Joan of Arc: Maid of Orleans and Patron Saint of New Orleans
One spirit with the most enduring mark on the city of New Orleans belongs to a woman who lived in the early 1400s, nearly 300 years before Iberville and Bienville staked their claim of this land for the French – Joan of Arc. Long hailed as the patron saint of NOLA, the ancient woman was born in Orléans, France, a sister city and namesake of New Orleans. We celebrate Joan of Arc each year on January 6, which also happens to be the start of the Carnival season, but who is this French woman so revered in a city thousands of miles from her birthplace?
Read More
Ghosts in the Cold: The Story of Julie
The cold rarely lingers in New Orleans, but every once in a while, we find ourselves in a brief but deep winter. Nights like these bring to mind one of the most notorious NOLA ghost stories – the tale of Julie.
Read More
Cajun Night Before Christmas: A South Louisiana Tradition
You can always tell it’s the holiday season in South Louisiana when someone dusts off a copy of Cajun Night Before Christmas, a retelling of the classic tale with a few distinctly bayou-based twists. If you take a swamp tour with us, it’s not hard to tell why this version might sound just a little different than the traditional tale: the Cajun accent of South Louisiana is heavily influenced by “Louisiana French,” a dialect of French that has developed since the arrival of the Acadians in region back in the 1700s. It definitely doesn’t sound strictly French, but it isn’t quite a southern accent either.
Read More
Christmas Bonfires: A Unique South Louisiana Experience
Families come together between Thanksgiving and Christmas to build large wooden structures, some simple pyramid shapes and some elaborate constructions of local landmarks and more, and on Christmas Eve night, they light these structures stretched all along the levee system, creating quite the spectacle.
Read More
Native American History Month: A Look at the Original New Orleans Inhabitants
You cannot understand the history of New Orleans without looking back further than the European settlement of this area. While the city of New Orleans celebrated its 300th anniversary of cityhood in 2018, the land itself has been home to indigenous peoples for much longer than that.
Read More
Where to Eat on Thanksgiving Day in New Orleans
New Orleans is a city that loves to eat, especially when it comes to big holidays. So if you find yourself in town for Thanksgiving Day this year, here are a few places you can feast. Be sure to make reservations so you have a guaranteed spot at any of these fantastic restaurants:
Read More
Samuel Zemurray: the Banana Man of New Orleans
Peel away at the story of the banana, the most consumed fruit in the United States, and you will find a history of mythic proportions – power, corruption, political coups, and at the heart of it, an immigrant businessman who made New Orleans the hub of his empire.
Read More
The Best Autumn Happenings Around New Orleans
Since we do not have the luxury of changing foliage to announce the arrival of autumn in New Orleans, we have to look to other markers around the city. Thankfully with a little research, you can find a few things to do and the obvious indicators that it is the perfect time to FALL in love with NOLA!
Read More
Daylight Savings Blues: The Last 4pm Swamp Tour of the Season is Saturday Nov. 5
Daylight Savings Time is awesome: All that extra sunlight when we are actually awake and doing something. But every autumn (for now), we must fall back. Standard Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday Nov. 6 this year.
Read More
The Most Instagrammable Spots Around New Orleans
A visit to New Orleans is a feast for your senses, and while we are known for our incredibly decadent food scene, you will quickly find that the colors and textures of the city mean that photo opportunities are never in short supply! Here are just a few of the fantastically photogenic spots around New Orleans that are sure to liven up your Instagram feed today.
Read More
