I am going to New Orleans!

Randomly decided to spend a few days there with the family on Christmas break. Now I sort of don’t know why or what to do there, so help me come up with ideas I guess?

I enjoyed the art museum, the Avenue Pub, and walking through Mid City.

Was just there last month for my second visit of the year. A few favorites: Lengua Madre, fantastic Mexican restaurant in the LGD (definitely need to reserve a few weeks in advance); Bacchanal in the Bywater, I've been there so many times, really my favorite wine bar anywhere (it's best when you can sit outside, so weather could be a factor); Cane & Table and Jewel of the South in the French Quarter, great cocktail menus; N7, a good nouveau French place with another great courtyard area; Turkey and the Wolf, delicious sandwiches; Susan Spicer's Bayona restaurant; Parkway Bakery for po' boys; Liuzza's for BBQ shrimp; Domino Sound for vinyl.

Also we spent a lot of time riding around the city on rental e-bikes, the flatness makes it a very bikeable city (lots of bike lanes, although not many protected ones — also really have to watch for potholes). Riding through City Park is really nice if the weather's OK. Also, if you feel like a 15-20 minute drive, Dong Phuong Bakery in a kind of godforsaken stretch of New Orleans East makes some of the best banh mi I've ever had along with delicious Vietnamese baked goods. Get there in the morning when they open and everything's fresh.

Enjoy! I love that city.

As a bonus if you go to Dong Phuong, you can see the ghostly remains of the Six Flags park that got shut down after Katrina, off the side of the 510 connector.

when my wife finished grad school i got 80 dong phuong banh mi and 100 pieces of mchardy's chicken for the graduation party.

I made my friend stop by Dong Phuong on our way out of the city and he was slightly grumbly about it, like "Why are we way the hell out here." Then we got our stuff and we're back in the car heading out and he started to eat his banh mi and was like, "This is amazing."