Going to New Orleans
By PABLEAUX JOHNSON

April 10, 2005

Map of New Orleans. Numbers on the map correspond to numbers in the article.

WHY GO NOW New Orleans routinely makes the travel headlines twice every spring: once for the city's bacchanalian Mardi Gras celebration and once for its hard-boogie New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at the cusp of summertime. During these peak times, the Crescent City plays host to throngs of enthusiastic travelers who hope to shake off winter, soak up the charms of the city and explore its legendary food and music scenes. Time your visit between the big parties, though, and you'll find New Orleans to be less crowded, more relaxed and just as intriguing without the mob scene. In early April, the city catches its collective breath and enjoys the perfect presummer climate before Jazzfest, as the festival is known, ramps up on the third weekend of the month. For non-natives, it's the time to get beyond the French Quarter and discover other, greener neighborhoods - Mid-City, Uptown, the Garden District - while they're at peak springtime splendor.

WHERE TO STAY
Housed in a former Masonic Temple, the Hotel Monaco, (1) 333 St. Charles Avenue, (504) 561-0010, www.hotelmonaco.com, blends contemporary and historic accents in a restored Art Deco treasure. The result is a fascinating property with shell-encrusted mantles in the lobby, intricate tiled ceilings near the elevator banks and leopard-skin terry robes in spacious rooms. The bonus? No secret handshake is required. Standard double rooms are $239.

Tucked away in a downtown side street, Loft 523, (2) 523 Gravier Street, (504) 200-6523, www.loft523.com, an unmarked 18-room boutique hotel feels like a hidden apartment building. The oversized loft-style rooms and suites manage a middle-gray minimalist aesthetic that's simultaneously luxurious and spare. Standard rooms are about $349 during April.

Marriott's Renaissance Arts Hotel, (3) 700 Tchoupitoulas Street, (504) 613-2330, pays homage to its Arts District location in an on-site gallery and plenty of modern art, including some works from local artists, in the hotel's rooms and public spaces. Standard double rooms range from $159 to $259 in April.

Cheryl Gerber for The New York Times Making a po' boy at the Parkway Tavern.

WHERE TO EAT Dip into the French Quarter for a taste of old-line Creole splendor at Galatoire's, (4) 209 Bourbon Street, (504) 525-2021, preferably for a decadent three-hour lunch. Plump shrimp figure into the impossibly rich seafood-stuffed eggplant ($20). Butter-sautéed chunks of pristine lump crabmeat top a delicate filet of pan-fried speckled trout ($25.50). Tuxedo-clad waiters add to the charm with a well-practiced patter and professional charm. Gents, pack a sports coat. If you're up for a more casual experience, belly up to the oyster bar at the Bourbon House, (5) 144 Bourbon Street, (504) 522-0111, www.bourbonhouse.com, and slurp a dozen fresh-shucked beauties washed down with a fizzy local beer or the house cocktail specialty, a frozen bourbon milk punch topped with a sprinkle of nutmeg. Located mere feet away from Bourbon Street's high-octane chaos, the room's huge windows make this raw bar one of the best people-watching perches in the city. Farther afield, the recently resurrected Parkway Bakery and Tavern, (6) 538 Hagan Avenue, (504) 482-3047, serves up traditional New Orleans po' boy sandwiches (starting at $4.25) the way that God intended them - overstuffed with juicy fried oysters, crispy patties of hot sausage or gravy-drenched roast beef.

Frank Brigtsen, a New Orleans native, artfully combines Louisiana's two distinctive cuisines, urban Creole and rustic Cajun, at his Uptown restaurant, Brigtsen's, (7) 723 Dante Street, (504) 861-7610, www.brigtsens.com. His seafood platter, which changes every week, literally covers the waterfront with tasting portions of creamy crabmeat au gratin, rich oysters Rockefeller and grilled gulf fish topped with shrimp and corn ($28).

Jazz brunches seem to be consistent crowd-pleasers, but the quieter scene at Lulu's in the Garden, (8) 2203 St. Charles Avenue (504) 586-9956, or visit www.lulusinthegarden.com, makes a perfect weekend alternative. The chef, Corbin Evans, prowls the farmers' market searching for locally grown, organic ingredients for his crab croquettes topped with poached egg and lemon beurre blanc ($8) or the simply savory greens, eggs and ham ($8).

WHERE TO SHOP
You could easily spend a long weekend exploring Magazine Street, a workaday market street that alternates small-scale shopping clusters with stretches of oak-shaded Victorian homes. In recent years, Magazine has undergone a retail renaissance as aging shotgun houses and commercial storefronts have been reborn as antique shops, art galleries and upscale clothing stores.

In the Lower Garden District, Thomas Mann Designs, (9) 1810 Magazine Street, (504) 581-2113, www.thomasmann.com, showcases contemporary jewelry and metalwork. A few blocks away, at funky Metro Three, (10) 2032 Magazine Street, (504) 558-0212, www.metrothree.com, colorful Naugahyde bowling bags sit next to retro-themed T-shirts celebrating city neighborhoods.

WHAT TO DO DURING THE DAY
Summertime comes to New Orleans with sweltering subtropical authority, so spring is the perfect time to drink in the city's natural beauty without excessive sweat stains. The St. Charles Avenue streetcar line passes the stately Garden District mansions before arriving at the expansive Audubon Park, just across the avenue from Tulane and Loyola Universities. Towering live oaks and sun-dappled pathways give winter-worn urbanites ample doses of shocking spring green and sinus-clearing fresh air.

A brisk walk toward the river brings you to one of the city's overlooked gems, the small but outstanding Audubon Zoo, (11) 6500 Magazine Street, (504) 861-2537, www.auduboninstitute.org. Housed in a former sugar plantation, the zoo contains an outstanding range of habitats for animals both exotic and native, including a Maya-themed South American bamboo jungle and a sprawling African savanna installation. The Louisiana swamp section shows the interplay of indigenous wildlife (alligators, nutria, snakes and black bears) and endangered traditions of the swamp's human population (subsistence trapping, hunting and fishing). And in a real-life take on an old Cajun joke, the glassed-in displays of common aquatic species like crawfish, crabs and catfish are marked with scientific educational text and handy recipe cards.

From the French Quarter, you can also hop on the newly reinstalled Canal Street streetcar line for a trip to New Orleans City Park in the Mid-City neighborhood. Flower lovers will want to explore the immaculately tended New Orleans Botanical Gardens, (12) Victory Drive, City Park, (504) 483-9386, www.neworleanscitypark.com/nobg.php, while they are in various stages of bloom.

Then again, there are travelers who see the daylight hours as the quiet time before the bands start playing. That crowd should hunker down at the Napoleon House, (13) 500 Chartres Street, (504) 524-9752 , one of the French Quarter's outstanding old-school barrooms. Nurse a refreshingly fizzy Pimm's Cup cocktail ($5) and soak up the ambience in the palm-shaded courtyard.

Cheryl Gerber of The New York Times Rebirth Jazz members at the Maple Leaf.

WHAT TO DO AT NIGHT Weekend visitors usually miss the locally famous standing gigs where New Orleans musicians build their hometown fan base and local street cred. The Maple Leaf Bar, (14) 8316 Oak Street, (504) 866-9359, is usually packed to the rafters by around 11:30 on Tuesday nights ($8 to $10 cover) as the Rebirth Brass Band brings its powerful, tuba-driven dance music to the stage. Blending the city's rich African-derived parade rhythms, modern bebop and 1970's power-funk, Rebirth thunders through their late-night set with a stage presence that dares you to stand still. The gig usually doesn't ramp up until nearly midnight, so catch an afternoon nap before the night of hard-dancing abandon.

Another legendary, if more traditional, gig ($10 cover) is the trumpeter Kermit Ruffins's Thursday night show at Vaughn's Lounge, (15) 4229 Dauphine Street, (504) 947-5562. Mr. Ruffins takes on the easygoing persona of a modern-day Louis Armstrong as he rolls through sets of jazz standards with a smooth, brassy tone and gravelly baritone singing voice. If Mr. Ruffins is on the road, local stalwarts like the Tremé Brass Band fill the room with a driving backbeat and stellar horn work.

Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, (16) 626 Frenchmen Street, (504) 949-0696, www.snugjazz.com, is an intimate, off-Quarter showcase that is often host to Ellis Marsalis Jr., the jazz pianist and father of Wynton Marsalis, for two shows on Friday nights ($18 to $20 cover). The club books a good balance of local jazz acts and visiting artists eager to play Snug's legendary back room with its wraparound balcony and great sound system.

YOUR FIRST TIME OR YOUR 10TH
The Mardi Gras spirit never quite leaves New Orleans, so for an off-season taste of Carnival, hop the Canal Street Ferry (free for pedestrians) for a jaunt across the broad Mississippi to the nearby Algiers section. Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, (17) 223 Newton Street, (504) 361-7821, www.mardigrasworld.com, offers daily tours of its working studios, where artists busily sculpt and design the colorful floats for next year's parades. The $15 tour also includes free roaming time through the warehouses, where oversized busts of Salvador Dali sit next to giant personified onions and 15-foot papier-mâché leprechauns. The ferry ride back across the mighty river affords a unique, water-level view of New Orleans. The 10-minute crossing can change the way you see historic St. Louis Cathedral or towering cargo ships slipping toward the sea.

HOW TO GET AROUND
New Orleans is a compact city and, being a bustling tourist town, it has more than its share of taxicabs . Around the French Quarter, you're usually within hailing distance, but in your wanderings, it's always good to keep the number of the city's largest taxi company, United Cab (504) 524-9606, close at hand.