Here are some of my recommendations. The area to the East of the French Quarter Marigny Frenchmen Street has a lot of jazz clubs, bars and restaurants. Not touristy and a lot of fun. Acme's Oyster House is a must as is Italian Grocery for Muffoletta.

We went to a couple of plantations and the ONE to see is Laura. The tous was led by a woman who was knowledgable and funny. There is also a tour in N.O. which we didn't take called Le Monde Creole ir describes Lauras family life in the 1800's. The other plantation tour was led by an 18 year old who read from a script and could not be deviated, nor was unable to answer any questions.

By a Visitour pass that gives you unlimited trolley and bus rides. The zoo was a lot of fun as was the trolley car. On our way back from Laura we stopped at Crazy Johnny's steakhouse outside Metairie and had an excellent meal. It is fairly close to the airport. The crawfish tail appetizer was outstanding. It was one of our more memorable meals. Maybe because it was very good and inexpensive. I hope this link works it has directions, we had a little bit of trouble finding it. http://crazyjohnnies.citysearch.com/1.html

To see what else N.O. has to offer go to http://neworleans.citysearch.com/

Enjoy your trip and if you don't have a room in the back don't forget the earplugs. The Quarter gets to partying at night. Fanny in NYC