The things to do in New Orleans are easy to find and deal with, since the city's main industry is tourism. There are really very few "scam" type operations (relatively speaking) so if you're a normally experienced, or even inexperienced, traveller, you'll probably be happy with what you experience. Here are some specific recommendations:
Don't walk Canal Street at night. If your hotel concierge suggests a particular area to walk in, or not walk in, LISTEN to him. The city is a checkerboard of good neighborhoods smack up against bad neighborhoods, and many muggings recently have lead to murders. Don't be a statistic. It's a typical poor American inner city, so it has that level of crime. But it also is a typical poor Caribbean plantation city, so the social markers are distinct from what you're probably familiar with, and might trip you up a bit.
You can adequately spend ALL your time in the French Quarter. For a two or three day trip to NOLa, I find it hard to believe you could exhaust the experiences there. That will allay some of your safety fears.
Restaurants:
1. the Palace on Canal. crabmeat cheesecake. Amazing. Run by the Brennan family. About $30 per person. Reservations recommended, but not necessarily, semi-casual or business nice.
2. Brennan's in the FQ. Breakfast is special there. $30. Reservations, semi-casual.
3. Mothers' on Poydras for either diner-breakfast, or po-boy sandwiches. If you're getting a sandwich, get the Ferdi or the Debris. You heard me right. $10. Line up.
4. Uglesich's at Erato and Dryades for lunch. Arrive at 11:30 or a bit earlier, take a cab, you won't find it on your own and you'll get shot if you try. Fried, fried, fried, but very creative. Recommended: Paul's Fantasy, Trout Anthony, or Muddy Waters. $20. Line up, business attire.
5. Acme Oyster house on (I think) Iberville (if not Bienville), just off Bourbon, in FQ. Best raw oysters in city, except for Uglesich's (see above). Also, "poopahs" are good but not normal. Eat Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, or a bisque instead. $20. Line up.
6. Nine-hundred-star (ok, so I'm biased, 5 stars ... out of 4) French traditional. Galatoire's on Bourbon St in FQ. $40. Reservations, coat and tie.
7. Central Grocery on Decatur in FQ, get a Muffelletta (various spellings), an Italian sourdough-loaf olive-spread deli-meat sandwich. $7. Line up.
8. Outside the FQ, Domilice's po-boys in Irish Channel. Take a cab. Or rent a car and view the Garden District large fancy homes on the way. $7. Line up.
9. Another nine-billion-star traditional nicey nicey restaurant, probably the city's best, is Commander's Palace in the Garden District. $50. Reservations, coat and tie. Creme brulee, mmmm.
10. Cafe du Monde. Coffee with chickory, ask waiter to add cream ("cafe au lait") or drink black. Requires sugar. Beignets (French deep-fried flat doughnoughts). The place to meet, hang, crash. Open 24-7 for 364 days of the year, closed Xmas. $3. Just sit.
11. In The Marigny (next "faubourg" or neighborhood over from FQ) are three neato places: Snug Harbor (see below); Cafe Brazil (drinks, $5); Praline Connection (soul food -- really!), $30, casual. Praline Conn. is a bit "performance" oriented for me -- everyone professionally says "y'all". But the food is just like I grew up with -- which, to me, is just normal, and I wouldn't pay extra for it, but to you it might be real special to get some Sweet 'Tater Pie and Po'k Chops. Really.
Tourist traps, best avoided, but not really the end of the world if you go there: Ralph and Cacoo's, Court of Two Sisters, Felix's Oysters (OK, but Acme across the street is cheaper and better).
Sights to see, music.
1. Bourbon Street. Just walk it, watch for pickpockets, from Canal to St. Peter or so. Then cut back toward the Mississippi River and check out ...
2. Place D'Armes (Jackson Square) including Cathedral, Presbetyre, Cabildo, Moon Walk, River, Cafe du Monde, Jax Brewery (now a decent localized shopping mall).
3. French Market. Down from Cafe du Monde. Lotsa funky produce. On Decatur about three streets "up" (away from Canal) from Cafe du Monde is the official city tourism office. Lots of deals, coupons, etc.
Everything in that rectangle -- Canal Street, Mississippi River, Bourbon Street, St. Peter Street, or so -- is safe for promenading. So are the bottom two blocks, from River (block zero) up to Decatur and a bit all the way from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue. That "lower third" of the FQ is the touristy, antique-y zone. The opposite end -- closest to the intersection of Rampart and Esplanade (look at a map!) is less trafficked, hence more muggings. Rampart equals bad. Generally speaking, of course.
I'll be leaving Wed, Jan 7th for 60+ days away from home. The main focus of the trip is a family visit & I'll be staying with family almost the entire time I'm gone.
I'm not really computer-saavy at all & need some help in this area. Specifically...is there a way of accessing the TER site without leaving any "cookies" behind? A rent-time computer will probably not be easily available, so unless I can somehow eliminate the cookie-crumbs, I'll be absent from TER until approximately mid-January.
And while I'm at it....does anyone have any recommendations for New Orleans? Other than the airport, I've never seen the city & have decided to spend a couple of days there. Any tips on where to stay, what to see, best places to eat, etc would be greatly appreciated. Oh Yeah....if there are any really great ladies, I'd be interested in knowing about them as well.
Can't help you with the cookie question or with the ladies. I've only been there once (with my SO) several years ago but the city was something to see. Everywhere we ate had great food, especially the Creole dishes and the bread pudding. I would guess that Brennan's has the best rep over the years. Plus, there's always Emeril's place, whatever it's called. Anyway, you can't go wrong with the food. We stayed at a Sheraton on Canal (I think), but if I were to go again I'd contact a travel agent and stay at one of the old, elegant places in the French Quarter (they don't always look great from the outside, but they are beautiful on the inside). Then you'll be right in the center of the Jazz clubs and fine dining. Of course, you have to stop in at Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait.
Again, sorry I can't help with the ladies, but have a great time.
Cookies are stored in a folder called "cookies". I don't recall where it is located on Win 9x but in Windows 2000 it is a subfolder to the "Documents and Settings" folder.
To search for the Cookies folder, right click the "My Computer" icon then do a search on the C drive for a folder called "Cookies". Once found, go there and delete any or all cookies you wish. Be sure to follow through by emptying the Recycle Bin, as they will be moved there.
Windows keeps a history of recently visited web pages in a cache folder. I you want your browsing to remain private, you will also need to delete all of these files. They are cached in a folder called "Temp" which, depending on what version OS you are using, is either in the root directory or in the Windows directory.
In addition, your browser will maintain a list of recently visited websites. To clear this, you will need to click on "Tools" then "Internet Options" then click on the "Clear History" button. This is in Internet Explorer. You will have to find the equivalent procedure in other browsers.
When in New Orleans, check out Hannah of http://www.hannahofneworleans.com (formerly www.HannahofNashville.com). Her reviews are on TER and TBD. I haven't seen Hannah personally yet but would like to.
The things to do in New Orleans are easy to find and deal with, since the city's main industry is tourism. There are really very few "scam" type operations (relatively speaking) so if you're a normally experienced, or even inexperienced, traveller, you'll probably be happy with what you experience. Here are some specific recommendations:
Don't walk Canal Street at night. If your hotel concierge suggests a particular area to walk in, or not walk in, LISTEN to him. The city is a checkerboard of good neighborhoods smack up against bad neighborhoods, and many muggings recently have lead to murders. Don't be a statistic. It's a typical poor American inner city, so it has that level of crime. But it also is a typical poor Caribbean plantation city, so the social markers are distinct from what you're probably familiar with, and might trip you up a bit.
You can adequately spend ALL your time in the French Quarter. For a two or three day trip to NOLa, I find it hard to believe you could exhaust the experiences there. That will allay some of your safety fears.
Restaurants:
1. the Palace on Canal. crabmeat cheesecake. Amazing. Run by the Brennan family. About $30 per person. Reservations recommended, but not necessarily, semi-casual or business nice.
2. Brennan's in the FQ. Breakfast is special there. $30. Reservations, semi-casual.
3. Mothers' on Poydras for either diner-breakfast, or po-boy sandwiches. If you're getting a sandwich, get the Ferdi or the Debris. You heard me right. $10. Line up.
4. Uglesich's at Erato and Dryades for lunch. Arrive at 11:30 or a bit earlier, take a cab, you won't find it on your own and you'll get shot if you try. Fried, fried, fried, but very creative. Recommended: Paul's Fantasy, Trout Anthony, or Muddy Waters. $20. Line up, business attire.
5. Acme Oyster house on (I think) Iberville (if not Bienville), just off Bourbon, in FQ. Best raw oysters in city, except for Uglesich's (see above). Also, "poopahs" are good but not normal. Eat Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, or a bisque instead. $20. Line up.
6. Nine-hundred-star (ok, so I'm biased, 5 stars ... out of 4) French traditional. Galatoire's on Bourbon St in FQ. $40. Reservations, coat and tie.
7. Central Grocery on Decatur in FQ, get a Muffelletta (various spellings), an Italian sourdough-loaf olive-spread deli-meat sandwich. $7. Line up.
8. Outside the FQ, Domilice's po-boys in Irish Channel. Take a cab. Or rent a car and view the Garden District large fancy homes on the way. $7. Line up.
9. Another nine-billion-star traditional nicey nicey restaurant, probably the city's best, is Commander's Palace in the Garden District. $50. Reservations, coat and tie. Creme brulee, mmmm.
10. Cafe du Monde. Coffee with chickory, ask waiter to add cream ("cafe au lait") or drink black. Requires sugar. Beignets (French deep-fried flat doughnoughts). The place to meet, hang, crash. Open 24-7 for 364 days of the year, closed Xmas. $3. Just sit.
11. In The Marigny (next "faubourg" or neighborhood over from FQ) are three neato places: Snug Harbor (see below); Cafe Brazil (drinks, $5); Praline Connection (soul food -- really!), $30, casual. Praline Conn. is a bit "performance" oriented for me -- everyone professionally says "y'all". But the food is just like I grew up with -- which, to me, is just normal, and I wouldn't pay extra for it, but to you it might be real special to get some Sweet 'Tater Pie and Po'k Chops. Really.
Tourist traps, best avoided, but not really the end of the world if you go there: Ralph and Cacoo's, Court of Two Sisters, Felix's Oysters (OK, but Acme across the street is cheaper and better).
Sights to see, music.
1. Bourbon Street. Just walk it, watch for pickpockets, from Canal to St. Peter or so. Then cut back toward the Mississippi River and check out ...
2. Place D'Armes (Jackson Square) including Cathedral, Presbetyre, Cabildo, Moon Walk, River, Cafe du Monde, Jax Brewery (now a decent localized shopping mall).
3. French Market. Down from Cafe du Monde. Lotsa funky produce. On Decatur about three streets "up" (away from Canal) from Cafe du Monde is the official city tourism office. Lots of deals, coupons, etc.
Everything in that rectangle -- Canal Street, Mississippi River, Bourbon Street, St. Peter Street, or so -- is safe for promenading. So are the bottom two blocks, from River (block zero) up to Decatur and a bit all the way from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue. That "lower third" of the FQ is the touristy, antique-y zone. The opposite end -- closest to the intersection of Rampart and Esplanade (look at a map!) is less trafficked, hence more muggings. Rampart equals bad. Generally speaking, of course.
4. Palm Court. Decatur street in FQ. Nighttime traditional Jazz, if they've got a combo it will be one of the city's best for that eve. Six-piece or smaller "hot" and "Dixieland."
5. Other Jazz. Preservation Hall is not usually worth it unless you're a Jazz afficionado who knows the name of someone playing there and really wants to see that guy. It's mostly just a tourist dive now. Same goes for Famous Door, and all the other Bourbon Street places EXCEPT Fritzel's (Yes! the German bar!) which does hire good musicians.
6. Snug Harbor books good groups. Ellis Marsalis plays there regularly, often his kids (Branford aka Tonight Show, Delfeayo aka trombone, Jason aka Los Hambres Calientes, and of course Wynton aka Grammy) drop in.
7. Two bars across the street from Palm Court -- Coop's Place, and Molly's at the Market -- are where locals hang for a beer or an Irish Whiskey.
Those are just some places off the top of my head. If you want to see one of NOLa's famous above-ground cemeteries, try to find one other than the one right next to the FQ, since the one right next to the FQ is where all the tourists get mugged. Armstrong Park, right next to the FQ, is the other place where all the tourists get mugged -- if not along Rampart St, walking to or from Armstrong Park. Or along Canal street, walking to or from Armstrong Park or the French Quarter.
There's so much more. The Superdome is hideous, don't get suckered into a tour. If you have the time, then getting out of downtown and taking the streetcar ride along St. Charles Avenue is a lovely sightseeing tour, but it's nothing but big houses. If that's your thing ... usually it's a chick thing. Nice for a hangover, there's something about the rolling of the car and the rolling of your stomach.
And if you REALLY need a diner late at night to quell your stomach, go to the intersection of Carrollton and St. Charles, where the streetcar turns (there's only one line, it's not like you can miss it), to Camellia Grill. For hangover, have their Cannibal Salad, if you can take it. Or a hamburger, the city's best latenight grill.
Nice things not mentioned: Zoo and Audubon Park. Pretty good zoo, as zoos go. But it's just a zoo. Ride down/up river to zoo, on riverboat. There are package zoo/boat deals. Pretty nice ride on a boat. But it's just a boat. Aaaaaaand ...
Hobbying. I personally have had very bad luck hobbying in NOLa. I have written to some of the providers via this board and others, and have never been able to hook up with most of them. I have had discussions with some people in the know, who say providers in NOLa would prefer to go to a hotel rather than to a house -- amazing! I'm a local, and have never stayed in a hotel in NOLa (why would I?), so I've had trouble with the providers. I know that the strip-clubs in the FQ on Bourbon Street are strictly hands-off high-class high-dollar low-mileage, except perhaps for the few around the corner off Bourbon at Iberville and, umm, Chartres is it? Those -- La Mieux, Frolics, Artist Cafe -- have at times had back-room shenanigans. The best strip joint in the city is certainly Visions, waaaaay out of downtown on Downman Road just past the Intracoastal Canal High Rise Bridge. Like, $20 for a cab, industrial/residential neighborhood. Not worth the trip, IMHO. It's funny, but Sin City really doesn't offer much good sin any more, relative to other cities in the country. I guess with the Navy sending fewer active-duty men there, and the fact that the city itself is just too small and poor, it can no longer provide the experiences I have gotten in Tampa, Toronto, NYC, Chicago, you name it. Bourbon Street has some peep joints, but they're all touristy-fied and cute, with high prices and higher security, not worth the cover charge for any experienced monger. Unless you like the kitsch value.
Oh, speaking of kitsch value, the wax museum on Bourbon St is actually pretty good. Very funny sarcastic off-the-wall commentary, history of voodoo, etc.
PS. I recommend you don't eat anything blackened. Locals don't tend to blacken. That is a specific technique invented by the chef Paul Prudhomme around about 1985, and unless you're at his restaurant it's not New Orleanian at all. Emeril's restaurant, and Prudhomme's restaurant (called K-Pauls), are OK, but very hard to get into, and not necessary for a good culinary experience. Try the others in this post first, and then if you can't get into one of them, call one of the TV chefs and tell the hostess that they weren't your first choice, but you'll LET them serve you if they beg suitably for the privilege ...
She's a true Courtesan. She's a mature woman, but looks like she's in her early 30s. And an intelligent, warm, wonderful person just to spend quality time with, who knows how to make a man content. And she has an incall location as well, although all of my meetings with her have been at my hotel room.
1) Use latest version of browser (Netscape 6.2 or Internet Explorer 6). Both have built-in cookie managers, so you don't have to go looking for cookie files, or use a third-party cookie management utility (though these are available for free -- search at zdnet.com).
2) When you are ready to "cover your tracks," open the cookie manager in the browser and delete all cookies. This manager is accessible in Netscape from Tasks/Privacy & Security/Cookie Manager; I can't remember where it is in IE 6. Then go to Edit/Preferences/Advanced/Cache and Edit/Preferences/Navigator/History (Netscape) or Tools/Internet Options/General (IE) and delete the cache from memory and disk (both, called temporary internet files by IE), as well as the history and location bar.
Let me know if you need any more detail. Have a nice trip!
I beg to differ. Cookie-links are stored in the Temp folder and look just like normal files, in the Windows user interface ... the actual cookie files are elsewhere, and are not deleted until you restart. Twice.
Basically, my point is, there is always more to computer security than we could possibly teach this guy on a bulletin board. No matter how many pieces of advice we give him here, someone's going to know a few more. It could go on forever. I personally delete cookies regularly, but also know that I could be doing more to cover my tracks.
So, in that context, I suggest he not bother trying to figure out enough to SECURE a computer behind him. Rather, he needs to figure out how much his FRIENDS who own the PCs know about computers, and make sure he's a step ahead of that person.
Some steps: delete cookies delete history delete cache files delete system logs
I'm sure someone can come up with some more. The point is, does your BUDDY know those steps? If so, you better find more than he knows ... or just give up on trying to one-up him, and use a computer at a public cyber-cafe. There are two in the French Quarter, standard rates (about $20 per hour?) apply.
Sorry, but since both Netscape and Internet Explorer support multiple user profiles (multiple users), each with their own cookies, the cookies and their indices can't all be stored in the same place (subdirectory). I repeat my advice to use a cookie manager program to delete cookies, especially since both browsers store the cookies as files, but also maintain a separate index of the cookies that acts like a database index. Then, if you're really concerned, you need to wipe all the free space on the hard drive, since simply deleting the files doesn't actually erase them, just deletes them from the file system directory...they can still be recovered.
Book_guy is probably right that this isn't a simple BBS topic -- borrow a machine from someone you trust, or rent a machine that will be wiped (hard drive formatted, etc.) after you return it. Many rental places will promise that, but you need to make sure they actually do it! Same caveat -- files can be recovered from reformatted hard drives, but it's less likely to come up.
Cyber cafes are another interesting option, but the ones I have used require me to identify myself, so the evidentiary chain is still there (my identity to the cookies and cache on the machine I used, including in this case your TER VIP userid and password). It really depends on how paranoid you are!
Actually, temporary cookies, those that expire when you close your browser are stored in the temp directory while permanent cookies, those that expire sometime in the future, are stored in the cookies folder.
But your main point is very valid. There are a lot of angles to computer security. Even with all of the steps discussed here, a pro can still recover ome or all of this information.
Both K-Paul's and Commanders Palace are excellent and worth a trip (reservations typically reccommended). Finding a good place to eat in New Orleans isnt much of a chore.
One possible way to solve this is if you can install a product called "GoBack" on the computer. GoBack monitors all sector writes to the physical disk and you can revert to a point in time previous to your browsing. So you would boot the computer normally (with Goback enabled), do your web surfing, then when complete, open the GoBack menu and select a "Safe Point" that was just before you started browsing.
If you follow this path, be sure to "clear safe points" in the GoBack options menu so that the restore point can not be undone (which would restore the evidence). Also, if you download or create any new files while browsing, be aware that they will be permanently lost when you "Restore" unless you save them off to a floppy or some other media.
If used properly, this method is 100% reliable. GoBack is made by a company called "Roxio" and you can also get a Personal Edition (which will meet your needs) in the latest version of Norton SystemWorks.
This may seem a bit extreme just to cover your tracks but it seems like it's pretty important for to you to have your activities untraceable.
Let the good times roll! Enjoy yourself, in the Big Easy, greywolf! I've been there - great jazz, great food. Sorry I can't give any recommendations on the ladies, but I can tell you, for a good time, you can't go wrong in the French Quarter. Best places to eat, Emeril's of course. BAM!!! Kick it up a notch! LOL Emeril's NO restaurants:
Emeril's Restaurant Warehouse District 800 Tchoupitoulas (at Julia Street) (504)528-9393
Emeril's Delmonico 1300 St. Charles Ave (504)525-4937
NOLA Restaurant 534 Rue St. Louis (504)522-6652
I've been to NOLA and the Las Vegas Delmonico... exquisite food, exceptional service... I will return!
There are even directions to the restaurants from Emeril's web site if that helps
I personally hated NOLA and both of Emeril's places when I went there. It's always been my guess that the "ratings" they get, along with K-Paul's, are from folks who are comparing to their usual Hardee's in Des Moines.
The food is definitely up to New Orleans' average standards (note, I did not say "high"), but they don't need your money. Do a local restaurateur a favor, is my suggestion, and patronize an off-the-beaten-path place and not the popular celebrities who could draw men without tongues thanks to something other than their cuisine or service -- their notoriety. One thing I can tell you that is an incontrovertible fact about those restaurants: out-of-towners will outnumber locals at any moment of the day, in the dining room and in the kitchen. (Hmm. That's not necessarily a bad thing, come to think of it. Heh.) And they'll be crowded.
So, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. What can I tell ya, I'm a New Orleanian through and through. I'll argue about food all day long. Never liked Emeril's food; never liked Prudhomme's; never liked anything blackened; never liked "Cajun" french fries; never had mama's chicken soup, since she always made red beans instead. Oh, sorry, "red beans and rice with sausage a la Louisiane," as Emeril's menu puts it. LOL.
But, you did spell "Tchoupitoulas" right ... I think ... Repeat after me: chop-uh-TWO-lus chop-uh-TWO-lus chop-uh-TWO-lus tra la LA ...
You know what, you're right!! You have brought up a lot of good points and with you're previous post (regarding tourism parts 1 and 2 - which I hadn't had a chance to read before I made my post, unfortunately) you gave me new ideas for my next visit, too. You are absolutely right that the "off-the-beaten-path" places have wonderful culinary experiences to offer. I have always found that true whether dining while traveling or just around town.
While it is true I am an Emeril fan, i agree his places are more for the tourists. And I have never found myself compelled to copy one of his tv recipes at home. But he is, after all, a showman. I have friends in Louisiana and have long been into the food, long before it became "trendy". There's no "celebrity" chef that did it better than Justin Wilson (may he rest in peace), IMHO.
A very sincere thank you to each of you who've given me so much great information, both here on the board & through TER mail. You're truly a collective wealth of information.
I've received so many tips on New Orleans it's going to be impossible to check them all out unless I extend my time there. Of course, that might not be the worst idea in the world either. Either way, it's far better to have too many choices than too few.
The computer tips were also very enlightening, but because one of the people where I'll be staying works in the White House, I'll probably not risk using that machine. With the current events in the world it's not inconceivable (to me at least) that the government might get involved in some kind of security monitoring of off-site PCs used by some employees. So I'll likely either arrange a laptop or use a cyber cafe when possible.
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