Were you intrigued by the images of the city of New Orleans that were shown during the Super Bowl? Or maybe you are thinking about a vacation to a unique destination that doesn’t take too long to get to. Of course, that destination should have kosher food, interesting places to see and things to do. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana is a great place to visit. Even a long weekend can be filled with enough things to do that will make your stay feel much longer.
With a flight time of only three and a half hours from the New York/Newark area, my husband and I chose to take a short vacation to New Orleans (NOLA) two months ago. NOLA has a different vibe than newer cities, like Miami, and in many areas feels more like a visit to a European country or a prior century. In short, a perfect vacation destination.
We arrived on a Thursday evening, picked up our rental car, and picked up dinner at the Kosher Cajun in Metairie, which was midway between the airport and our hotel in the Uptown District of the city. Kosher Cajun is a full service restaurant that also serves as a kosher grocery, seforim/Judaica store, souvenir source and kosher wine market. Over the course of three days we enjoyed their deli sandwiches, hamburgers and hot dogs, Cajun specialties such as gumbo, jambalaya, fish Po’ Boy sandwiches and more! Every dish was a winner. If you prefer to cook your own meals, they have everything that you would need in stock. Note their limited hours of operation on Fridays and Sundays. Visit https://koshercajun.com/ for more information.
Our visit to NOLA coincided with an unusual cold snap, so we chose our Friday activity to be one that took place indoors. The National World War II Museum is a definite must see! Our adventure began when we chose to take the St. Charles Streetcar Line to the museum, rather than the rental car. (It helped that there was a stop directly in front of our hotel.) The streetcar is cash only/exact change, but you can download the app and pay via your phone. The fare for adults is $1.25, discounts are available for seniors and children. The dark green St. Charles streetcar is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, passing through a tunnel of live oaks and scenic antebellum mansions.
We could easily have spent two or three days in this museum alone and not have seen everything. There are exhibits and displays covering the Pacific and European theaters with interactive presentations that are geared to children and adults with all levels of interest. There are many museums in that area that may strike your fancy, including The Beverage Museum, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Memorial Hall Confederate Civil War Museum, and many others. See https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=museums&find_near=the-national-wwii-museum-new-orleans or https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionsNear-g60864-d106440-The_National_WWII_Museum-New_Orleans_Louisiana.html.
We stayed at the Historic Parkview Hotel that is less than a 10 minute walk to Chabad (https://www.chabadneworleans.com/) and has the added advantage of being within the eruv and across the street from Audubon Park. Audubon Park is perfect for a Shabbat afternoon walk, with many historic markers denoting the history of the area. The Audubon Zoo (located in the park just outside the eruv boundaries) is on our “must see” list for a future visit. Many tourists stay in the city’s French Quarter, but we preferred a quieter, less crowded place. We did go to the French Quarter to hear live jazz on Motzei Shabbat. Chabad’s Rabbi Mendel Rivkin, in addition to helping us with Shabbat meals, shared the best locations to hear live music. While many of the bars offered live bands, our favorites were the ones who played on the street. We also came across outdoor craft fairs that showcased interesting items.
What visit to New Orleans would be complete without sampling some famous beignets? Several locations of Café du Monde are certified kosher, including the one at the French Market. Enjoy your coffee and people watching (https://shop.cafedumonde.com/cafe-du-monde-kosher-status) as you take a break from sightseeing.
Naturally we had to take one of the famous Louisiana swamp tours. Lucky for us, Sunday was warm enough for the alligators to show themselves. Be sure to bring a windbreaker on all but the hottest days as you can get quite chilled on the airboats. There are a variety of tour operators, and some offer transportation from downtown hotel locations.
Afterwards, we stopped in the downtown museum area to take in the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience (MSJE) (https://msje.org), one of the best kept secrets in the city. This gem of a museum opened at this location in 2021 with a variety of exhibits that provide the history of the southern Jewish communities and their residents along with the distinctions from the Northern Jewish experiences. MSJE invites visitors to “make themselves at home” as they “show how Jews in the 13 southern states influenced—and were influenced by—the distinct cultural heritage of their communities.” The unique wall of mezuzah covers at the entrance is itself worth the price of admission and the gift shop has souvenirs that are definitely gift-worthy. Our visit featured an exhibit of southern postcards from the early 20th century that promoted Jewish-owned businesses and others that used euphemistic phrases to keep Jewish clientele away. Museum guests could also write free postcards to friends and family members that would be sent out with the next mail pickup.
Our last day featured a visit to the Hermann-Grima House where we took the Urban Enslavement Tour to learn how the lives of those enslaved in an urban setting differed from those on farms or plantations. The restored French Quarter home was originally built in 1831 by wealthy German-Jewish immigrant Samuel Hermann and features a Federalist architectural façade, original operating open-hearth kitchen, urban slave quarters, an expansive courtyard, and a gift shop in the original 19th century carriage house.
Try to find time to visit the Riverwalk and climb the levee to see the Mississippi River. Flood protection keeps the river out of view at street level, but it would be a shame to visit NOLA and not see the river.
We definitely plan to return to New Orleans to finish the remaining items on our wish list—including the ghost tour and a visit to some of the mansions and plantations.
Note that some museums are closed on Mondays or Tuesdays. Plan your visit so you don’t miss out on something you had your heart set on. Also highly recommended is the self-guided New Orleans French Quarter Walking Tour. A map of the tour (and other tourist information) can be requested at https://www.neworleans.com/. Be sure to check displays at your hotel for museum and tour advertisements that often contain discount coupons for admission.
