5 Packed Days in New Orleans

Day 1

• Land at MSY and take uber to hotel. We stayed at the St James which was a great option - reasonably priced, walking distance to museums and French Quarter, but removed from the noise.
• Visit the Museum of Southern Jewish Heritage. This is a new, somewhat small museum, but interesting!
• See an intimate jazz show at Preservation Hall. This came highly recommended from everyone and I'm so glad we did it. One of the musicians said "NOW you can tell everyone you went to New Orleans" and it's true! Note they don't sell drinks, food, or even have a bathroom, but you can bring in drinks from somewhere else.
• Drinks at Pat O'Briens
• Walk down Bourbon street at night. We did this somewhat aimlessly, walking in and out of a few places, but you can stay longer at a place that has an appealing vibe.

Day 2

• Plantation tour through Cajun Encounters 
  • See Oak Alley and Laura
  • They pick you up from your hotel and drop off, which is super convenient. They give you the option to do 1 plantation or 2, but I'm glad we did 2 - there was enough time for both of them, and they tell two different stories.
• See a live jazz show and drinks at the Spotted Cat. This was a highlight of the trip! Great band, we stayed for over two hours.
• Late night desserts at Cafe Du Monde

Day 3

• Swamp tour through Jean Lafitte Swamp Tours
  • They pick you up from your hotel and drop off. Super convenient and really cool!
• Take a streetcar to City Park - it's $3 for a 24 hour pass, so you can keep using it for a bit. The streetcar itself is a fun experience but then once you get to the park there's a lot to do.
• Visit the New Orleans Museum of Art at the park
• Walk around the sculpture garden at the park (free)
• Walk around Langles Bridge at the park. This was really just a beautiful area and we got a ton of amazing pictures. Then take the streetcar back to the city.
• Late night drinks at The Drinkery for more live music, walk around Bourbon Street.

Day 4

• World War II Museum 
• Be sure to see the Tom Hanks movie there! The museum is really incredible and huge. There are multiple buildings.
• Walk along the Mississippi River in the French Quarter
• Visit the Holocaust Memorial along the river
• View Steamboat Natchez - you can also do a dinner cruise on the boat, but we opted to just take some pictures with it!
• Nighttime walk around Bourbon Street, drinks at the Cat's Meow which is a fun karaoke bar.

Day 5

• Visit the Historic New Orleans Collection - free museum within French Quarter. Maybe we should've done this the first day because it goes into the whole history of the area.
• Get beignets from Cafe Du Monde one last time before leaving!
• Sign up for a tour at Sazerac House for its history of alcohol and cocktails and view the distillery. This was a total hidden gem that we happened upon because it was near the hotel. It's a self guided tour that takes about 60-90 minutes with lots of interactive exhibits and you can sample 3 cocktails along the way!
• Uber back to the airport!