Rating:8.5/10 I love…read morea carefully curated museum. I like a place that feels open to roam free but full of great views and art pieces. I spent 2 hours at NOMA for the day and enjoyed myself. Wednesdays are free for locals so please come!

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) is located in City Park and is easily accessible with a car…read morewith free parking or you can take the #48 street car to the park entrance and then walk a couple hundred yards to its front door. Inside it's a white marble stone interior on a 3 story floor plan. The first floor entrance is a large open atrium where you can buy tickets. It is also a great place for a party or reception with its grand staircase. They recommend to start on the 3rd floor and work your way down. Floor 3 had African, Central American, China, India, and Japan artwork. I saw pottery, drawings, sculptures and other antiquities. Floor 2 was much larger In square footage. It included some contemporary art including a full size gold log cabin that you can walk into. There were modern pictures of water and wetlands and then some traditional oil on canvas old European paintings. Floor 1 had traveling exhibits along with more Old World European paintings including some Italian paintings from the 13th century.. I enjoyed my visit to NOMA. It is a quality art museum that is worth your time to visit. Budget 90-120 minutes. It has a gift shop and small cafe. Also, visit the free Besthoff Sculpture Garden outside next to the museum. It is excellent and quite large in size. You walk on a path past many unique outdoor art statues and displays.

Beautiful, huge oak tree. A must-see historical landmark while walking in City Park, NOLA. The…read moreSpanish moss and the shape of the oak tree is a sight to see in-person.

In the 1800s duels we're fought under the Oaks nearly daily. Sometimes 200-300 people hurried from…read morethe city to witness these human baitings. On the occasion of one duel the spectators could stand no more, drew their swords, and there was a general melee. The Spanish and French would settle their differences with swords and pistols under the oak. One of the Dueling Oaks was destroyed by a hurricane in the 1940's. The remaining one is thought to be 300 years old with a height of 70 feet and a girth of 25 feet. You've also seen these oaks featured in many movies

I no longer shop at Fleurty Girl so this is my first choice alternative for locally owned and…read morelocally supported vendors. A wide selection of gifts, kitchen, bath, jewelry, outdoor, baby, books and decor. They carry some of my favorite jewelers including Mimosa and Jade that always get compliments. A database tracks purchases making returns easy through digital means if necessary. Friendly staff and an exceptionally curated collection of goods.

This is a wonderful gift shop, that specializes in local artist made items. If you are looking for…read morequality items to gift or take home as a souvenir of your visit to New Orleans, this shop is a great choice! The staff are very friendly and welcoming. The offerings are interesting and well made. The store is pleasantly arranged and easy to browse. Prices are fair. (This is NOT a French Quarter junky souvenir shop!)

So much fun to visit City Park in New Orleans on the first day of Spring. (It's actually one of the…read moreplaces that I visit almost every trip to New Orleans.) The park is sprawling. Covering 1300 acres, it is one of the largest urban parks in the US. Bike trails, walking trails, museums, restaurants, sculpture gardens, botanicals gardens and an amusement park for kids. What more could you want? Love art? Check out NOMA. This is often on my agenda. Love the rotating exhibits, Newcomb pottery and collection of impressionist paintings. I use my Graycliff annual pass for reciprocal admission fees. Bonus: One of my besties works here! Want art outdoors? The newly expanded sculpture garden is so beautiful and free to explore. Frank Stella. Yaacov Agam. Beverly Pepper. Take a photo with LOVE by Robert Indiana. Don't sit on Bear with Us by Frank Gehry. Feel free to walk across the Mississippi Meaders Bridge. Take a selfie in the Mirrors Labyrinth. Love to talk a walk here. Sorry, GiGi. No dogs allowed. Love flowers? If you are lucky, you may see tulips or wildflowers. Or visit the New Orleans Botanic Garden. It's also included on the Graycliff Martin annual reciprocal pass. The garden is filled with azaleas, camellias and beds of roses. Love the native Louisiana raised vegetable beds and the butterfly garden. Sit under the oaks on a park bench or a swing to take a rest. Like art? Explore the large collection of Enrique Alfarez sculptures spread throughout the garden. Hungry? Thirsty? This is the best place to visit Cafe du Monde. No lines and the parking is free and so much easier than the quarter. Order a cafe au lait or a hot chocolate with a plate of beignets. Then grab a table with a green umbrella outside to enjoy the sunshine and the famous oak trees in the park. City Park has one of the largest collections of Live Oak trees in the world. Have a kid? Or just feel like a kid? Storyland is so cute! Created by Mardi Gras float makers, it is a New Orleans classic full of whimsy. Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Mother Goose. It is filled with fairy tale and nursery rhyme classics. Fun fact: New Orleans City Park is one of the largest parks in the US. At 1,300 square acres it is almost twice as large as New York's Central Park which is just a little over 800 square acres and does not make the top twenty for size. (But Central Park is still amazing, too!) Parking is free. Or come by streetcar. It stops near NOMA. Thanks for the free flowers on the first day of spring.

I'd recommend City Park to anyone. It's a great spot for walking, running, photo shoots, picnics,…read moreand just enjoying some fresh air. It's very relaxing and a huge plus that you don't have to go far to feel surrounded by nature. There's always plenty of space and you can easily find a place to sit and unwind. I come out here a few times a week for walks and usually on Saturdays with my run club. It's one of my favorite places in the city to reset and stay active.

Absolutely LOVE LCM! They have so many things to explore. I mostly love their outdoor area. Great…read morefor letting littles run free and explore. You really could spend hours here. The Acorn Cafe is always delicious and their prices are actually really great. You can purchase food to feed the turtles for 25¢ inside the Cafe.

This museum is super engaging and really clean. It's bright and airy with many fun, functional,…read moreinteractive exhibits. There are also some comfy areas to just chill and take a break. I loved sitting in a window nook and watching the birds on the lake outside while the kids played nearby and my daughter joined when she needed some downtime. We thought our ten year olds may be too old for a children's museum, but they still had a blast, although they were some of the oldest kids there. It was a chilly day so we didn't partake of the outdoor areas but have enjoyed them in the past. This is a great spot to give the kids a chance to play for a few hours.

Ain't no rain like Louisiana Rain. The sky opened up on the first day of the fest and did not stop…read moreuntil very late in the night. So yeah, there was mud. Lots of it. We're veterans of Lollapalooza Chicago, we were prepared, wearing our worst tennis shoes and let them get destroyed. We will, no doubt, wash them and save them for our next fest. The walk from Uber was a bit longer than we anticipated. It was easy entry through security without bags. The craft beer tent, Brew Dat has good selections for a fest and was covered by a large canopy. Prices were what you expect at a music fest. Staff was super friendly and some were costumed. We waited about 15 minutes for the haunted cemetery. It was not very scary but it was cool. Actors did a good job. Modelo had a cool pavilion with activities. I took advantage of the free face painting. House of Blues was a great area, with music and spicy shrimp po' boys for $9.00. If it were not so muddy we would have looked at the other food options but the rain and mud got old and eating under a tent was a much better option. Bonus points for the cool HOB VooDoo fest bandanas they gave with purchase. Guns N' Roses headlined Friday night, played for 3 hours and surpassed all expectations. Slash is still so very cool. Damn. Bishop Briggs keeps improving. Not sure who was playing in the HOB tent but damn it was a fine sounding high energy performance. Grandson was a fun surprise as was Brandi Carlile. Merch tent had some great stuff, priced as expected. Lines were not bad. I wanted to buy a poster but couldn't bring myself to spend the $$ for something that would likely get soaked in the rain. I would have liked to walk around and see more, but the rain and mud were too much after a while. Getting an Uber out was a cluster but they were trying to keep it somewhat together.

My first time in New Orleans was memorable on its own but adding Voodoo festival to the shenanigans…read morehad its potential but did not live up to my expectations. As a huge fanatic of all things Halloween, and following their page on instagram, it was presented that it would be heavily Halloween themed. But it was lack luster. There were of course festival goers dressed up which is fun but they did not put much creativity into decorating it as so. The line-up was good, had a variety of genres, big names and underground names which is appreciated. When I saw one of my top 5 fav bands Modest Mouse, the sound quality was not good. I barely could understand what Brock the lead singer was singing. I have seen them live in the past at the Miami Beach Jackie Gleason theatre and the sound quality was crisp. One of my top annoyances was the unexpected quick sand-like mud that covered about 60% of the park. It was uncomfortable and irritating to constantly maneuver thru not only the mud but the tremendously big crowds, in which the crowd was also a disappointment. I thought everyone would be friendly but not so and immature which I think the all ages welcomed is responsible for this. The layaway option was great even though they tact a $10 fee for it. And enjoying 3 days for just $180 was great but with what was left to the imagination, that is a reasonable price. The wrist band, which is another $9 mandatory fee got mailed to me, and its pretty. And I liked how you can sync your credit card to the bracelet via their app to make paying for drinks and food easy. Variety of food was extensive, there was something for everyone. I tried a caprese crepe and it was nasty! The tomato was watery and it was all I tasted. The pesto had no flavor and the cheese was rubbery. Would I come back to New Orleans? Hell yeah! I fell in love with that beautiful city. Would I return to Voodoo? Absolutely not. And I actually keep forgetting I even went.

Very pleasant spot to drop by if you're in city park. There was a slight breeze when we went so the…read morechimes weren't super loud. Worth the trek through the grass to stand under the tree for a bit.

Pedaling around New Orleans City Park we happened upon one of the most unexpected delights ~ The…read moreSinging Oak. The Singing Oak was designed by artist Jim Hart as part of the "Big Lake Project" to make better use of the section of the park that neighbors (aka east of) the New Orleans Art Museum in City Park and adjacent to Big Lake. The large oak tree more than 100 years old with dozens of wind chimes hanging and yesss singing from its branches. FUN Fact: One of the chimes in the Singing Oak is 14 feet long! As you approach the majestic Singing Oak you instantly find peace and serenity as the wind chimes find perfect and purposeful harmony dancing above you. Sit down enjoy the performance along with the shade from the Singing Oak and the company of others and maybe a few geese or two.

Always a fun experience. You just have to see it. Make sure you do several loops around you might…read morehave missed something.

Cutest antique, vintage, consignment shop. Prices are reasonable. Service was friendly.read more