NEW ORLEANS
Two half-day spots
Louisiana Swamp exhibit
at the Audubon Zoo
A second attraction I wanted to
spend more time with is the National
WWII Museum. I am not a warlike
guy, but I like heroes and I appreci-
ate a good story, and this massive
attraction is loaded with both. This
museum—ranked No. 2 in the world
by TripAdvisor—provides just as much
memorabilia, information and inspira-
tion as you’re willing to take.
The six-acre campus includes build-
ings that house vast exhibits of the
war’s European and Pacific theaters,
machines of war, a restoration facility
and a 4D theater, which shows “Beyond
All Boundaries,” a stirring film narrated
by Tom Hanks.
Ruth Katz, the museum’s director of
group sales, explained the variety of
groups that help make the museum
New Orleans’ No. 1 attraction.
“Nearly half of our group business is
students, and 28 percent are seniors,”
Ruth said. “We also get a lot of corpo-
rate and military groups.”
New this fall is a permanent exhibit
that tells the story of Americans on the
home front, including the political dis-
cord of the prewar years, the terror of
the Pearl Harbor attacks and the mas-
sive mobilization in personnel and man-
ufacturing. nationalww2museum.org
National WWII Museum
I did not take a picture of every meal I
ate in New Orleans, but I did snap a few:
breakfast at Café Beignet, seafood gumbo
for lunch and baked oysters at Pelican
Club for dinner (well, for an appetizer).
I needed more … time. I visited two
attractions that both warranted at least
a half-day’s stay, but I could give each
only a couple of hours.
The Audubon Nature Institute encom-
passes a zoo, aquarium and butterfly gar-
den insectarium. Jeannine Becker, group
and tourism sales manager, told me that
the aquarium draws visitors of all ages.
“We have a fantastic education
department, and you can add on a great
class—even dissecting sharks,” she
said. “The aquarium is ideal for seniors
because of easy access and air condi-
tioning. It’s very cool inside.”
Note: It gets hot outside.
Jeannine also told me about the insec-
tarium: “It’s absolutely beautiful—if peo-
ple can get past the bug thing,” she said.
“Small groups can go out at night, led by
experts, to catch and identify bugs.”
I opted for larger, more readily iden-
tifiable animals and visited the zoo.
Three things I took special note of: Cool
Zoo, a splash park add-on, open April
through Labor Day; the lush plants
and trees, some as old as 300 years;
and Louisiana Swamp, an exhibit that
features animals, of course, and also
examples of human interactions with
the swamp—camps and boat docks.
audubonnatureinstitute.org
Breakfast, lunch
and dinner
CITY SPOTLIGHT
I missed it on this trip, but Mardi Gras World holds great memories from
our Travel Exchange ’15 icebreaker. More than 500 floats are built and
decorated there each year, according to Brooke Pickett, and groups can
visit year-round.
“Every tour includes a guided walk through our float den, a short film, a
slice of king cake, a tour of our artists’ workshop, and the opportunity to
try on costumes and take pictures with our spectacular floats,” she says.
Tours last about an hour and a half, and Brooke can organize lunch or
dinner and can add on creative workshops like mask making and mini float
building. mardigrasworld.com
26
November 2017
Whatever floats …