travel was new and roads were few.…
Ford Assembly Plant
The Ford Assembly Plant in Arabi, Louisiana, is a colossal structure, sprawling across 250,000 square feet on 25 acres along the Mississippi River. Built a century ago, this landmark facility…
Boiled Crabs
One of the seafood favorites of south Louisiana is boiled blue crabs. But have you ever wondered if there is an easier way to cook and peel them. Here’s how…
Knot Turns 105
My favorite man of speed turns 105! What a privilege to sit next to Knot Farrington of Metairie as he reached the age of 105 this week. Knot Farrington celebrates…
Cajun Music in New Orleans
In a city famous for its jazz, New Orleans may not be at the top of the list for places to hear traditional Cajun music. Yet, nestled among the stately…
Mississippi River Delta
If there is one thing constant about Louisiana’s Mississippi River delta, it’s that the delta is constantly changing. The changes are a combination of land loss and land building. Shrimp…
Huey Long Bridge
Riding the rails The Huey Long Bridge, located a short distance upriver from the City of New Orleans, has been moving rail cars across the Mississippi River for more than…
Lead Belly Blues
Lead Belly, who’s real name was Huddie Ledbetter, was a Louisiana music legend who wrote and recorded songs that influenced blues, folk, country and rock and roll. But his musical…
Louisiana Lens
For more than four decades, John Lawrence has dedicated himself to viewing Louisiana history through a lens, curating thousands of photographs for The Historic New Orleans Collection. His latest endeavor,…
Cathedral Excavation
An ambitious plan to fully restore the aging St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans is taking a first step forward with an excavation under the building’s foundation. The small excavations…
Steamboat Natchez
The hot steam warms up the brass whistles of the Calliope on the Steamboat Natchez on a chilly winter morning, signaling the start of a journey steeped in history and…
Breaking Records
L. W. “Knot” Farrington started breaking automobile speed records in 1960, after pushing his custom-built car past the 200 mph mark. And as he approaches his 104th birthday, he says…
Louisiana Oranges
Louisiana oranges, particularly those from Plaquemines Parish, are a testament to the rich agricultural heritage and enduring challenges faced by local farmers. These citrus fruits, grown along the lower Mississippi…
Annular Eclipse
watching & photographing the eclipse The annular solar eclipse of 2023 was my first experience watching and photographing this amazing event. And the so-called ‘ring of ‘fire eclipse, where the…
Lafreniere Park
The birds of Lafreniere Park in Metairie, LA, create quite a spectacle, especially when its dinner time. And thanks to the efforts of a local woman, those birds are getting…
Lafitte Artist
After doing hundreds of drawings and creating a large roadside mural, an artist from Lafitte, Louisiana is hoping he’s found a new career. But it didn’t come easy for Vincent…
Restoring St. Louis Cathedral
Interest in restoring St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans is getting a boost from Gayle Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans sports franchises. And to help that…
Tulane’s Fish Collection
Tulane’s collection of fish, preserved in jars and stacked on shelves, is perhaps the largest of any in the world. University biology professor Royal D. Suttkus began gathering and researching…
Henry Casselli’s Rex
Renowned New Orleans artist Henry Casselli created the official Mardi Gras proclamation for the 2023 Rex Parade. The Rex poster is a beautiful addition to Casselli’s portfolio of portraits, which…
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans was one of the most decisive victories by an American army over a much larger British force during the War of 1812. The opening shots…
Nola Motorsports
NOLA Motorsports is hoping to fulfill the need for speed as it resumes auto racing events at its Avondale, Louisiana track. The race park originally opened in 2011, but recently…
River House Art
The River House art gallery, located at Crevasse 22 along the Mississippi River in St. Bernard Parish, provides an indoor/outdoor exhibit space for local artists. And the gallery focuses on…
Pitot House
The Pitot House in New Orleans stands along Bayou St. John, an early trade route to the city. The calm bayou allowed boats to paddle from the Gulf of Mexico,…
Louisiana’s Croatian Oysters
The tradition of oyster fishing in southeastern Louisiana has a direct connection to Croatian immigrants dating back more than a century. But oyster farming in the coastal bays of Louisiana…
Louisiana Supreme Court
In addition to being the state’s highest court, the century-old Louisiana Supreme Court building in the New Orleans French Quarter is also open for tours. The four-story marble and granite…
TIPITINA’S Fais-Dodo
Tipitina’s Fais-dodo turns the legendary New Orleans music club into a Cajun dance hall once a month. Accordion player Bruce Daigrepont and his band fill the dance floor as they…
Streetcar Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire, the winner of 12 Academy awards including Best Picture in 1952, is also a Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway Play, written by Tennessee Williams. He wrote the…
Bird Banding
This seems like the perfect morning for bird banding. The spring air is chilly enough to wear a jacket, the skies are clear and birds are chirping as the sun…
New Orleans Fairgrounds
Horses have been galloping around the track at the New Orleans Fairgrounds for the past 150 years. The Fairgrounds, which opened in 1872, is the third oldest racetrack in the…
St. Ann
the church that wouldn’t die In an area devastated by multiple catastrophic hurricanes since the 1960’s, St. Ann Mission Church in Empire, Louisiana, is a survivor. The church’s white steeple…
Mardi Gras Beads
From the street to the gallery Mardi Gras beads litter the streets and sidewalks of New Orleans after the parades have passed. The colorful strands of plastic pearls lay broken…
Preservation Hall
When you step inside Preservation Hall, you can feel the old wooden floor sag beneath your feet. And the room is dimly lit with walls that haven’t been painted in…
Whooping Crane in Louisiana
The whooping crane, Louisiana’s rarest and largest bird, is making a comeback. After completely disappearing from the state in the 1950’s, a decade-long effort to reintroduce the big white birds…
Louisiana’s First Fort
Fort dela Boulaye was one of the most important sites of early Louisiana. The fort, built by French explorers, succeeded in turning around the British. But the location of the…
Drums of Congo Square
The tradition of a Sunday afternoon gathering with African drum rhythms, singing and dancing is alive and well in historic Congo Square in New Orleans. Congo Square, located on the…
Enrique Alferez Sculpture Garden in New Orleans
The art deco style creations of metal, stone and concrete adorn the path through a sculpture garden in New Orleans City Park. The statues and other pieces are the works…
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The Amazing Brown Pelican
On land, the brown pelican is a large, awkward looking bird. But when a pelican takes flight with its seven-foot wingspan, the bird is powerful and graceful as it glides…
New Orleans 1812 Hurricane – A Stormy Past
A university researcher has reconstructed a catastrophic two-century-old hurricane that is among the worst to ever strike the City of New Orleans. Historical records reveal the Hurricane of 1812 was…
Saint Louis Cathedral
For nearly 300 years, a Catholic Church has stood on the site of the iconic Saint Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square in New Orleans. That long history makes it the…
Steam Locomotive – A Real Big Boy
The world’s largest steam Locomotive, Union Pacific’s “Big Boy”, shows off its size as it rides the rails across Louisiana. The Number 4014 is one of 25 Big Boys built…
Crescent Park – A Hidden Gem
The curve in this rust-colored rainbow bridge entrance to New Orleans’ Crescent Park Trail nearly matches the bend in the mighty Mississippi River located only 100 feet away. You can…
Fort Jackson – Louisiana Battleground
Fort Jackson, a nearly two-century old stronghold on the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana, was the site of a ferocious Civil War battle with the Union Navy. The fortress, occupied…
Bayou Segnette State Park
You can spend the night in a cabin floating on the water in Louisiana’s Bayou Segnette State Park. Located at the edge of a cypress swamp and grassy marsh, this…
New Orleans Jazz in Isolation
During a normal month of May, New Orleans Jazz clarinetist Tim Laughlin would be running from one gig to another in the middle of Jazz Fest. But the pandemic of…
The Sazerac Cocktail
This mixture of bitters, Herbsaint Liqueur and rye whiskey was born in New Orleans and is the city’s official cocktail. The Sazerac cocktail had its early roots in a French…
Three Centuries of Faith
The Old Ursuline Convent located in the historic French Quarter has been part of the history of New Orleans almost since its founding three centuries ago. The French nuns who…
Birthplace of Jazz
In the city where jazz was born, you can see and hear its history in a state museum in the French Quarter. The New Orleans Jazz museum features live performances…
Cities of the Dead
You find a lot of cemeteries in a city that is more than 300 years old. And in New Orleans, its unique above-the-ground tombs have earned the cemeteries the nickname…
Riding History on a Streetcar
The St. Charles Avenue Streetcar in New Orleans is an iconic image frequently found in tourist brochures of the Crescent City. But the old green railcars are also a national…
Pirate’s Story Finds Home in Lafitte Museum
Until recently, anyone traveling to the Town of Jean Lafitte to learn about the famous pirate would have had a tough time finding any connection in this small fishing village. …
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