13 cool things about New Orleans

This week I've been in a brand-new city: New Orleans! It's supposedly a business trip, but you know how those things go- there's always a little extra time for play. Here are a few of the things that I'll remember this city for...

#1. Farm-raised alligator. 

Available to eat, well, everywhere. There's even alligator beef jerky in the convenience stores.

#2. Booze, costumes, palm trees, and more booze.

It feels like the Las Vegas of the south.

#3. The music...

... is everywhere!

#4. Silver fire hydrants. 

What's this about?

#5. You can get yourself a drive-thru daiquiri here.

Weird but true.

#6. Sometimes, through a hotel window, it looks a little like Kharkiv.

#7. A Lousiana storm is seriously impressive.

#8. The best restaurant on the planet is Lüke. 

Crispy brussels sprouts w/ marcona almonds, espelette honey, progress milk barn cheese. Blue crab w/ mozzarella and bread crumbs. Jumbo Louisiana shrimp w/ roasted jalapeño cheese grits. This is where I live in my dreams (and weigh 700 lbs).

#9. New Orleans has super-cute streetcars! 

They rumble by sounding just like they do in Ukraine ;)

#10. I dare you to finish one of the sodas at Mulate's Cajun Restaurant. 

Or a bowl of the gumbo (which was good, but didn't photograph as something you'd actually want to eat).

#11. Cruise ships leave from New Orleans. 

Hello, next cruise :)

#12. Voodoo?

It's really a thing here.

#13. Three things you'll see everywhere.

Sugar-coated pralines, the fleur-de-lis, and beignet cafes.

Have you been to New Orleans?