Sights in The South
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Contemporary Arts Center
The grand modernist entrance to the CAC, a soaring ceiling vault of airy space and conceptual metal and wooden accents, is almost reason enough to step into this converted warehouse. Almost. The best reason for visiting is a good crop of rotating exhibitions by local artists, plus a packed events calendar that includes plays, skits, dance and concerts that draw names as big as Death Cab for Cutie.
reviewed
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United Fruit Company
A cornucopia of tropical produce graces the entrance to this building. The United Fruit Company, infamous for controversial neocolonial practices in Central America, was based here from the 1930s until the 1970s. For many decades, the company held a virtual monopoly on the banana trade throughout much of the world. It’s now part of Chiquita Brands International, based in Cincinnati, OH.
reviewed
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St Louis Cemetery No 1
This cemetery received the remains of most early Creoles. The shallow water table necessitated aboveground burials, with bodies placed in the family tombs you see to this day. The supposed grave of voodoo queen Marie Laveau is here, scratched with 'XXX's from spellbound devotees – this is graffiti you shouldn't add to, per the request of the family that owns the tomb.
reviewed
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Parkway Partners
The challenge many New Orleanian plant-lovers face is channeling this awesome fecundity into plots that are attractive and utilitarian. Enter Parkway Partners, one of the better NGOs operating in New Orleans at the moment. Besides funding urban tree-planting projects and similar programs, Parkway is looking to expand, with local contribution, its series of community gardens.
reviewed
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Savoy Music Center
Can’t get enough music? The best time to visit Eunice, 20 miles west of Opelousas, is on a Saturday. At 9am Savoy Music Center, accordion factory and shop, hosts a Cajun-music jam session. Musician Marc Savoy and his guitarist wife, Ann, often join in. Look for the huge Savoy Music Company sign west of the Cajun Campground, 3 miles east of town.
reviewed
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Historic Site
The historic site is located among the same windswept Kitty Hawk dunes where self-taught engineers Wilbur and Orville Wright launched the world's first successful airplane flight on December 17, 1903 (it lasted 12 seconds). A boulder now marks the take-off spot. Climb a nearby hill where the brothers conducted earlier glider experiments for fantastic views of sea and sound.
reviewed
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Touro Synagogue
Founded in 1828, Touro is the oldest synagogue in the city and the oldest in the USA outside of the original 13 colonies. It bears a slight resemblance to a red brick Byzantine temple, with its squat buttresses and bubbly domes. The local congregation began as an amalgamation of local Spanish-descended Jews and German Jewish immigrants, a relatively rare mixed lineage in American Judaism.
reviewed
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Rossie’s Custom Framing
In the tiny little town of Donaldsonville, don’t miss Rossie’s Custom Framing, where the works of acclaimed folk artist Alvin Batiste are displayed and sold. His colorful interpretations of life in his hometown will take your breath away. Some afternoons he sets up his easel in the shop’s window, watching the street life passing by.
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Agriculture & Forestry Museum
Also worth a stop, though completely different in its feel and scope, is the Agriculture & Forestry Museum. This rustic attraction is actually spread among several buildings designed to resemble a small Mississippi town, complete with a blacksmith's shop and general store. In the main exhibit hall, you can learn about catfish farming 'from the egg to the plate.'
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New Orleans Pharmacy Museum
This beautifully preserved shop was established in 1816 by Louis J Dufilho at a time when the pharmaceutical arts were, shall we say, in their infancy. The museum claims Dufilho was the nation’s first licensed pharmacist, although his practices would be suspect today (gold-coated pills for the wealthy; opium, alcohol and cannabis for those who needed to feel better for less money).
reviewed
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Lemonnier Mansion
At the corner of Royal and St Peter Sts, take a look at LeMonnier Mansion, commonly known to be New Orleans’ first skyscraper. Begun in 1795, the structure grew to three stories tall by 1811 (a 4th floor was added in 1876). Until that time, building was generally limited to two floors for fear that the swampy soil couldn’t support taller structures.
reviewed
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Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum
Focuses on the local history of segregated schools, hotels, hospitals, jobs and lunch counters. Push the buttons at the Levy's lunch counter – a dramatization, but no less stinging.
reviewed
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Rosegate
Former home of author Anne Rice. The vampire-tale spinner lived here for many years, and regularly invited fans to tour her home. Which, by the way, is beautiful but disappointingly free of bats, organ music, pale women in neck-and-cleavage exposing bustiers or even Tom Cruise prancing about in a frilly jacket (but then, we visited during the day). No longer open to the public.
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Kisatchie National Forest
The gorgeous Kisatchie National Forest is 937 sq miles of hilly Southern yellow pine and hardwood. Trails aren't incredibly well maintained, as they are mostly used by hunters in the hunting season, but there are opportunities to mountain bike, hike, swim, and go on scenic drives. It's especially splendid during the shoulder seasons. Bring repellent in summer.
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Hermann-Grima House
Samuel Hermann, a Jewish merchant who married a Catholic woman, introduced the American-style Federal design to the Quarter in 1831. Hermann sold the house in 1844 to Judge Grima, a slaveholder, after he reportedly lost $2 million during the national financial panic of 1837. Cooking demonstrations in the open-hearth kitchen are a special treat on Thursdays from October to May.
reviewed
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House of Broel
Built in the 1850s, this is an excellent example of the sort of elegant architecture that makes the Garden District so darn pretty. Look out for the black marble fireplace and original mirror framed by carved tobacco leaves, plus a dollhouse museum that will appeal primarily to those with frilly tastes. Besides these exhibits, the house mainly hosts weddings and other events.
reviewed
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Full Gospel Tabernacle Church
If you're in town on a Sunday, put on your least-wrinkled pants and head to services at South Memphis, where soul music legend turned reverend Al Green presides over a powerful choir. Visitors are welcome, and usually take up about half the pews. Join in the whooping 'hallelujahs,' but don't forget the tithe (about $1 is fine). Green is not around every single weekend, but the services are a fascinating cultural experience nonetheless.
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Mingus Mill
The 1886 Mingus Mill, 2 miles west of Cherokee, a turbine-powered mill that still grinds wheat and corn much as it always has. The on-site Mountain Farm Museum is a restored 19th-century farmstead, complete with barn, blacksmith shop and smokehouse (with real pig heads!), assembled from original buildings from different parts of the park.
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St Vincent’s Infant Asylum
This large, red-brick orphanage was built in 1864 with assistance from federal troops occupying the city. It helped relieve the overcrowded orphanages filled with youngsters of all races who lost their parents to epidemics. The orphanage is now a hotel, but a sign from orphanage days still hangs from the finely styled cast-iron gallery in front. Not open to the public.
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Kurt E Schon Ltd Gallery
For moneyed art collectors, and the rest of us who just like to look at great artwork, Kurt E Schon is an immense gallery and storehouse that purveys fine paintings from the 19th century. The gallery is like a small museum showcasing the works of the lesser-known contemporaries of the master impressionists; most of the works on display are pieces of remarkable beauty.
reviewed
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St Louis Cemetery No 3
This relatively tiny cemetery was established in 1854 at the site of the old Bayou Cemetery and is worth strolling through for a few minutes (longer if you’re a cemetery enthusiast). Of particular note is the striking monument James Gallier Jr designed for his mother and father, who were lost at sea. The cemetery’s wrought-iron entrance gate is a beauty.
reviewed
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Aquarium Wharf
The Aquarium Wharf surrounds pretty Liberty Sq and is a great place to stroll around and watch the tugboats guiding ships into the seventh largest container port in the US. The wharf is the embarkation point for tours to Fort Sumter. Boat tours of the harbor depart from the harbor tour dock and nearby Charleston Maritime Center. Also here is the IMAX Theater.
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City Park
- New Orleans, USA
- Sights › Park
The Canal streetcar makes the run from the CBD to City Park. Three miles long, 1 mile wide, stroked by weeping willows and Spanish moss and dotted with museums, gardens, waterways, bridges, birds and the occasional alligator, City Park is the nation's fifth-largest urban park (bigger than Central Park in NYC) and New Orleans' prettiest green lung.
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Amistad Research Center
Part of Tulane University, the Amistad Research Center is one of the nation’s largest repositories of African American history. The rotating exhibits offer insight on ethnic heritage you’re not likely to get from any other source. The displayed works of art from the Aaron Douglas Collection are another reason to drop by.
reviewed
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Animazing Gallery
You won't find local art here. This national dealer specializes in very cool works by legendary illustrators and animators. Chuck Jones' cells from classic Loony Toon cartoons, rare and personal art pieces by Dr Seuss, and the finished doodlings of Simpsons creator Matt Groening are but a few examples of what you're likely to encounter here.
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