New Orleans is located near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The flags of three different nations have flown over the city―France, Spain, and the United States. New Orleans is a fascinating mix of multi-cultural influences including French, Spanish, Italian, African, Caribbean, Latin American, Irish, English, and other nationalities. Its Creole and Cajun cultures provide a unique flavor to South Louisiana.
The city offers a host of activities from a streetcar ride down beautiful oak-lined St. Charles Avenue to a visit to the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park. New Orleans is the only city with a zoo and aquarium (Audubon Zoo and the Aquarium of the Americas) that are both ranked in the top ten in the nation. In addition, visitors can tour pre-Civil War plantation homes or cruise down a bayou. New Orleans offers music to please any ear (jazz, Latin, Cajun, classical, zydeco, reggae, gospel, and the blues) and food to satisfy any palate―crawfish, gumbo, etoufee, grillades and grits, jambalaya, beignets, and muffulettas, just to name a few.