memphis and new orleans

[skidaft]

visiying memphis and new orleand shortly,anything we should know or not know?where are the best places and restaurants to visit?thanks.

[HAnn521]

Hi skidaft...I am from Tennessee and have family in ad around Memphis..it's a great place with plenty of fun things to do in a different atmosphere...

Tips for your visit: 1.You HAVE to spend most of your time on Beale Street http://www.bealestreet.com/ ....This is what Memphis is known for! Get some of their famous BBQ ribs and maybe take a horse carriage ride down the streets and listen to some authentic Blues...2.The other place Memphis is known for is Graceland... http://www.elvis.com/graceland/ ..this is of course, Elvis Presley's home, and certainly  has an interesting tour, but it helps if you like Elvis! ....Have Fun! ;0)

[Clanad]

In New Orleans (natives call it N'Orlins) you have to eat Cajun... K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen is the best I've seen.  Expect blackened and spicy, but not to be missed.  Especially crawfish etuoffe'.  Try their sweet potato pecan pie for desert. The restaurant is owned and sometimes operated by Paul Prudhomme... (416 Chartes Street).  Eat on the balcony or patio... probably should call for reservations.  Prices are fair for New Orleans.  Welcome to the U.S.

[jno]

do a New Orleans cemetery tour. Everyone had to be buried above ground, because of the floods (early settlers got tired of seeing the recently deceased floating past the window), so lots of grand tombs, including that of voodoo queen Marie Laveau.

[scubadiver]

Hi Skidaft- I'm just back from a holiday in Nashville, Memphis & New Orleans. My recommendations would be the following:

Memphis- Rendevouz restaurant, for great BBQ, Sun Records, National Civil Rights Museum (at the Lorraine motel, where Martin Luther King was killed), Beale St, Graceland (buy your tickets online from their website, which will save a potential queue of over an hour to nuy them on site). We organised a tour round the main sights in the back of a 1950's Cadillac, which was probably the highlight ($50 each from a company called American Dream Safaris, booked through their website).

New Orleans - eat at the Acme Oyster House, have beignets & coffee at Cafe du Monde, buy a mufaletta (sandwich is too lowly a term for it!) from the Central Grocery. Drink cocktails in the courtyard at Pat O Briens. Take the St Charles Street car ($1.50 each way) out through the garden district & back to see the anti-bellum houses. Take a (free) ferry across to Algiers Point in the evening to see the skyline. Take a swamp tour.Take a walking tour round the French Quarter ( we used " Friends of the Cabildo"). Enjoy the music in the evening - we went to Preservation Hall, Maison Bourbon, Donna's, and a couple of excellent places on Freanchman's. The highlight was a "Sips, Sight, Sound & Story" tour, with Wally B ($75 a head) who took us to a mansion for champagne & ragtime piano and then on to 4 local bars, each with excellent live music, which we would never have found on our own, much less ventured into!.(found the tour by googling the tour name - his website has a $5 off voucher for the tour. Cover charges and one drink are also included in the cost)

Enjoy your trip, hope this info helps

[stepbar]

Can't help you with Memphis, but we've been to New Orleans (Nawlins).

Tours.  I'd recommend http://www.cukiestravels.com/ for a customised tour.  Very knowledgeable about the area - will take you wherever you want to go!  Cemetries and Anne Rice (Interview with a Vampire) are their speciality.  *WARNING* do NOT go into the city cemeteries (eg. Lafayette) if you want to come out alive.  They're very dangerous places - druggies, homeless and general psychopaths. 

Steamboat - 2 hour cruise down the Missippi on the Natchez. Pay for the lunch and get a cajun buffet on board with a jazz band.

Alligators - You have to take a swamp tour to see the gators.  Make sure you go on the Airboat and not the Swamp boat!  Ticket shop opposite the Marriott on Canal street which do a very good swamp tour including transport.  You get to hold gators, snakes, swamp-rats etc.

Pony Ride - grab one of the pony traps beside Jackson Square for a leisurely and informative tour of the French Quarter.

Food.

The excellent Brennans is a must (you did ask for 'the best!').  Dear and exclusive, must be booked weeks in advance.  If you do get in, you have to have their Bananas Foster.

Alternatively, go to the New Orleans Grocery Store opposite the Steam Boat dock and try the MASSIVE Muffeletta (it's a meal for 3 puny europeans in itself!)  It's about $10.

Drink - Pat O'Briens is the home of the world famous "Hurricane". Drink 2 in the afternoon to find out what it's like to have no legs.

Finally - walk up and down Bourbon Street at night.  Throw beads at girls to get them to expose themselves. Visit the Jazz and Blues clubs (despite the inflated bar prices).  Walk along the Mississippi at 5am when the musicians are still out from the night before.  Ride a street car.