Welcome to Southern LA Latter Blum

New Orleans is peerless in its blend of elegant European culture with sights like an overloaded junk trunk or revelers tossing beads from balconies to beautiful passers-by. In a city where the official motto is laissez les bons temps rouler or let the good times roll, the atmosphere is characteristically joyful with bursts of electrifying excitement. At the same time, the area is known for its relaxed pace and attitude. Conversations with total strangers are common in New Orleans, sometimes referred to as the northernmost Caribbean city. The beguiling French Quarter is the most famous piece of real estate in the city, although the mesmerizing strains of jazz and blues can be heard drifting into the streets from quiet streets and unlikely corners. Tempting aromas fill the air from cafes and restaurants that feature delicacies with African, Spanish, French, Italian and Caribbean influences. New Orleans ranks with Paris and New York City among the world’s “Top Cities for Food,” with chefs at more than 3,000 restaurants taking advantage of nature’s bounty of seafood and fresh produce to create Creole and Cajun delicacies that can be found nowhere else.

The European flavor of New Orleans is undeniable, particularly in the grand architecture. More than 35,000 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Louis Cathedral and the Old Ursuline Convent date back to the 1700s, the latter distinguished as the oldest building in the Mississippi River Valley. Quaint, historic streetcars pass by magnificent antebellum mansions gracing the Garden District and Uptown, while the Algiers/Canal Ferry provides commuters and visitors with water transportation from Canal Street to historic Algiers Point on the West Bank. New Orleans is synonymous with great music, particularly jazz. Great festivals and the world-famous Mardi Gras celebration attract throngs of year-round visitors. At the same time, the city is a comfortable, stimulating home with eclectic neighborhoods and vibrant attractions. Hundreds of theatre, art, music, sports, fes­ti­vals, and recre­ational events each year ensure that living and even working in Orleans Parish is a perpetual celebration.

One of the most popular attractions is the Audubon Nature Institute with lush parks, a zoo, aquarium, insectarium, golf course, and IMAX Theatre. Families will appreciate Louisiana Children’s Museum, Storyland theme park, and Carousel Gardens Amusement Park. Historic highlights include the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World, Louisiana’s Civil War Museum, Louisiana State Museum, the National World War II Museum, and New Orleans African American Museum. Nature lovers will want to explore Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, the historic Evergreen Plantation, New Orleans Botanical Garden at City Park, and Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge. Premier cultural performances and events as well as visual art collections are available in outstanding venues like Saenger Theater, Civic Theater, the Contemporary Arts Center in the Warehouse District, Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts, New Orleans Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Marigny Opera House. As overwhelming as this list may be—it is by no means complete. Unrivaled for the richness of its history, diverse in culture and steeped in unique traditions, New Orleans is a place like no other.