re: Looking for some Non-French quarter New Orleans advice [update pg2]

The Zoo and the WWll Museum.

New Orleans is going to be packed this weekend with Jazz Fest & the Zurich Classic. You must have had this trip planned for a while huh?

IMO, this is the best time of year to be in New Orleans. Walk around and just enjoy the city..

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You can also check the Travel Board for info.

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You know I don't think I've ever noticed that there was a travel board on here

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OweO

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Walk around and just enjoy the city..

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Zoo
WWII museum
Aquarium
Insectarium

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Saturday I was hoping to see some parts of the city outside of the French Quarter.

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To be honest, you should spend 90% of your time outside of the FQ. It is dirty and a tourist shithole and really not a place for kids. Royal Street is ok but anything close to Bourbon sucks.

Things to do:

Riverwalk
Steamboat Natchez cruise
WW2 Museum
Walk around the Garden District down Prytania
Magazine Street in the Garden District/Uptown
Audubon Zoo is wonderful
Aquarium of the Americas
Insecterium

And the best thing:

City Park: TON to do. Paddleboats, gondolas, family bike carts to rent, feed ducks, have beignets at Morning Call (much better than Cafe du Monde), jungle gym, there is an amusement park with a mini roller coaster and a train, etc etc etc

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Be aware that the part of Canal Street by the Saenger and parts of the FQ directly behind it are NOT the safest. Stick to Canal, take the streetcars and you should be OK.

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This is actually pretty true. It is a nice hotel, but the area near it and by the Saenger is actually a bit dangerous at times.

And as others have said, Food and Drink Board and Travel Board will be excellent resources for you.

i'm pretty sure your kid will want to do the Audubon zoo.

Some very solid recommendations in this thread.
However, City Park is mere blocks from the Fair Grounds and JazzFest, some of the JazzFest parking and shuttle areas are IN City Park, as well as lots of traffic from people trying to park in the Park and walk.
It will be crowded. Uptown ideas like walking and window-shopping or whatever on Magazine Street should have less traffic, but may not interest your child.

There are, definitely some great places to eat on Magazine St., including the La Boulangerie Bakery which should have something for everyone! Same applies if taking the streetcar to the RiverBend where St. Charles Ave., Carrollton Ave. intersect at the River.

The result are in!

Saturday was the drive down from Auburn. Stopped at Dr Wagner's honey island swamp tours in Slidell on the way in. Probably the highlight of the trip for my son (not counting meeting DanTDM of course). Got to see some snakes, turtles, pigs, and plenty of Gators. Swamp was awesome.

Stayed at the Hampton Inn by the convention center in the Warehouse District. Great property built in a old warehouse. Very clean with great service. Property looks brand new. Love the area. Easy ride on a street car into Jackson square. I felt more comfortable waking the warehouse district at night than the French quarter. I would say that area fits my style better. A couple of blocks away we ate at a place called Cochon. The Rabbit and Dumplings I had was the best meal I had the whole trip. Well best food I had the service would have been better.

Sunday we moved to the Courtyard by the Saenger. Brunch at the Ruby Slipper before the show. Food was good. Looking at the other tables I wish I would have tried the French toast instead of the eggs Benedict. My meal was great but the French toast looked fantastic. Dinner was at the Gumbo shop near Jackson Square. Chicken gumbo was the best thing we had there. Red beans and rice was second. Third was the ettouffe. I didn't care for their Shrimp Creole or their Jambalaya. We ordered a hot brownie topped with ice cream for the son. We all loved it. I wasn't expecting anything special from it but it surprised Me. It was 50% brownie, 50% chopped pecans, 50% fudge, and 50% ice cream.

Today we hit city park. Nevwr been there before so we thought we would see what was there today. Disappointed to see most of the stuff in there is not running or closed on Mondays. Son loved the park though. Ate at the Morning Call. Since it was convenient. Beignets and cafe au let to start. I'm no beignet expert but I liked them. Alligator sausage was OK. Not bad but I've had better. Wife had the crawfish bread which was good. Wish I had room to try the muffaletta but I stuffed. Took the son across the causeway on the way back. Interesting to see some equipment I designed powering the cell towers that are located on the causeway. Next time you use your phone while crossing the pontchartrain and use your phone you know who to thank.

Never enough meals in a day to eat everywhere we want to while in the Big Easy. First time I've been back since Katrina and the city is better than I remembered. Pretty sure all my stays in the city will be in the Warehouse District from now on. Honestly didn't know much about it until this trip.

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Also, scratch the Gumbo Shop from any trips going forward.

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Definitely. Nothing we had there was worthy of going back. Most of the places we chose were because of convenience. Gumbo shop was chosen after just aimlessly walking around. It looked nice and crowded but not so crowded we would have to wait more than 10-15 minutes. It was thoroughly forgettable. Wish we had taken the time to try to get reservations for someplace better Sunday night.