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Louisiana Superdome
Hovering like a giant, bronze-tinted hubcap amidst the CBD skyscrapers the Superdome is one of New Orleans' most easily recognized structures. The immense indoor stadium, with its sophisticated climate control system has hosted six Superbowls, numerous presidential conventions, a 1981 Rolling Stones concert, and even an address in 1987 by Pope Paul II. Each year on New Years Day, the Sugar Bowl is played here and the New Orleans Saints play their home games in the Superdome each fall.
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Loyola University
Operated by Jesuits since 1904, and chartered in 1912, Loyola University is right next to Tulane and is often overshadowed by its larger neighbor. Loyola educates just 5900 students, 3800 of them undergraduates. The cornerstone of Marquette Hall, the central structure on the campus, was laid in 1910. Loyola University is best known for its College of Music, School of Business and Department of Communications.
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Maspero's Exchange
Pierre Maspero operated La Bourse de Maspero, a coffeehouse and one of many slave-trading houses in New Orleans. He was a tenant in the building that now houses the restaurant Maspero's Exchange - not to be confused with Café Maspero on Decatur St. Regular markets for the abhorrent trade in human chattel occurred on Exchange Alley (now Exchange Place), between Conti and Canal Sts.
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Metairie Cemetery
Having visited other New Orleans cemeteries doesn't quite prepare you for the stunning architectural splendor and over-the-top extravagance of Metairie Cemetery. Established in 1872 on a former race track (the grounds, you'll notice, still follow the oval layout), Metairie Cemetery is the most American of New Orleans' cities of the dead, and, like the houses of the Garden District, its tombs appear to be attempts at one-upmanship.
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Michalopoulos Gallery
Michalopoulos has become one of New Orleans most popular painters in recent years, partly on the strength of his best-selling Jazz Fest posters. His shop showcases his colorful and expressive architectural studies. The gallery holds frequent openings on Friday night.
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Mississippi River
Every visitor to New Orleans ought to take at least a short stroll on the Mississippi River levee to see if Old Man River is still rollin' along. For while the mighty river constantly flows by the city, and is actually several feet higher than the city, from the streets it is hidden from view and you might easily forget it is there. But without it there would be no New Orleans. The river has shaped the geography of a huge part of the USA, and it has factored in much of the country's history as well.
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Mortuary Chapel
An unfounded fear of yellow-fever contagion led the city to forbid funerals for fever victims at the St Louis Cathedral. Built in 1826 near St Louis Cemetery No 1, the Mortuary Chapel offered hasty services to victims, as its bell tolled constantly during epidemics. In 1931, it was renamed Our Lady of Guadeloupe Church.
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Musée Conti Historical Wax Museum
Every city in America with a tourism industry of any size must have a wax museum, right? New Orleans' version, the Musée Conti waxes nostalgic about local historical figures, including Andrew Jackson, Huey Long, Louis Armstrong and Napoleon Bonaparte (caught in the bathtub for some reason); the lifelike exhibits then detour suddenly toward more sensational personalities like Frankenstein's monster (chained down, for your protection) and the Swamp Thing (unchained!).
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National World War II Museum
The extensive, heart-wrenching National World War II Museum collects the sobering eyewitness accounts of life and conflict during WWII, and houses actual planes, weaponry and landing craft, as well as excellent exhibits on all phases of the war. Many of the volunteer docents are war survivors. A multi-million-dollar expansion, in progress at the time of research, will include an interactive theater and a United Service Organization cantina.
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New Orleans African American Museum
The New Orleans African American Museum exhibits local artists in a tidy Creole cottage with terraced grounds.
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New Orleans Cotton Exchange
Some would say New Orleans was built on cotton. In the mid-19th century, as one-third of all cotton produced in the US was routed through New Orleans, the receiving docks on the levee were perpetually covered by tall stacks of cotton bales ready to be shipped out. The Cotton Exchange was founded in 1871 to regulate trade and prices. The building here, dating to the 1920s, is the third Cotton Exchange to occupy this site.
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New Orleans Glasswork & Printmaking Studios
In a huge 25,000-foot brick building, this place is a combination studio and gallery space primarily for glass blowers and stained glass artisans. Not only can you admire and purchase works here; you might also watch artists blow glass, which is an impressive sight to behold. Saturday afternoon is a good time to come to catch artists in action.
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New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park
The headquarters for the Jazz National Historic Park does not have much to offer yet - there's no historic exhibit pulling all the stops. Such a thing is sorely missing in the 'Cradle of Jazz.' However, the center does have educational musical programs on most days of the week.
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New Orleans Museum of Art
Also in City Park, the elegant New Orleans Museum of Art was founded in 1910 and is well worth a visit. Its sculpture garden contains a cutting-edge collection in lush, meticulously planned grounds.
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New Orleans Pharmacy Museum
The Pharmacy Museum is a beautifully preserved shop with ancient display cases filled with intriguing little bottles. The shop was established in 1816 by Louis J Dufilho at a time when pharmaceutical arts were newly established. He dispensed gold-coated pills to the wealthy, and opium, alcohol and cannabis to those who needed to feel better for less money.
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Newcomb Art Gallery
The gallery features a permanent exhibit of the college's collection, including Newcomb Pottery, rotating exhibits from the university's art collection, nationally recognized traveling exhibits and contemporary student and faculty exhibits. Flanking the gallery entrance are two important Tiffany stained-glass triptychs depicting figurative scenes, 'The Resurrection' and 'The Supper at Emmaus.'
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Ogden Museum of Southern Art
The excellent Ogden Museum of Southern Art displays a vast collection of modern artwork as well as definitive early outsider art, like that of Clementine Hunter. Henry Hobson Richardson designed the intricate stone annex.
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Our Lady Of The Rosary Rectory
Built as the home of Evariste Blanc, probably in 1834, this structure exhibits a combination of styles characteristic of the region. The high-hipped roof and wraparound gallery, reminiscent of West Indies houses, were actually the preferred styles of the French Canadians who originally settled Bayou St John. However, the house's neo-classic details make it obvious that this building is of a later period.
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Perrin Benham Gallery
Typifying the neighborhood's exciting sensibilities, this small gallery features some locally renowned painters, but really makes its mark with stellar works by lesser known artists. A case in point is the Brazilian painter Mauro Tambeiro, who the gallery has introduced to North America. Tambeiro's lush technique and warm, jazzy images are a soothing tonic against the desolation so much in vogue in contemporary New Orleans art.
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Pitot House
This French colonial plantation-style house was built in 1799. James Pitot, who was the first mayor of the incorporated city of New Orleans, acquired it in 1810. Built without corridors, the en suite (adjoining) interior rooms allow air to circulate through the louvered shutters on the windows and upstairs back porch. The house features a double-pitched roof and stucco-covered briquette entre poteaux construction.
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Porché West Gallery
In Bywater, this is the rustic shop and studio of photographer Christopher Porché West. Pathos defines Porché West's black-and-white images of the people of New Orleans, and his photos of the Mardi Gras Indians are among the best. Call for an appointment.
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Presbytère
Although architect Gilberto Guillemard originally designed the Presbytère to be a rectory for the St Louis Cathedral in 1791, the building was never directly used by the church after it was completed in 1813. Instead, the cathedral administrators rented the building to the city for use as a courthouse before selling it to them in 1853. Ownership was transferred to the Louisiana State Museum in 1911.
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Preservation Resource Center
For anyone with a special interest in the architecture of New Orleans, this center is a great place to stop to get a sense for the lay of the land. The PRC is a nonprofit organization whose chief mission is to restore and revitalize New Orleans' historic neighborhoods. Its headquarters, in the expansive Leeds-Davis building, has a street-level museum. The display is modest, but manages to impart key information in a very straightforward manner.
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Riverwalk Marketplace
Extending nearly half a mile along the Mississippi on the site of the 1984 World's Fair, the Riverwalk Marketplace houses a shopping mall and food court.
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Rodrigue Studio
Cajun artist George Rodrigue's gallery is the place to go to see examples of his unbelievably popular 'Blue Dog' paintings. He just keeps painting that darn dog. Look for topical works, in which the dog quietly comments on the post-Katrina issues.
