Tag: Louisiana Travel

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The National Hurricane Museum is Looking Pretty Good on Paper

August 29, 2011 at 8:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

Hopefully you got enough hurricane action this week to hold you over for a long time, but if not there’s always the National Hurricane Museum and Science Center. Here you can relive some of Mother Nature’s fury through interactive exhibits all while remaining safe and sound—and dry!

The only issue is that the place isn’t open yet, as they’re still trying to raise enough funding to debut the place in Lake Charles, Louisiana. There’s a vote this fall for residents to give their blessing to build the place on the downtown lakefront, but in the interim they’d love a donation or two.

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Get Ready to Gorge at These Three Memorial Day Food Festivals

May 25, 2011 at 12:06 PM | by | Comments (0)

There's no better way to Memorial Day than by having a big feast. But go beyond the backyard barbecue this year and head out to one of the monster food festivals, where you'll be able to eat your weight in brats, ribs and more. Just be sure to bring your appetite; these places aren't for lightweights.

Eat your way through these top three holiday food fests:

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How to Get Tickets to the Men's College Basketball Final Four in 2012

April 12, 2011 at 10:41 AM | by | Comments (0)

If you’re still missing all those last-second buzzer beaters and other March Madness craziness, you’ve got quite some time until 2012 rolls around. However, you can always get a head start on next year by trying to score some tickets well in advance.

Tickets to next year’s Final Four in New Orleans don’t really ever go on sale to the general public, as you need to be lucky enough to be selected in advance for the opportunity to purchase your own. Once the tournament finally rolls around, your chances of getting a face value ticket are slim to none, so that’s why we’re suggesting that you act now.

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Anderson Cooper Becomes New Orleans Tourist Attraction During Oil Spill Coverage

July 6, 2010 at 9:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

We're not saying that it's his fault or anything but damn, disasters are good for Anderson Cooper's career. Having returned to New Orleans to cover yet another catastrophe in that city, "the blue-eyed heartthrob of CNN fame" (very subtle, nola.com) is again at the forefront of what Slate calls the politics of indignation.

And say what you will about AC 360's overwrought emoting—it works. First the New York Times published a teeth-gratingly fawning article about Cooper's coverage. Then they followed up with a blog post—unironically titled "Anderson Cooper Is Back on Disaster Duty With His Usual Passion"—about the article that they themselves had just published. And now the CNN anchor has become a full-blown tourist attraction.

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New Orleans Pulls Tone Deaf, Anti-British Tourism Ad

June 22, 2010 at 2:40 PM | by | Comment (1)

In a repeat of what happened with the Big Ash tourism debacle, the story about the Gulf oil spill is slowly moving from the objective environmental problem to the political nonsense surrounding it. Some states are trying to overplay the disaster to get more compensation from BP. Other states are working to underplay the spill because they don't want to scare away tourists. And now we've got the New Orleans tourism board taking BP's money and using it to print snide anti-British tourism ads. Classy!

The print ad in question, which was obviously and immediately pulled once sensible people saw it, played on the devastating defeat that Andrew Jackson handed to an invading British army during the 1814-1815 Battle of New Orleans. The ad's background has a tilted statue of Jackson and then in the foreground, written up in some kind of weird Alice in Wonderland-esque font, the text: "This isn't the first time New Orleans has survived the British."

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The Travels of True Blood: Season Three Puts Vampires in Mississippi

June 14, 2010 at 9:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

You've heard of Christmas in July, but we're about to get all Halloween in June as the third season of HBO's True Blood debuts. Any juicy suggestions or questions? Let us know.

Now that we've entered a lull of Twilight madness, we need another vampire drama. Thus, the third season of HBO's True Blood premiered last night, and already it has us adding new vampire must-visit spots to our True Blood Travel Guide.

Already we've shown you everything from where to Find Bill Compton's mansion to where to go for your own custom fangs, and expect more deliciousness as this season of the show progresses.

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How You Can Help Wildlife Effected by the BP Oil Spill

June 9, 2010 at 12:10 PM | by | Comment (1)

President Obama isn't the only one who's trying to find out who's ass to kick for the Gulf Coast Oil Spill. People around the world are looking for answers, solutions and ways to help.

If you're ready to jump on the front lines of the disaster in the Gulf, the National Wildlife Federation is looking for people to join their Gulf Coast Surveillance Teams. Team members will be responsible for daily monitoring of a specific geographic area of coastline that is expected to be effected by the spill.

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BP Sets Up a Floating Hotel Complex for the Oil Spill Containment Crews

June 4, 2010 at 4:06 PM | by | Comments (0)

We're kind of obligated to give you another update on the BP oil disaster, which as of last night has probably reached Florida, but it's Friday and we hate sending you into the weekend on a down note. Let's focus on the quirky for a moment then, with this story about the weird floating hotel complex that BP has set up for their 500-plus member containment crews. Each room is a combination shipping freight/military barracks-style dorm, and the whole thing sounds just slightly more comfortable than your worst Amsterdam hostel. But they're dubbed "flotels," so we're kind of intrigued.

Flotels are nothing new to the oil industry, and they're often set up in harbor areas or alongside offshore oil rigs. Nor, per our sister site HotelChatter, are floating hotels totally unheard of. But the scale of the current operation goes a little bit beyond what you normally see, and you can check out the minimalist decor here.

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How Much Worse Can The BP Oil Spill Get? This Much.

June 2, 2010 at 4:20 PM | by | Comments (0)

As if you haven't heard enough about the British Petroleum oil spill, the news just keeps getting worse. Nevermind Florida Governor Crist's effort to extort BP, declaring that his state's hotels would experience an irreversible implosion if BP didn't give him lots of money, and our calling him out on it, the situation is about to get more dramatic.

The news this morning is that BP's blown well is going to be spilling tons of oil into the Gulf all the way through... Christmas. All the Gulf states—at a minimum—are going to see some sort of impact. No one knows how bad things will get, but the situation is undeniably going to get worse. Now that BP's top kill efforts have failed, the industry and the government are, excuse the pun, in uncharted waters. The current White House plan seems to involve asking James Cameron to figure out a solution, and suffice it to say we're not optimistic.

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The Mississsippi River Will Burn Tonight For A Cajun Christmas Tradition

December 24, 2009 at 9:24 AM | by | Comments (0)

Hopefully you’ve made it back from the mall safely, and know you’re ready to sit back and wait for Santa to arrive. However, if you’re a resident of Louisiana you might have a little more work to do before it's time to open up all those presents. That’s because residents gather along the Mississippi River each season to ignite huge bonfires on the banks of the river. There’s a few stories surrounding the tradition’s beginnings, but most seem to agree that the fires light a path for Santa to deliver his goods.

Things were looking iffy earlier this year because the water level was too high, and officials were warning residents that they couldn’t light things up this year. However, the waters have gone down to good-to-go levels so locals will be out in full force to celebrate the season. People have been doing this for about 200 years, so even without the official approval, we’re thinking a couple fires just might have snuck out anyway.

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Take Some Louisiana Flavor Home From A Tabasco Sauce Factory

October 23, 2009 at 4:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

Become an informed consumer while still on vacation! Check out Jaunted's newest series of the best factory tours the world over.

Put some spice in your next trip by seeing the forest preserve where the multi-plumed Tabasco bird romps and plays. Okay, that's not really how Tabasco sauce is made, but if you never visit its Louisiana factory, how will you know for sure? No wonder it made Travel and Leisure's list of the coolest factory tours in the world.

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True Blood Travel Guide: Another Day, Another Plantation

Where: State Road 5 [map], DeSoto Parish, LA, United States
June 12, 2009 at 2:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

You've heard of Christmas in July, but we're about to get all Halloween in June this week as we prepare for the debut of the second season of HBO's TrueBlood. Any juicy suggestions or questions? Let us know.

With the premiere of the second season of True Blood around the corner on Sunday night, we're taking a break from the tourist spots to hit up an actual filming location for the show: the vampire Bill Compton's mansion.

Located in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana, the 1846 plantation home is on the Register of Historic Places and even retains most of the furniture from its golden days; even the books on the bookshelves have grown old with the home.

Although it's not open to public, the interior isn't what features in the True Blood script; it's the stately appearance of its exterior which was shot for the show. But just like most other classic, rural homes in Louisiana, this one is believed to be haunted so maybe it's best we stay out.

Related Stories:
· Yes, Virginia, there really is a Bill Compton House [Loving True Blood in Dallas]
· Historic Register Application for Roseneath [Scribd]
· Louisiana Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Chere Coen]

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