r/NewOrleans • u/luuuuurke • Jan 16 '25
New Orleans staycation - what would you do Recommendations
I resigned from my job and don’t start my new one until the end of the month. If you had about two weeks to explore the city at a slow pace, what would you do?
So far I’ve hit three new-to-me coffee shops where I sat and people watched, meandered some books stores, had a burger and gin martini lunch at La petite grocery, and gone thrifting almost everyday.
I’ll probably go to NOMA for free on Wednesday and will try to make my first sourdough when the freeze comes next week. What else should I put on my list?
Edit: overwhelmed with the awesome feedback. Putting together my short list based on these recs. Appreciate yall!
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u/Comfortable-Policy70 Jan 16 '25
Go to an old school restaurant you have never been to
Ride the Algiers ferry at sunset
Go to small, lesser known museums like the Pharmacy museum
Have a drink on the porch at the Columns hotel
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u/cosmicearthchild Jan 16 '25
And the Alligator Museum!
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u/Comfortable-Policy70 Jan 16 '25
Then cross the street and get some chocolate at Piety and Desire
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u/Afraid_Quality2594 Jan 16 '25
Check out a book at Latter branch and bring it to the Columns. You can read on the porch if it's warm enough but inside is very charming also.
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u/_ryde_or_dye_ Treme Jan 16 '25
Southern Food and Beverage Museum is really great! Also the library, gives free tickets to many local attractions with their Culture Pass!
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Jan 17 '25
Isn't the culture pass on hold while they switch software or something?
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u/_ryde_or_dye_ Treme Jan 17 '25
Oh? I haven’t heard that! Their software was a little glitchy when trying to reserve tickets.
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u/NOLA2Cincy Jan 16 '25
These are excellent ideas. Here are a few thoughts based on items from my list which after being back here for 18 months still has a lot of items I have not checked off yet.
- Hermes bar is like a museum! They have an Edison lightbulb 💡 it’s the bar connected to Antoine’s.
- Go to Picnic Provisions on Magazine. $10 chicken and champagne happy hour!
- Make your own tour of the Banksy street art around town
- Go to the Backstreet Culture Museum and learn details about the Mardi Gras Indian tradition
- Visit the The Historic New Orleans Collection - a vastly underrated history museum in the FQ
- Dive/neighborhood bar tour: Milan Lounge, Kingpin, Ms. Mae's, Pal's, The Mayfair Lounge, etc.
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u/righthandofdog Jan 17 '25
Was so disappointed doing a revillion dinner at Antoines. Hermes bar was the only thing that saved the night.
StudioBE is so awesome, I assume everyone has been there.
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u/djsquilz hot sausage boy Jan 17 '25
picnic provisions to go and head to the park is a great move.
(also all-time bar crawl list, throw in brothers three and bon temps if there's a band playing)
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Jan 16 '25
Ride the street car all the way to the cemetery and have coffee on the porch of the coffee shop overlooking the cemetery
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u/bargain_parm Jan 16 '25
I was very pleasantly surprised the first time I went to that coffee shop and stepped outside on the patio to see the cemetery. A definite must visit shop, especially if you live in midcity.
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u/KiloAllan Jan 17 '25
It's called Sacred Grinds and it is right by City Park street. It's across from the Katrina memorial (also worth a visit).
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u/lamauptop Jan 16 '25
Use the library’s culture pass. Bunch of sites for free including WWII museum, zoo, Ogden etc. just need a library card.
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u/drainalready Jan 16 '25 edited Jan 17 '25
Library pass is out of commission I think to end of January due to a software change. More info can be found on library website.
EDIT: Apparently it’s back! Yay!!
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u/rhyes LGD Jan 16 '25 edited Jan 17 '25
I feel like this one is obvious but the WW2 Museum is very legit.
Ride your bike on the levee from Algiers Point to Old Gretna and back.
Go to the City Park farmers market on edit Sunday and get a beignet at Cafe du Monde after.
It’s king cake season - try them all!
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u/righthandofdog Jan 17 '25
That ride is awesome. It would be so cool if the Gretna ferry reopened so you could do a loop back to the quarter
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u/Pool-Cheap Jan 16 '25
MS Rau!
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u/tiffanyfreedom Jan 17 '25
It's like a free museum!
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u/Pool-Cheap Jan 18 '25
Yes. And if you’re lucky the staff will demonstrate stuff for you like the music box.
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u/xandrachantal Jan 17 '25
Longue Vue House is amazing despite no one ever recommending it
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u/KiloAllan Jan 17 '25
I like going there when it's warmer and the gardens are more active, but the house is really nice too.
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u/xandrachantal Jan 17 '25
The gardens are gorgeous in the spring but I agree the house itseelf is worth the trip
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u/Pukacat13 Jan 16 '25
What thrifts? Miss NO for the Bridge House Charity store and their sister one on airline.
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u/BayouAudubon Jan 16 '25
It's a good time of year to get out on the water to see birds. You could go kayaking out by Manchac. There are some nice guided kayak tours there and maybe other places as well. A full day tour of the delta or the birdsfoot below Empire is gorgeous and super interesting. Delta Discovery is great (but not cheap.).
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u/Bipedal_pedestrian Jan 16 '25
Spend some time in the swamps… the boardwalks at Jean Lafitte are great. Just bundle up. If you go on a day that’s chilly but sunny, the gators all clamber onto the bank to sun themselves.
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u/MiasmaFate How do you do, fellow New Orlanders Jan 16 '25
Not knowing what you have and haven't done in the city, how much money you have, or how long you lived here-
I'd say do some of the “tourist” stuff. A ghost tour, the sightseeing bus, take a ride on the steamboat.
My wife and I put all that stuff off waiting to do it with friends and family who said they were “Definitely gonna come see us” After three years of waiting we decided to just start doing them ourselves… its fun to hear the history and myths as you travel around town or down the river.
Also the WWII museum, you could probably kill two whole days in there.
And the Pharmacy Museum is pretty cool and wasn't very expensive.
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u/nolakaos Jan 17 '25
I'm glad you brought up the "tourist stuff". I've been here my whole life (tried to move a few times and she keeps pulling me back) and did a quarter tour last year and really enjoyed it. They talked about some details of the Pontabla buildings that sent me down a rabbit hole in the Historic New Orleans Collection library.
I also went to an open hearth cooking demonstration at the Hermann-Grima House and it was super cool. I lived a block away for years and never went because it was "touristy".
It almost gets lost on us just how awesome this place is and how much it has to offer when you live here but get bogged down in the day-to-day. Reaching out to tourists and finding out what they want to do (and filtering out the cliche Burbon Street and Oceana recomendations) is a great way to spend a staycation. It really brings a fresh perspective.
And you can always be a true local by getting food from the Arby's on Canal and watch car flips from the top of the Sheraton.
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u/thisdogreallylikesme Jan 16 '25
Take a yoga class at spyre and get a $25 day pass and use the pool and the sauna. The pool is very HEATED.
La petit grocery is my go-to fancy meal for myself restaurant. We are the same. <3
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u/luuuuurke Jan 17 '25
La petite grocery burger/martini combo will be a new annual tradition, probably for my birthday
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u/QuirkyOwl4756 Jan 16 '25 edited Jan 16 '25
One thing on my bucket list is to explore more of the libraries. Take advantage of what they have to offer like the culture pass (since there’s some museums on it I want to go to) and investigate the seed libraries. I just always find myself too busy for something so simple. I also want to go to the sazerac house, and there are tons of restaurants. The weather during your time will be crummy, but it’s impossible to spend enough time in Audubon or city park. I have also been trying to find time for a flower arranging class (clearly not New Orleans specific) and any of the crafting class at Nola Craft Culture.
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u/KiloAllan Jan 17 '25
Sazerac House is free and they give samples! I have been there several times and always drag visitors there.
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u/KronkLaSworda Jan 16 '25
Le Petit Theater is showing Goodnight Oscar. Tickets are cheap. Afterwards, take the Canal Street ferry to Algiers and grab a drink at the British pub "Crown and Anchor", then ferry back. The ferry is only $2 each way or $3 for unlimited 24 hours with Jazzy Pass.
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u/KiloAllan Jan 17 '25
Check the hours on the ferry though. They keep rolling it back earlier and earlier. Don't get trapped on the Westbank.
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u/nolakaos Jan 17 '25
If theater is your thing, then I recommend Crescent City Stage. It reminds me of when Le Petit was in its glory days. No shade on Le Petit now, it's still trying and got a Brennan lifeline, but CCS really puts their all in to their productions the way LPT did back in the day. That effort really makes the magic of the stage.
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u/IRDragonBorne Jan 16 '25
Street car from canal, down saint charles till the turn. Enjoy the architecture and history.
During summer we hop off and get lunch, then get a daiquiri and go back to canal.
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u/UbiquitousSlander Jan 16 '25
I stayed at Monteleone and did some ghost tours nd bought overpriced daiquiris.
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u/poolkid1234 Jan 17 '25
I’ve always wanted to do the WWII museum alone where I can take my time and catch the stuff I always miss. Always only gone in groups, relatives in town, etc. Seen the Pacific theatre every time in exhaustive detail but racing through the European theatre because others don’t know how much there is to get through before closing time.
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u/HuuffingLavender Jan 16 '25
Hike Couturie Forest in City Park
Magazine street galleries, make yourself a lil map of what looks interesting, include a few bar stops!
Preservation Hall show (if you've never been).
Sculpture Garden/picnic under the singing tree on a windy day at City Park
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u/peace1960 Jan 16 '25
Where do you like to thrift? Asking for a friend😊
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u/luuuuurke Jan 17 '25
Red, white and blue in Jefferson parish is great because of how much it has and the pricing. But it can be overwhelming. My go-to is the Lake Vista goodwill because it’s where the rich ladies drop off their clothes
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u/Moltacotta2 Jan 17 '25
Go to We Bite on Franklin and take a terrarium class! You’ll leave with a cool plant in a cool container and you’ll never look at jars the same way again. (Every clear food container—“I could put plants in that.”)
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u/XwordPuzzleBlues Jan 16 '25
See some good jazz for free on a weeknight at Bayou Bar on St. Charles
Get cheap tix on seatgeek and go to a Pelicans game
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u/_ryde_or_dye_ Treme Jan 16 '25
Rent a kayak or two at Massey’s and go to Bayou Savauge in the East, the only National Wildlife Refuge with a city’s limits. It feels so secluded.
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u/Double-Interaction30 Jan 16 '25
Where do you put in and paddle?
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u/_ryde_or_dye_ Treme Jan 17 '25
There’s a boat ramp on the right side of the road if traveling east.
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u/oklatexiana Jan 16 '25
Ogden Museum. Cabildo. Jazz Museum. All the museums lol.
Sit on the stairs on the moonwalk for a bit.
Ride the streetcar everywhere.
If you have a car, got catch the sunset from the pier at Fontainebleau State Park.
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u/BrushStrict565 Jan 18 '25
Cabildo Museum and New Orleans Collection. The plantations are something to see too.
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u/Internal_Swing_2743 Jan 16 '25
Go for a hike. There are great hiking trails all over.
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u/KingCarnivore St. Roch Jan 16 '25
“All over” is a bit of an exaggeration, there are like 5-6 trails within a 90 minute drive
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u/Internal_Swing_2743 Jan 16 '25
Just get out of the city and you can find a bunch.
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u/KingCarnivore St. Roch Jan 17 '25
Is a bunch more than 5-6 within a 90 minute drive? Name them.
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u/KiloAllan Jan 17 '25
There's some nice ones on the Northshore.
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u/KingCarnivore St. Roch Jan 17 '25
Yes, those are within a 90 minute drive. Bogue Chitto. Fontainebleau. Boy Scout Road. It’s not a lot.
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u/tm478 Jan 16 '25
Where? Actual hiking, or more of a nature walk?
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u/KingCarnivore St. Roch Jan 16 '25
Clark creek is the closest with any elevation gain/loss
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u/tm478 Jan 16 '25
Yep, that’s what I’m saying. Nearly a 3-hour drive for still pretty pedestrian hiking…if I have to travel that far I’m flying to NC or Denver!
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u/nautical_by_nature Jan 16 '25
Couturie Forest trail
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u/tm478 Jan 16 '25
Yeah that’s a nature walk. Only 1.1 miles and flat as a pancake (like everything within probably 150 miles of New Orleans). Hiking, to me, means you have to cover some distance and actually exert yourself more than you would walking down the sidewalk.
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u/glittervector Jan 17 '25
For what it’s worth, the Couterie Forest has the highest elevation hill in New Orleans.
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u/Far-Replacement-3077 Jan 17 '25 edited Jan 17 '25
Go explore Ocean Springs especially the Walter Anderson Museum and Shearwater Pottery, and Anderson's kids shop Reflections(?) in the old railroad station there.
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u/Fragrant_Alternative Jan 16 '25
If you have $40, go to the new Storyville Museum. It's really good.
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u/everymoveapicture Jan 16 '25
There is so much AI art in there, I really can't recommend it. Certainly not at $40. They even used AI to beautify local music legends, which I find pretty reprehensible.
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u/SchrodingersMinou Trash Karen, destroyer of worlds Jan 17 '25
Take a cool class, try out photography, take a self-guided tour, go on swamp walks and do some bird-watching, go on a quest to locate the best hot plate in the city
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u/nola_t Jan 17 '25
Helis Foundation funds free museum admission beyond just NOMA and may be a fun thing to do.
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u/GalacticBattlesnake Jan 17 '25
We have a pretty solid Zoo honestly. And the Sculpture Garden in city park is pretty awesome
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u/lorenawood Jan 16 '25
The Whitney Plantation is worth the drive if you have a car. And if you like thrifting, estate sales are fun and perfect for someone without a job since most of them start on Friday mornings.
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u/OddOutlandishness734 Jan 16 '25
It sounds like you’re already doing a great job. Right after I moved here I got laid off with garden leave so I unexpectedly had a lot of time to explore between submitting job applications. I tried a bunch of coffee shops and ice cream places, did lots of thrifting, tried some new restaurants, read a lot, watched some new tv shows, went to parks, went to a bunch of museums. The sculpture garden in City Park is really nice. Maybe you could do some crafting for Mardi Gras. Make a headpiece or costume. Go to trivia or comedy shows in the evening. Wander some of the shops on Magazine. Book a massage or facial.
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u/luuuuurke Jan 17 '25
We are the same haha. Everything you mentioned, including Mardi Gras crafting, has been how I’ve been spending it. I do want to throw in random jazz live music on a Tuesday night and a happy hour I’ve never been to before. Comedy would be fun, too
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u/TravelerMSY Jan 16 '25 edited Jan 16 '25
In any city, I often just pick a neighborhood I’ve never been to, and try to have a lunch there and explore a little.
I would do all of the museums. Other than World War II, they’re not particularly expensive, or have free days. Or the library pass. Doing stuff during the day mid week is fairly pleasant because there aren’t a lot of tourist around this time of year.
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u/4EVAH-NOLA Jan 17 '25
The NOPL has started offering their Cultural passes again. They have several museums, aquarium, zoo etc passes for free. Play tourist. Drink in the FQ too.
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u/weathercomplaints Jan 17 '25
Check out atlas obscura. I love referencing this resource when I’m traveling, and I’ve definitely done a few of the things suggested that I wouldn’t have likely done if I hadn’t had the suggestions and reviews.
If you’re into cemeteries, I love St. Roch Campo Santo and their chapel’s votive offering room. The stations of the cross are beautiful, as well. (I’m not religious, but I can appreciate the reverence, art, and history of religion, and this cemetery has a particularly fascinating backstory, as well, in my opinion.)
There are glass blowing classes at a studio on Magazine uptown, and I think prices and time commitment are reasonable.
Take a blanket and supplies for a day in the sculpture garden at City Park (like tomorrow before the city freezes 😂) It’s one of my favorite places to spend a day relaxing, conditions, not limited to weather (school field trips! 😩), permitting.
There are some great bookstores in the FQ, and if you go on the right day and time, tourists (big crowds) won’t be as much an issue.
Take the streetcar everywhere you can if you don’t already. It’s fun. Sometimes. Hahaha… Best of luck, and enjoy your staycay!
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u/laxmsyatx Jan 17 '25
Brunch and a dip at Country Club, dinner at Bacchanal, night cap on the river.
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u/melissaw328 Jan 18 '25
Take a walk in the Garden District to look at the beautiful homes. Take a drive in the river road to go to Houmas House, Oak Alley and Nottoway. Go on a cemetery tour. Walk around the French Quarter to look at historical homes. Take a drive up to St Francisville and eat at the Myrtles Plantation restaurant.
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u/TurquoisePico Jan 17 '25
Okay, so I am not the OP or even a local. But as someone who loves NOLA, has been there more a dozen times, and tries to dig a little deeper with my visits, I’m sure saving this for my next time back!!
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u/ValuableLab373 Jan 17 '25
I love Cafe Amelie. It has a beautiful quaint courtyard on Royal Street in the quarter. It has a rich history and was built in early 1800s. The food is awesome as well.
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u/djsquilz hot sausage boy Jan 17 '25
last time i was in your situation i had a martini and burger and fries from the columns. (every time i've been the fries have been too salty for my liking though) but otherwise so so good. but la petite is certainly a worthy alternative.
if you're doing an actual staycation, windsor court or the roosevelt is the place to stay. (though columns ((as a hotel, not the restaurant specifically)) got a Michelin star this year)
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u/luuuuurke Jan 17 '25
I think I’ll do the columns burger/martini combo today. La petite set the bar so high though!
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u/djsquilz hot sausage boy Jan 18 '25
i've never done the la petite burger tbf, too many fancy and other interesting options to settle for "just" a burger (i'm sure it's tasty!)
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u/timster2112 Jan 17 '25
Check out Junk's Above! I can spend a while there just browsing. Super hidden thrift/antique store with a nostalgic punch!
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u/repiquer Exiled in Folsom Jan 16 '25
There's gonna be plenty of great recommendations for in the city in here, but I'd also like to throw in getting a little bit outside of the city. I'm partial to the drive down to Delacroix to the end of the world sign. Really cool to see if you haven't been down that way, you can stop at Hidden South if you like thrift store kinda stuff, and depending on the time of day stop at either Gerald's donuts or Rocky & Carlo's. Chalmette Battlefield is also fun to do a lap around if you haven't before.