New Orleans

Travelers' Takes

Rates and Deals

Mardi Gras

A June 2005 trip to New Orleans by BudKathy

New Orleans is an active town with lots of great restaurants and little shops to visit. There is a lot of history with Mardi Gras. We drove along the Gulf Coast to Biloxi, MS, and into Baton Rogue.

  • 8 reviews

Bon Temps VillageBest of IgoUgo

Hotel

Best Things Nearby:
We were close to New Orleans and the French Quarter; not too far from Baton Rogue, the capital; and close enough to take a ride along the Gulf Coast to Biloxi, MS. There are a lot of restaurants, shops, and historical sites to see. We took a paddlewheel steamboat down the Mississippi River. It was fun.

Best Things About the Resort:
One of the best things about the resort was the location; at night, when you returned, it was quiet. The unit and property was clean and well maintained. The staff was very helpful and friendly. They had an agreement with Franco's Health Club for use of the health club and pool.

Resort Experience:
There were four units to each building, two on each side. We stayed in a two-story, two-bedroom unit. The first floor had the living room, with a fireplace, TV, VCR, and sleeper sofa; full kitchen and dining room; and half bath. The second floor had the master bedroom with a king-size bed with a balcony off it, full bath, and guest bedroom with a queen-size bed. It was clean and well maintained. It was spacious and a great place to relax after sightseeing or walking around the French Quarter all day.

  • Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
  • Activities: Very Good
  • Amenities: Very Good
  • Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
  • Family Friendliness: Excellent
  • Service: Excellent
  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by BudKathy on June 12, 2005

Bon Temps Village
103 Bon Temps Roule Mandeville, Louisiana 70471
(985) 845-0510

Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand: WholesaleBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Cafe du Monde"

We stopped at Cafe Du Monde to have some French beignets. The beignets come out to your table hot and covered with powdered sugar. They melt in your mouth and are absolutely delicious.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by BudKathy on June 26, 2005

Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand: Wholesale
1039 Decatur Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70116
(504) 587-0835

NOLABest of IgoUgo

Restaurant

We were seated at our table; the waitress places your napkin on your lap and hands you the menu. Another waitperson then comes over and fills your glasses with water. Your waiter comes back for your order and asks if you have any questions about the menu. We started with the shrimp and corn bisque, followed by a green salad with house dressing; for my entree, I had the fried chicken breast with bourbon-mashed potatoes and green beans; my husband had the grilled cedar plank stuffed drum fish with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. We finished our meal by sharing the banana pudding layer cake. It was loaded with bananas, pudding topped with whipped cream, and two cookies as the edge of the cake. The meals were excellent, very tasty, and the servers spoil you. It was an enjoyable lunch experience.
  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by BudKathy on June 26, 2005

NOLA
534 St. Louis St New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
+1 504 522 6652

Natchez SteamboatBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Natchez Paddleboat"

It was fun traveling down the Mississippi on a steam-fired paddleboat. You felt like you were going back in time to the days of paddleboats on the Mississippi. The captain was very knowledgeable about the history and sites along the river, including the freighters, Cape Kennedy, and the tugboats.
  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by BudKathy on June 12, 2005

Natchez Steamboat
2 Canal St New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
+1 504 586 8777

St. Charles StreetcarBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

It felt like you went back in time to the days when the mode of transportation was the streetcar. You could sense the history through the houses along the street dating back to the 1800s, some with separate staircases for the women and men. The restaurants along the way were both new and old. If you don't take the streetcar ride, you are missing a big piece of LA history.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by BudKathy on June 12, 2005

St. Charles Streetcar
Regional Transit Authority New Orleans, Louisiana
(504) 248-3900

Oak Alley PlantationBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

The Plantation is beautiful, with a postcard picture of the house with the 28 oak trees, about 350 years old, forming an arch that is called Oak Alley. The interior of the house has been restored with many items from the two owners of the house. They have the original dinner bell and one of the pots used for the sugar cane. There is another area called little oak alley with oak trees about 150 years old. The house has a 13-foot balcony which goes completely around the house where, in the hot weather, they would sleep on the balcony or would leave the doors open to the balcony for cross-ventilation. It was a very picturesque house and grounds.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by BudKathy on June 26, 2005

Oak Alley Plantation
3645 Highway 18 (Great River Rd,) New Orleans, Louisiana 70090
225-265-2151

New Orlean Tours Swamp TourBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Swamp Tour"

The Cajun Pride swamp tour is a privately owned swamp where the guide can feed the alligators. The guide tossed some marshmallows into the water, and the alligators come over to the boat. He stopped on a area of land where he met up with a group of raccoons who love marshmallows. They would sit up and beg for the marshmallows. The alligator came up on the land and the guide had to get the raccoons to leave. The guide then fed the alligator marshmallows and pieces of chicken; the alligators would jump for the chicken. At one point, the guide went out on the side perch of the boat and layed down and kissed this huge alligator. He also had a baby alligator that was only a few weekis old; he passed it around for everyone to hold if they wanted to. It was very peaceful on the swamp and all the different types of trees that grow there. It is a picturesque area. The tour was fun.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by BudKathy on June 26, 2005

New Orlean Tours Swamp Tour
233 N. Peters New Orleans, Louisiana

Blain Kern's Mardi Gras WorldBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World"

When we got to Mardi Gras World, they gave you a string of Mardi Gras beads with the jester on it. They then took you into a room with costumes, headdresses, and heads of celebrities and let you dress up and take pictures so you could see what it felt like for the people in the parades. After that, we began the tour; we went through rooms with props used on the floats, and in one room we saw someone putting a papermache layer on the Wicked Witch of the West. We saw another person working on making the fancy trim for the floats; we then continued on into the Big Room, which was being set up for a party that evening. In the room, there are three floats that are used every year by one of the krewes; the first was a mermaid with fiber optics, the next was a sea serpent with fiber optics, and the last one was the steam-paddle wheel boat in three sections, also fiber optics.

From there, we went into another section where they were working on the 2006 floats for Allah; several of the floats were there, and some were getting minor makeovers, while others were complete. There are 14 more buildings with floats and props stored in them. It was interesting and fun. The tour gives you a better understanding of Mardi Gras, what it is all about, and the size of the floats (huge). We also learned from the tour guide that the parades do not go down through the actual streets of the French Quarter but rather go around the boundaries of the French Quarters. The streets in the French Quarters are too narrow for these floats.

  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by BudKathy on June 26, 2005

Blain Kern's Mardi Gras World
233 Newton St New Orleans, Louisiana 70114
+1 504 362 8211

About the Writer

BudKathy
BudKathy
Florence, Massachusetts

Get the Word Out

Share this travel journal beyond IgoUgo with your favorite sharing tools.