Introduction to New Orleans

New Orleans should come with a warning label.

No, no, not about hurricanes. Forget that. That's like solely identifying San Francisco and Los Angeles with earthquakes. No, this is about the city itself. See, there's this group of residents whom locals call the "never lefts." They are the people who came to New Orleans as tourists: came for Mardi Gras, came for Jazz Fest, or just came. And the city worked its magic on them. They listened to street musicians around Jackson Square. They danced to brass bands in clubs at night. They gazed at lush tropical courtyards hidden behind unassuming building fronts. They strolled down streets time seemed to have forgotten. They kissed beneath flickering gas lamps. They ate incredible meals and topped them off with beignets at 3am at the Café du Monde while watching the passing human parade. They found themselves perusing newspaper ads for houses and apartments, because as their trip's scheduled end date came and went, they were still in New Orleans. They came for Mardi Gras, came for Jazz Fest, just came -- and never left.

New Orleans does that to people.

It's a remarkable thing, but even with the thick layer of catastrophic damage around it, the core of New Orleans remains as magical and seductive as ever. It should be cliché to use those words, but when even news anchors and relief workers who have never been to the city before find themselves falling into local ways and going to efforts to return again and again, you know there is something powerful about the place. The visual delights of the remarkable French Quarter and Garden District remain. Once again music flows from random doorways or is played right in the street. Jazz, Cajun, blues, whatever -- you'll find yourself moving to a rhythm and wondering if the streets really are dancing along with you. There are delicious smells in the moist, honeyed air, which seems to carry a whiff of the Caribbean while caressing your skin, almost as if it were alive.

And then there's the food. Don't get us started on the food.

The best way to get inside New Orleans is to plunge right in. Don't just go for the obvious. Sure, we've met people who never left Bourbon Street and had a terrific time, but the city has so much more to offer. We've also met people who went for recognizable names and quick and easy decisions and then were disappointed that their experiences were no more than adequate.

Look over the advice that follows and you should be able to sidestep the inevitable tourist traps. We want you to go home having passed a real good time, as the locals say. If you want to get your hands dirty and help with some of the ongoing work, thank you. But if all your dirt comes from the powdered sugar on a beignet, then you did your trip right, too. You came. That matters a lot. Maybe you will even come back again.

That is, assuming you do go home. Remember: We warned you, so don't blame us if you come to New Orleans and one day discover that you never left.