new orleans us mint tour

New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old US Mint

French Quarter

The Mint, a blocky Greek Revival structure, is the only building of its kind to have printed both US and Confederate currency. Today it is home to the New Orleans Jazz Museum, with rotating exhibits on local jazz history and culture. It also contains the Louisiana Historical Center, an archive of manuscripts, microfiche and records related to the state. New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park hosts concerts here on weekday afternoons; check in at its office to see who is playing or visit the museum's website.

400 Esplanade Ave

Get In Touch

504-568-6993

https://www.nolajazzmuseum.org

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Jazz in the very city it was born.

Our Mission

The New Orleans Jazz Museum celebrates the history of jazz, in all its forms, through dynamic interactive exhibits, multi-generational educational programming, research facilities, and engaging musical performances.

The Jazz Museum enhances New Orleans’ ongoing cultural renaissance by providing diverse resources for musicians and music lovers of all languages and nationalities. We fully explore America’s quintessential musical art form in the city where jazz was born.

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Volunteer opportunities

We have lots of fun, engaging volunteer opportunities at the New Orleans Jazz Museum!

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Support our musical programs, exhibitions, and educational programs with a donation to the New Orleans Jazz Museum.

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Old U.S. Mint 400 Esplanade Ave. New Orleans, Louisiana

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The United States Mint in New Orleans

The US Mint building, located at 400 Esplanade Avenue, was designed by architect William Strickland, who had apprenticed with Benjamin Latrobe and designed US Mint buildings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Dahlonega, Georgia. Built upon the original site of Fort St. Charles at the foot of what became Esplanade Avenue, the New Orleans Mint began operations on March 8, 1838. In the twenty-three years prior to the Civil War, the mint produced a variety of gold and silver coins, including the examples displayed in this section, stamped with local mint mark “O.”

When Louisiana seceded from the Union in January 1861, the state seized the mint and its remaining bullion, continuing production of US coins until the Confederate States of America (CSA) took control of operations in April of the same year. Only four proof coins of Confederate currency from New Orleans survive. CSA minting activities ceased before they ever truly started, however. Within a month of the takeover, the secretary of the Confederate Treasury, Christopher Memminger, shuttered the facility due to the difficulty of obtaining bullion. Minting operations resumed in 1879 but were halted permanently in 1909, when the US Treasury Department closed the New Orleans branch.

United States of America Seated Liberty half dollar 1858; stamped silver by the United States Mint (New Orleans) The Historic New Orleans Collection, gift of Raymond Hoffman, 1992.85.27

City of New Orleans, First Municipality, fifty-dollar note October 30, 1837; engraving by John V. Childs, engraver (New Orleans) The Historic New Orleans Collection, gift of Boyd Cruise, 1951.29

City of New Orleans, First Municipality, two-hundred­­­­-dollar note October 30, 1837; engraving by John V. Childs, engraver (New Orleans) The Historic New Orleans Collection, gift of Boyd Cruise, 1947.28

City of New Orleans, First Municipality, three-hundred­­­­-dollar note October 30, 1837; engraving by John V. Childs, engraver (New Orleans) The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.9

City of New Orleans, Second Municipality, fifty-cent note December 1, 1839; engraving by Draper, Toppan, Longacre, and Company, printer (Philadelphia or New York) The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.13

City of New Orleans, Second Municipality, one-hundred-dollar note July 28, 1843; engraving by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson, printer (New Orleans) The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.25

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U.S. Department of the Treasury

New orleans mint, new orleans mint exterior view c. 1900..

New Orleans Mint floorplan drawing by architect William Strickland.

Drawing of exterior elevations of the New Orleans Mint

New Orleans Mint interior cast iron stairs detail

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New orleans jazz museum at the old u.s. mint, content provided by the new orleans jazz museum.

The New Orleans Jazz Museum is housed in the historic Old U.S. Mint, which is strategically located at the intersection of the city’s French Quarter and the Frenchmen Street live music corridor. The New Orleans Jazz Museum celebrates the history of jazz, in all its forms, through dynamic interactive exhibits, multigenerational educational programming, research facilities, and engaging musical performances. The New Orleans Jazz Museum, in collaboration with the Louisiana Museum Foundation and other educational and programming partners, is developing the world’s premier jazz exhibition. It will highlight the tremendous influence of New Orleans jazz on the cultural fabric of the nation and world. For details and to learn how to support the effort, visit NOLAjazzmuseum.org .

You can hear great music from some of New Orleans’ best contemporary artists at the $4 million, state-of-the-art performance venue on the Mint’s third floor. The near perfect sound environment features advanced acoustics and sound recording equipment designed to enhance the listeners’ experience and record the performance for historical archives. The Museum uses the space for evening programs, solo and small group concerts and special events while the National Park Service offers daily live music programs for local residents and visitors to the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park. Learn more and find a calendar of events at MusicAtTheMint.org . Take a virtual tour of the third floor, including dressing rooms and green room, here:

Voice of America Bahasa Indonesia takes a look at the New Orleans Jazz Museum and the post-Katrina jazz scene in New Orleans.

Video from Voice of America Indonesia .

The DotLO demonstrates musical elements of the development of jazz in New Orleans.

Video from the New Orleans Jazz Museum .

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New Orleans Jazz Museum

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The Mint at New Orleans

Excerpt from Annual Report of the Director of the Mint to the Secretary of the Treasury Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1878 Washington: Government Printing Office, 1878, Page 8 – 9. – Historical Reference Collection, United States Mint.

At the last session of Congress provision was made for reopening the mint at New Orleans for coinage purposes. Some little delay was occasioned in preparations for this object from the fact that the square of ground upon which the mint is located belonged to the city of New Orleans, and had been deeded to the government, at the time of the erection of the building, for only so long as it should be used by the government for minting purposes.

The act of Congress making appropriations for the mint at New Orleans provided that no expenditure of money should be made for that mint until the city should release all title and claim and all conditions for forfeiture to the lands or premises upon which the mint is located, and negotiations looking to that effect were entered into with the city authorities, which resulted in the square of ground being deeded in fee-simple to the government.

During the late war much of the machinery, apparatus, &c., had been injured and otherwise rendered ineffective from disuse and other causes incident to war, and extensive repairs besides additional machinery were required.

As soon as the title to the property had been secured to the government, and the officers of the mint had been appointed, the necessary repairs were commenced, but they have been impeded to a considerable extent by the prevalence of yellow fever in New Orleans, which not only delayed the repairs but prevented skilled mint operatives from going to that city until the epidemic should subside. As many mint operations require special skill and knowledge on the part of the operatives, a few of the appointees to that mint were assigned to duty at the mint at Philadelphia in order to familiarize themselves with the work which they will be called upon to perform, and will be transferred to New Orleans as soon as it is safe for them to go there.

The various operative rooms in the mint have been placed in good condition, the melting and annealing furnaces restored, the engine and machinery repaired, and such additional machinery as is required to render this mint effective for coinage has been procured, and it is believed that by the end of the current calendar year everything pertaining to the mint will be in a condition to commence coinage. The New Orleans mint will add to the coining capacity of the mints about $1,000,000 in silver dollars per month, but this capacity would be somewhat reduced if called upon to execute any considerable amount of gold or fractional silver coinage.

Compiled and transcribed by the United States Mint, Office of the Historian.

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Major Exhibition on Race at Old U.S. Mint

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Last Updated: Tuesday, November 1, 2022 2:04 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Arthur Smith Louisiana State Museum 504.568.6945 [email protected] Jacques Berry Office of the Lieutenant Governor  225.342.8607 [email protected]

The Louisiana Civil Rights Museum is presenting Race: Are We So Different?, a traveling exhibit on the history, science and everyday experience of race. The exhibit is opening June 4 at the Old U.S. Mint in New Orleans.

“ Race provides a powerful educational experience for visitors of all ages and backgrounds while encouraging constructive community dialogue about race,” Brenda Williams, interim advisory board chairwoman of the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum, said. “We are pleased to bring this exhibition to Louisiana as part of our mission to heal, educate, celebrate and engage for social justice.”

Using historic and contemporary photography, multimedia and interactive displays, Race explores issues of race and racism from three broad perspectives:

• Scientific—Visitors will find surprising answers to the question: “Are we so different?” In fact, human beings are more alike genetically than any other species.
• Historical—Exhibit traces how events, economics, politics and popular culture affect changing perceptions of race.
• Everyday experience—Interactive displays promote thinking about how we see ourselves and how we see others through the experience of race.

“This show has drawn large audiences at every museum on the national tour. It challenges accepted views about race with research from anthropology and other sciences, and it engages visitors with vibrant exhibit design,” Turry Flucker, Louisiana Civil Rights Museum project director, said.

Race: Are We So Different? is a project of the American Anthropological Association funded by the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation. The exhibition has been on national tour since 2007.

The Louisiana Civil Rights Museum was created in 1999 as part of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Race is co-sponsored by the Louisiana State Museum, Louisiana Commission on Human Rights, Louisiana Museum Foundation, the Friends of the Cabildo, YWCA of New Orleans, the Urban League, and Fox 8 WVUE-TV.

The museum is offering free group tours of the exhibition for schools and summer camps. For group tour reservations, call 504.568.7056. Single admissions are $6 for adults; $5 for seniors and active military; children 12 years old and younger, free.

Race: Are We So Different will be on view Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through Sept. 25. The Old U.S. Mint, located at 400 Esplanade Ave., is wheelchair accessible.

-- www.crt.la.gov --

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The BBQ oyster po-boy from Red Fish Grill is part of the restaurant's festival menu. (Staff photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

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Festival-goers share smoked brisket BBQ nachos during the first day of French Quarter Fest in New Orleans. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com , The Times-Picayune)

• Sophia Germer

O'Dell Allen of NOLA Crawfish King stirs a batch of crawfish during the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans Sunday, April 16, 2023. (Photo by Scott Threlkeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

• STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD

A festival-goer peels crawfish during the 3rd day of French Quarter Fest in New Orleans, Saturday, April 15, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com , The Times-Picayune)

• STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

Hanging out in front of the Louisiana Fish Fry Stage next to the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint at the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

• Staff photo by Chris Granger NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

The KFC boa with fried chicken pieces and aioli in steamed buns at Bao Mi in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

A hot fried chicken sandwich from the Southerns food truck. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Restaurant entrepreneur Larry Morrow and his grandmother, Sun Chong, inside Sun Chong restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans on Thursday, May 11, 2023. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

The lambeaux is a leg of lamb po-boy, a riff on traditions from Smoke & Honey in New Orleans. (Contributed photo from Vassiliki Ellwood Yiagazis)

14 Parish's jerk chicken plate is a Jamaican classic. (File photo by Ann Maloney, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Food is everywhere at French Quarter Festival, as people stroll between stages around the city’s oldest neighborhood and dig in. (Photo by Chris Granger, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

The crabmeat-stuffed beignet is a savory treat from Loretta's Authentic Pralines, a vendor at Jazz Fest and French Quarter Fest with a restaurant in Faubourg Marigny. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Cafe Dauphine is a French Quarter Fest vendor with deep-fried seafood stuffed bell peppers. (File photo by Ann Maloney, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Vaucresson Sausage Co. returns with its popular crawfish sausage po-boy at French Quarter Festival. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

• Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.co

Mar mitmita shrimp at Addis NOLA is a dish with local seafood and Ethiopian spice. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

French Quarter Fest food is diverse and delicious. See Ian McNulty’s scouting report here.

Ian McNulty

• Author email
• Apr 8, 2024
• 5 min to read

Breakfast, lunch and dinner is fine for everyday meals. But planning a visit to French Quarter Festival calls for a much different approached when it comes to food. I’m here to help you make that plan.

Returning this week, April 11 to April 14, French Quarter Festival turns the city’s oldest neighborhood and cultural core into a self-guided festival ground of stages. It also brings clusters of food and beverage vendors, arrayed like individual food courts for quick street eats.

It’s a tour de force of New Orleans flavors, including those that speak to deep-running local tradition and more that reflect how our communities cook and eat today.

Another distinguishing characteristic is the diversity of food vendors represented, the result of an intentional strategy towards inclusion and opportunity. The festival can be a big break for vendors and an opportunity to showcase what they do every day at their restaurants.

There are more than 60 food and beverage vendors this year, and among them are 16 making their festival debuts.

This year they are divided between seven distinct food areas. What follows is my scouting report with some best bets and intriguing additions at each. You can find the full festival menu at frenchquarterfest.org/foods .

“Champions row” at Jax Lot

French Quarter Fest food competes for your appetite, not awards. But the Jax Lot is shaping up as a champions row, lined with vendors who have racked up accolades at other competitions.

Bao Mi won a top award at last year’s National Fried Chicken Festival, and it has the same Korean fried chicken bao ($7).

LUFU NOLA won top honors two years in a row at Food Fight, and it makes its French Quarter Fest debut here with a range of Indian street food ($8-$16).

Food truck Southerns hit a superfecta at last year’s Oak Street Po-Boy Festival with four awards, and it's back at Jax Lot with its fried chicken sandwich ($12), as well as its stand-out cracklin’s ($13).

Speaking of Po-Boy Fest, that’s where Red Fish Grill once served its tangy, fried BBQ oyster po-boy ($15), and you can get a taste again here.

Full circle at Jackson Square

Classic and new vendors are interspersed across the festival areas, and this one at the center of it all brings that interplay into focus.

A new one to watch is Nori Guys, a pop-up bringing spicy tuna sushi tacos ($10) and crab and tuna wonton nachos ($12).

This is also where you’ll find Tujague’s, the city’s second-oldest name in dining, with shrimp-stuffed mirliton ($11) and shrimp remoulade ($12)

And no vendor has more experience in the game than Vaucresson Sausage Co., which was here from the start of the festival and returns with its classic po-boys of hot sausage or crawfish sausage (a pork blend) and a new rendition with jerk chicken sausage ($10 each).

Woldenberg Riverfront Park – Kohlmeyer Lawn

Once, Cafe Dauphine was a neighborhood anchor in Holy Cross. The Creole Soul restaurant has been closed since the pandemic, but returns annually for French Quarter Fest. Look for fried ribs, seafood-stuffed egg rolls and fried stuffed bell peppers ($13 each).

Treme restaurant Fritai makes its festival debut with Haitian dishes, including the shrimp pikliz, a spicy-crisp slaw ($13), and oxtail handpies ($8).

Loretta’s Authentic Pralines has created a festival sensation with its specialty beignets, and both the crab beignet ($9) and praline beignet ($6) are irresistible.

Larry Morrow has created three restaurant hits in different neighborhoods, and each of them will be in the same festival area here. His original restaurant Morrow’s has grilled oysters with crabmeat ($16) and a crawfish pasta with fried fish ($15). Son Chong has a fusion flex of Korean chicken wings with crawfish fried rice ($16) and dumplings injected with gumbo ($12). And Monday has sweet potato stuffed beignets ($10) and a whole fried snapper ($25), which seems an unlikely but confident festival food undertaking.

For something lighter, check out new vendor Pho Bang with fresh spring rolls with shrimp, and less light but still vegetarian fried tofu (each $8).

Woldenberg Riverfront Park – Palm Lawn

Fatty’s Cracklin’ was a mainstay vendor at Jazz Fest for many years, but its last appearance there was before the pandemic. Now, though, Fatty’s has joined the French Quarter Fest lineup with a different menu. Here, it’s serving chicken cracklin’ ($8), along with pepper jack boudin balls ($10).

French restaurant Couvant debuts at the fest with duck and Brie spring rolls ($10) and “Frenchie sliders” ($15), burgers with tomato confit and bacon jam.

Jamaican restaurant 14 Parishes is a master of jerk flavor, deployed with chicken ($11) or pork ($12). Try the "festival" ($8), the apt name for a puffy fried bread.

Old U.S. Mint

This year, NOLA Crawfish King returns from Gentilly with barbecue sandwiches ($12), brisket burnt end plates ($15) and the “brisket bomb” ($7), a specialty roll filled with ground brisket, mac and cheese and jalapeños.

This same area is where you’ll find boiled crawfish ($10 to $30 by size and sides), again from NOLA Crawfish King (the dual identity of NOLA Cochon King above), in partnership with Louisiana Fish Fry products.

Smoke & Honey is a Greek/Jewish café that just opened this year in Mid-City and makes its festival debut here with its signature Lambeaux po-boy, filled with braised lamb leg, whipped feta and onion garlic jam ($15, half and vegetarian versions also), an assortment of vegetarian dips ($12) and chicken souvlaki ($8).

New stage at Spanish Plaza

This is the new location for the Jack Daniel’s Stage this year, and it has its own food area, on the riverfront between the Four Seasons hotel and the Riverwalk Outlets mall.

Look for Addis NOLA here for a taste of Ethiopian cooking, with honey glazed shrimp ($20), jollof rice, a.k.a. “the original jambalaya” ($12), honey glazed wings ($12) and sambusa meat pies ($6).

Friends of Codey is set up in the same area with both a lamb yakamein ($14) and a vegetarian version ($12) of the street food soup.

Yakamein is classic New Orleans street food and festival food.

Miss River, the lux restaurant at the adjacent Four Seasons hotel led by chef Alon Shaya, debuts this year with an indulgent-sounding combo plate of the three dishes it also serves separately. That would be red beans and rice ($8), muffuletta ($14) and crab roll ($16). Order the “three-piece suit” and you get a sample of each and a pour of sparking wine ($32), which feels very on brand for Four Seasons.

Culinary Stage and Aquarium Plaza

Also new to the riverfront area is the Culinary Stage presented by Kingfish Kitchen & Cocktails. Chef Kevin Belton will preside over daily cooking demonstrations and interviews. The festival will have a total of 21 stages in 2024.

Booths here have adult beverages, soft drinks and ice cream and frozen cups from Lizzy’s Catering ($4-$12).

French Quarter Festival

April 11-14, various locations across the French Quarter

See frenchquarterfest.org/food for complete vendor list and menu.

Follow Where NOLA Eats on Instagram at @wherenolaeats , join the Where NOLA Eats Facebook group and subscribe to the free Where NOLA Eats weekly newsletter here .

Email Ian McNulty at [email protected] .

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The Best New Orleans Plantation Tours To Take With Kids

T here are a lot of New Orleans Plantation Tours to choose from. But having kids with us we knew we could only do a couple before they hit their limit. We talked to locals in the area and lined up what seemed to be the best Plantation tour New Orleans had to offer to do with kids.

Read below to learn about our experience at the Plantations and which ones we recommend. We also choose to go the self guided route whenever possible. As we know with younger kids in tow this is usually the best option.

Oak Alley Plantation

We couldn’t go on a historic plantation tour without seeing the iconic Oak Alley plantation and the magical Alley of Oaks that line the walkway to the house! Luckily they had a great option for kids – the self guided tour.

There is an admission fee you pay just to walk the grounds. You can check out their prices here.

Our kids are 11, 8, 8 and 6 so their attention span is only so long. A self guided tour is almost always a good fit for us especially when there are signs that we can read along the way to teach the kids (and us) more about what we are seeing.

We headed out to explore the surrounding grounds. The only bad thing about the self guided tour is you can’t go into the plantation house (a gorgeous building built in the Greek revival style) . . .our kids didn’t mind that and we did find another tour where we went inside the house so we figured we covered that experience for them there.

If you are interested in going inside you can check out the tours that are offered here.

Slavery At Oak Alley Exhibit

The first stop is the Slave Cabins. There are a couple you just peek your head into and then others you can walk into. Inside there is a museum setup with lots of great information about the antebellum south and facts about the slaves that lived and worked on the plantation.

They also had a wall covered with the names of the enslaved people that worked there. The visual impact was helpful for us as we explained to our kids about slaves and what their life was like on the plantations and how the Civil War outlawed slavery.

After that we headed up to walk around the outside of the big house. The grounds are very well maintained and they are beautiful. Then we found the Mint Julep bar – hello!!! They sell Mint Juleps with and without alcohol so we had to get one without alcohol for the kids to try and one with for us. . . we had to try to local flavor! It was great!

Alley Of Oaks Plantation

Next we went for a walk down the avenue of Oaks. The live oak trees are so magical and walking through them and turning to look back at the house was so cool. THIS is what you think of when you imagine the beauty of the south.

We grabbed a few pictures there and then made our way to the store/restaurant area. There we sampled pralines (yummy!) and then got the kids ice cream. The shop had a lot of great cookbooks, clothes, souvenirs a variety of things.

To wrap up this plantation offers: A self guided tour, great history/museum, Mint Juleps, ice cream and candy samples. I have to say this was the perfect plantation self guided tour to take our kids on!

Or if you are Staying in New Orleans check out this great deal where you take a bus to Oak Alley from New Orleans! 

St. Joseph Plantation

We also did the St. Joseph Plantation tour which was located right next to Oak Alley. For this one we did an actual tour of the inside of the plantation and it was really cool!

Our tour guide was a descendent of one of the Planation owners. She had great stories to tell us and lots of history to share. It was really cool to hear it from someone who’s family had actually lived on the plantation.

I was a little nervous about how the kids would do on a 45 minute tour, but they did really well! The lady kept the tour moving and we were able to check out a lot of the rooms and also the outside porch (I know there is a really cool word for it but I can’t remember it . . .).

I was glad we found a tour that worked with our kids so they could get more history about the plantation and what life was like on it for a family that had lived there during the 19th century.

After the tour we were able to walk around and explore the grounds. We could go into the blacksmith shop and the slave quarters – which was an important thing for us to show our kids and explain about slavery and how unfair and horrible it was.

Talking about it was one thing, but actually being able to show them the slave quarters compared to the house and explain how the slaves had very little choice in what they were doing was really powerful for our kids.

The St. Joseph Plantation was not as commercialized as Oak Alley and that was nice to see too.

Other Plantations To Visit

There are a lot of other plantation homes and tours in the area that lined the Mississippi River road and we heard a lot about the Laurel Plantation. But we knew that 2 tours for our kids was all they could handle. And we were really happy with our choices!

• Destrehan plantation
• Whitney plantation
• Nottoway plantation
• Laurel Valley Plantation
• Laura Plantation
• Houmas House Plantation

Where To Stay

We aren’t exactly sure where to stay when we visited and without even knowing it we ended up staying in an amazing Lousiana town called Thibodaux! It was such a cool place and we are so glad that we spent a few nights here.

Carmel Inn & Suites (and RV!)

We stayed at the iconic Carmel Inn & Suites . The owners were amazing and the property was in a great location. And one of the coolest things was they had a hook up for our RV! If you are looking for a place to stay with your RV just them a call and they will let you know if they have an RV spot open and what the pricing is:  (831) 624-1900  Be sure to tell them Crazy Family Adventure sent you!

The owners and front desk are super helpful on the surrounding area so be sure to ask them for recommendations when you get there!

This meant we were able to hook up our RV to a 30 amp outlet (they have 50 amp too!) and park it on a nice flat blacktop lot. Then we could still get the free breakfast in the morning and use the amenities like the pool and laundry room!

They also have rooms where dogs can stay with you. This was definitely a great place to stay it if you want to check out a cool city outside of New Orleans and visit the surrounding plantations.

Click here for great deals on Carmel Inn & Suites from TripAdvisor!

Things To Do In Thibodaux

After visiting the plantations we explored more of Thibodaux and the surrounding area. Along with having some authentic New Orleans food!

Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center

We visited the cultural center which is part of the National Parks system so we got in for free with our National Park pass. It had a small museum area inside with a fun scavenger hunt for the kids to do for a prize.

They also had a kids play area filled with fun toys and activities about the area.

Then you can walk outside to check out the bayou.

Downtown Thibodaux

We did a driving tour of downtown Thibodaux checking out all of the historic buildings – with a nice map with the history on it that we got from the hotel. It would also be a great walking tour to do but it was just to hot for us to do that.

Peppers Pizzeria

We also checked out Peppers Pizza which had great pizza, local beer on tap and my favorite beignets!! We didn’t have to go all the way into New Orleans to get a Beignet. I was happy!

Other Things To Do

If you are looking for more things to do you can head outside of Thibodaux for a swamp tour or into New Orleans.

Cajun Pride Swamp Tours

If you are looking to check out the swamp and spot some alligators be sure to head over to the Cajun Pride Swamp Tours . These tours are always great and help you understand what this ecosystem is all about. A swamp is definitely an interesting place!

New Orleans

And of course you can drive in to check out the city of New Orleans with kids and the French Quarter. There are so many great things to do in New Orleans WITH kids we highly recommend it!  Plus there are some great New Orleans hotels to stay at. You could stay there and do a day trip to visit the plantations.

If you want to take the New Orleans fun home with you be sure to check out this Pat O’Brien Hurricane drink recipe !

And if you are there around Halloween check out these awesome New Orleans Halloween: Ghost Tours and Spooky Events !

Escape Game

If you are looking for a bonus fun activity to do while in New Orleans, check out The Escape Game! It is an awesome way to build your teamwork as a family and a ton of fun to work together and solve clues to escape before the clock runs out! You can read about our experience at The Escape Game in Chicago here.

More posts you may be interested in:

Free Things To Do In Baton Rouge

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Destin, Florida

Fishing in Destin Florida

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