If you’re a true fan of NOLA, you’ve probably always loved the wistful lyrics of “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” …
“Oh the moonlight on the bayou
A Creole tune that fills the air
I dream about magnolias in bloom
And I’m wishin’ I was there”
But who knew we wouldn’t be able to visit for so long and would miss it so much? The worldwide shutdown forced the cancellation of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — a favorite with Bay Area music fans — as well as the French Quarter Fest and the Creole Tomato Festival. With indoor music banned, the legendary Preservation Hall, the Spotted Cat, Tipitina’s, Rock ‘n’ Bowl and all the other clubs have been shuttered. And NOLA’s awesome restaurants have been forced to pack up their gumbo and bread pudding for takeout and delivery.
While the Crescent City is slowly opening up to tourists now, a trip may not be in the cards for you. Consider transporting yourself there virtually instead, and then donating the travel dollars to musician, culinary and museum relief funds to ensure they’ll all still be in business when you visit next. (More on those below.) Here’s our fun, enlightening and yummy itinerary:
All that jazz
You would have been flying into Louis Armstrong International New Orleans Airport, so let’s start with the great one and the city’s legendary roots music. The Satchmo SummerFest is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an online event called Seven Days of Satch. From July 27-Aug. 2 you can learn about his life and legacy through lectures by Armstrong scholars and musical tributes by NOLA artists. The concerts will be filmed live Aug. 1-2 and streamed on Facebook. Details: www.satchmosummerfest.org
Over the next several weeks the New Orleans Jazz Museum will present livestreamed music from their socially distant balcony. Coming up are gigs by Trumpet Mafia, Big Sam’s Funky Nation and the Nayo Jones Experience. Details: https://nolajazzmuseum.org
From Sept 4-7 and Sept.11-13, radio station WWOZ and the Jazz & Heritage Foundation will present Festing in Place, seven days of past performances by jazz, blues, Cajun and zydeco artists, including the Neville Brothers, Tank and the Bangas, Allen Toussaint, Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty, Rebirth Brass Band and Kermit Ruffins, along with archival sets by Louis Prima, Al Hirt and Pete Fountain. Details: www.wwoz.org/festing-place-next-fest-thing
And because the music never stops in New Orleans, even during a pandemic, there are livestream performances to listen to any time of day or night. Check out the playlists for the House of Blues, SideBar NOLA, Buffa’s Lounge and more via the links at www.neworleans.com.
Virtual wonders, cool culture
Virtual tours are a terrific way to experience NOLA for the first time — or the umpteenth time — from the comfort of humidity-free California.
Attractions: The city’s tourism arm, New Orleans & Company (www.neworleans.com), has partnered with Xplorit to offer immersive virtual tours. You can glide through the Louisiana bayou via the Cajun Encounters Swamp Tour (but keep your hands in the boat — as you can see, the gators are snapping today). Take a tuneful tour of Bourbon Street. Hop on the streetcar for a ride down St. Charles Avenue. Hang out virtually with other beignet lovers at Cafe du Monde (you can order beignet mix and the chicory coffee and make your own at home). Or put on your beads and pretend it’s Fat Tuesday while you view the hundreds of colorful floats at Mardi Gras World.
History, art and museums: Delve into African-American history, race relations and civil rights issues through the online collections at the Amistad Research Center, housed at Tulane University. Highlights include the “Conversations in Color” video series and the “Through the Lens” photography exhibit. An interactive app called Amistad on the Go! offers educational activities for grades 6-12. Details: www.amistadresearchcenter.org
One of the city’s top draws is the National WWII Museum, located here because 20,000 Higgins boats — the amphibious landing craft that helped win the war — were designed and built in southern Louisiana. There are podcasts, stats and scores of profiles and oral histories. Details: www.nationalww2museum.org
The New Orleans Museum of Art, founded in 1911 with just nine works of art, now boasts 40,000. Virtual tours take visitors through such exhibits as “Ancestors in Stone,” a “Bodies of Knowledge” examination of cultural identities and the 11-acre Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Details: www.noma.org
Food and drink
One thing is true of all NOLA vacations: You’re always thinking about the next meal while you’re eating this one.
You can satisfy your cravings for both haute Creole cuisine and comfort food by ordering restaurant favorites from gourmet site Goldbelly (www.goldbelly.com). A few clicks and you can have Commander’s Palace’s Wild Shrimp & Cognac with Creole Cream Cheese Grits (be still, my arteries) or the legendary Turtle Soup delivered to your doorstep. Or an Original Muffuletta from its creator, Central Grocery. Or Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya and Hot Butter Rum Cake from Parkway Bakery and Tavern.
And you know you need pralines. Consider having them shipped from Loretta’s Authentic Pralines (www.lorettaspralines.com), where Loretta S. Harrison has been making pecan treats for 35 years.
Want to learn from some of New Orleans’ best chefs and mixologists?
The New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI) is hosting a series of Zoom cooking classes. When you register (signups run $5-$20), you’ll receive a list of weekly cooking themes — it’s a global lineup — menus and ingredient lists. Details: www.nochi.org
At the Southern Food and Beverage Museum’s website, you’ll find podcasts by culinary activist Pepper Bowen and soul food scholar Adrian Miller, along with plenty of recipes and fascinating bits about New Orleans’ culinary history. Details: www.southernfood.org
To explore NOLA’s cocktail culture, head to The Sazerac House website, where you can join virtual tastings and learn the history of drinks famous the world over. That, of course, includes the Sazerac, the city’s official — and potent — cocktail, made with Sazerac Rye Whiskey, Peychaud’s Bitters and Herbsaint Liqueur. Details: www.sazerachouse.com
Look for additional inspiration when the 18th annual Tales of the Cocktail conference goes online Sept. 21-24. The schedule is still being firmed up; go to www.talesofthecocktail.org for updates.
Paying it forward
COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll on New Orleans tourism. Already, the economic hit is estimated at $1 billion. You can support the music, arts, culinary and tourism communities with donations of your travel dollars. Among those collecting are the New Orleans Business Alliance COVID-19 Relief Fund (www.nolaba.org/relief-fund); New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation (www.gofundme.com/f/jazzandheritagespotify); New Orleans Creative Response Fund (https://creativeresponse.works/collaborative-relief-fund/); and Greater New Orleans Foundation fund for restaurant, bar and hotel employees (www.gnof.org/service-and-hospitality-employee-family-program).