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June 10, 2026 46 mins
Summer may sizzle in New Orleans but the deals on hotels, dining and attractions also heat up. The Big Easy is easy going in the summer with many landscaped outdoor parks to enjoy nature, rooftop bars to chill off with cocktails and cool, air-conditioned locally owned shops and galleries to explore. Intrepid New Orleans resident, Melanie Young, shares her favorite things to do in the summer from live music, theatre and summer festivals to COOLinary dining deals and Museum month in August.

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:20):
be directed to those show hosts.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you for choosing W four WN Radio.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hello, and welcome to Fearless Fabulous You. I am your host,
Melanie Young, and I am so glad you're joining me
on June tenth, twenty twenty six. You know what this
time of year is. It is the start of the
summer season, and I bet you were. I hope you
already have travel plans in place, and maybe you're going

(01:03):
to do some last minute travel plans, either in the
United States for the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of
our country, or maybe you're going overseas to do some exploring. Anyway,
I hope you are traveling because I think traveling is
the best education of my life and yours, and it's
all about exploring new places, maybe visiting familiar ones, but

(01:26):
learning about new cultures and whatnot. So, as you know,
I love to travel, and I'm trying to do more
travel shows on Fearless Fabulous Shoe. So it's not just
about health and wellness, which I want you to always
make a priority, but I also want you to enjoy
your life to the fullest and step out and explore.
And you know you can travel on any budget. I

(01:48):
travel on a budget all the time. I mean, I'm
lucky to be invited on hosted press trips so i
can share it with you. But when I'm on my
own diamond tyme, wow, am I on a budget? I'm
very careful about looking for travel dale. So I'm going
to talk about one travel deal today here in the
United States that maybe you were like, I don't know
about that, But I'm going to tell you why you
should spend some time visiting New Orleans, the Big Easy

(02:13):
in summer, because summertime in New Orleans and the living
is easy here in the Big Easy. And I'm going
to talk to you as someone who has chosen to
live full time in New Orleans, and we spend a
lot of time here in the summer because a lot
of our business trips are in the first part of
the year, and then everything kind of quiets down and
then we start up again with all of our great

(02:34):
wine trips. We spend a lot of time here in
the summer, and there's some good reasons to visit. Summer
May sizzle with heat in New Orleans and people go, oh,
it's too hot, But let me tell you, it's hot everywhere.
I was just in Italy two weeks ago. I'm about
to go to Greece and it is hot. But New
Orleans has benefits from the heat because it has amazing

(02:55):
air conditioning. Everyone has air conditioning, and that's not always
the case, as I learned sitting in the back of
a car cooking more recently. It's not to say I
don't love Europe and I love the fact that Europeans
don't love air conditioning, but boy, New Orleans dishes it out.
So you'll come down to New Orleans and guess what

(03:16):
you'll find some of the greatest dining and hotel deals
you've ever dreamed of. You know, festival season is over,
prices go down, the city kind of empties out a
lot of locals go to their homes in the mountains,
and that's cool. We have friends in North Carolina we
want to visit. But New Orleans is really cool in
the summer because sings slow down. You pace yourself is

(03:37):
to have a cool cocktail and a rooftop bar. Maybe
take advantage of a pass, resort pass, it's called the
resort pass to take a dip in a pool. There's
lots of green spaces and so many shops and galleries
happy to see you during these quiet months. And you're
supporting small independent businesses because New Orleans is all about

(04:00):
small independent businesses. Just to kind of give you a
little land yap or what they call a little some
extra to wet your appetite, I'm going to quickly show
you a short sizzle reel. Yeah, this is all about
sizzling that I found on New Orleans dot com. New
Orleans and Company is the Convention of Visitors, Bureau Tourism Office.

(04:20):
New Orleans dot com is a great source for planning
your trip getting deals. I use it all the time
as a journalist. So I'm asking my fabulous engineer one,
let's show that little sizzle deal to see why you
may want to consider visiting New Orleans in the summer.
There's nowhere like New Orleans this summer. The city is

(04:41):
showing off and you should see it.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
New spaces, new energy, dining that belongs on any list
in the world.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Come see it's new. New Orleans is ready for you. Okay,
New Orleans is ready, And I'm ready to talk about
New Orleans because i love this city with all my heart.
So I'm going to tell you as an insider what
you should be doing this summer in New Orleans and
frankly all year round. But let's start with green spaces,

(05:09):
because I think recently my brother in law and sister
in law came to visit and we took them to
our New Orleans. So a lot of people come New Orleans,
and of course they go to the French Quarter. It's amazing.
It's the most historic neighborhood probably in the United States,
and one of them, and the city and you feel
like you're in a little part of Europe, and you
got to love it. And we encourage you to go

(05:32):
visit the French Quarter and we'll talk about it. But
you've got to step out and downtown. You've got to
go uptown on the streetcar to see the beautiful mansions
and historic homes. You can do these incredible tours, and
I highly recommend doing tours. The Cabildo, which is a
historic museum in the French Quarter, does these great architectural tours.

(05:55):
You can sign up for them through the Cabildo. You
can sign up from New Orleans. And there's also some
wonderful culinary tours you can do, like Destination New Orleans.
I highly recommend doing some of these walking tours to
get a feel for the city and do them in
different neighborhoods. I love New Orleans because of the green
spaces and you're probably going really well, yeah, because I

(06:17):
live here full time. And when we decided where we
wanted to live full time, we thought about where we
would go to have fun because we were living in
New York and then we moved to the country and
it was all great, but we were like, where do
we always spend our hard earned money to go have
a good time. Well, guess what, it was New Orleans.
We came here for festivals, We came here to see friends.
We came here for Tails of the Cocktail, which is

(06:39):
a summer event, and we therefore decided to move here.
So one of the things we wanted when we moved
here was green space. Green space is really important because
we like to walk and hike and bike and have
access to golf and tennis. Should we start taking it
up again. So we lived near probably one of the
most beautiful green spaces in New Orleans, which I highly

(07:00):
recommend visiting. It's a short drive from the French Quarter
in downtown. It's called City Park. This is our central park.
It is so beautiful, filled with large giant oak trees.
There's the story Land, a children's park with a nursery,
rhyme thief. There's tennis courts, there's get this Cafe Dumont.

(07:23):
So you may line up and wait for a long
time at the Cafe Dumont in the French Court. But
the Cafe Domont in City Park there are no lines
and there's more space to have those amazing begnets and
Cafe Ola. It's where I like to go. Sometimes I'll
just go to City Park. I'm doing it later, I'm
going to do a free class. They have this wonderful

(07:44):
all these great free classes in City Park. There's even
a put putt City Putt I'm going tonight and I'm
going to Move your Brass. It's a free dance class.
And after I do my Move your Brass, I'm going
to City Parks members night to go have fun at
story Land and ride some Rise and the Kid again.
We'll probably go pick up some begnets and cafe Ola

(08:04):
before we go in frozen Cafeola in the summer. Awesome.
There's also botanical gardens. It's beautiful city park should be
on everyone's list to go visit. And the New Orleans
Museum of Art is a beautiful museum filled with fine art.
Right nearby is the Woldenberg Outdoor Sculpture Garden. I love

(08:24):
spending my afternoons walking in the garden. It is so
beautiful and so peaceful. Just make sure you care, wear
comfortable shoes, wear sneakers. I'm gonna talk about shoes in
a minute and a reason why. And maybe sun tan,
pack sunscreen, buck spray, and have an umbrella and write
sunglasses or a hat to cover yourself and so you

(08:46):
don't get overheated. So green spaces get you outside. They
just talk to you about my favorite one city park.
I'm going to cover the green spaces the I'm gonna
get say you had to pack for them. Another fame
really favorite green space is Crescas City Park. Creston City
Park is along the river in the Bywater. The Byewater

(09:06):
is a very old historic neighborhood filled with colorful little
houses that people have fixed up. Many or single family
some are two families, you know, share different halves. Cute
little restaurant. Some of the top restaurants in the city
you're actually in the bywater, that's right, including Saint Germain,

(09:26):
which is on the Meshionless and Ayacama, which is a
Mexican restaurant, both are in the bywater. Crescas City Park
is a beautifully landscape park right on the Mississippi River.
You can stroll it, you can bike it. There are
plenty of blue bikes to rent. It's called the Blue
Bikes and they're all over town. Highly recommend doing that
and maybe then going into the bywater. One of my

(09:50):
favorite places to go in the bywater is the Sneaky Pickle.
That's right, Sneaky Pickle. We took my brother in law
and sister in law to lunch there. There's a lot
of vegetarian sandwiches and bowls to have, but it's not
all vegetarian and really great drinks. It's called the Sneaky Pickle.
It's one of my favorite lunch places in the Bywater.

(10:11):
Another thing I love to do is to go to
Chants in Hell Snowballs. Okay, the snowball is like Hawaiian
shave ice, but New Orleans style, which means you're going
to have these incredibly amazing fresh often fresh fruit juices.
But sometimes there's a little alcohol in some of them.
They change based on what is available. Chance in Hell

(10:32):
Snowballs is right near Sneaky Pickle, and I got to
tell you it is some of the best snowballs in
the city. You got to have at least one because
you're going to be hot snowballs. Remember plastic New Orleans
summer treat snowballs. Another green space further on up adjacent
to the French Quarter is the newly expanded Woldenburg Park

(10:56):
Up there. It is just basically the river front. They
have expanded it even further down to the Marinee another
charming restaurant where there's a lot of music places to go,
cafes and music venues and the Marine. Frenchman Street is
a really famous place to walk at night. Great. We
actually spend some time walking on this newly expanded Wildeburg

(11:18):
Park during the French Quarter festival, which happens in the spring.
Fourth of July. Great time to visit. You're going to
see the most stunning fireworks from this park over the Mississippi.
Imaginable great green space just steps from downtown New Orleans
and the French Quarter if you go uptown. Another favorite

(11:39):
green space absolutely is Autumn Park. It is another grand
park surrounded by beautiful historic mansions and two Lane University,
my alma mater. It is a very family friendly. You'll
see people biking, You'll see people walking their dogs. There's
a beautiful lake with swans docs. I love to do

(12:02):
like one or two loops around Ottoman Park with friends
just to catch up and then maybe go over to
Magazine Street and get an ice cream at Kreole Creamery,
or get in my car and go down Chapatulas and
go to Hanson's Snowbiz, one of the most famous snowball
places in New Orleans. On Chopatulas, there a snowball. This

(12:22):
place is so famous it was named a James Spear Foundation,
America's classic Hanson snowball. I think it's eighty years old. Family.
If you go to Snowblitz on Instagram, they'll tell you
the flavors of the day. There are lines to get
in because it's so popular and so worth it. So
these are like my cool fun things to do for

(12:42):
green spaces is walk the green space, go with a friend,
and then go get a snowball. Another favorite snowball is
Plump Street Snowball further uptown on Plum Street. But I
got to tell you Hanson's and Chansen Hill and the
Byworder absolute ham down my favorite snowballs. So you're like, Okay,
I don't want to be outdoors anymore. Wait, but you

(13:04):
could go see the lake. It's absolutely cool and beautiful
lake poncha tree and you can walk the lake front.
There's so many green spaces. But let's say you don't
want to be indoors because you're tired of being outside. Well,
first let me tell you how to be the heat.
When you come to New Orleans in the summer. There
are absolute musts you must pack in your suitcase. One
comfortable closed toe walking shoes, preferably sneakers, because you're going

(13:28):
to walk a lot and your feet are going to
swell and get hot, so bring socks, wear sneakers. I
like kids, and I'm not paid to say that, although
maybe they'll take notice and hire me. But there's a lot,
But always have sneakers. Also a really comfortable pair of sandals,
not heels or other kind of flat shoe. But don't
necessarily take your newest and most favorite shoe, girlfriends. It

(13:52):
rains a lot here. There will be rain. There will
be rain, and it could be sprinkled or deluge. It's
summer in New Orleans. Expect have umbrella with you, and
have shoes that you don't care about in case they
get wet. Some of my least favorite pairs of shoes
still remain in my closet just in case the rain
comes down. I always carry a pair in my I

(14:13):
always carry a pair in a backpack or or a sack,
a tope bag, and in my cor just in case.
I always have an umbrella, always have my sunscreen, and
I always have bucks bray because sorry, there are mosquitoes.
There are mosquitoes everywhere. I lived in the Hudson Valley
and I was bitten all the time, So don't just
say New Orleans is hot, and they're mosquitoes. I was

(14:35):
just in Italy. There were a shitload of bugs there,
and I love Italy, but there were mosquitoes. They're mosquitos everywhere,
so don't just say they're only in the tropics or subtropics.
They're everywhere, and there's heat everywhere. Just pap that wherever
you go. Comfy shoes, maybe a long seve, light linen shirt, sunscreen, bucks,
bray hat, shady hat. You can get tons of them

(14:59):
here at the French market. Hats are sold everywhere. And
an umbrella, okay, just do it, trust me. And deodorant.
Make sure you have plenty of deodorant. Okay. So you're
tired of being outside, ah, I don't blame you. However,
you got to think about evening. It cools down here
and there are some amazing rooftop bars that I would

(15:20):
highly recommend to grab a cool cocktail because New Orleans
is a cocktail center. There's some very famous cocktails that
were invented here. I would definitely check out some of
these amazing rooftop bars. I call it relaxing. One of
my favorites is brand New. It's just open. It's so elegant,
It's in a hotel called the Hotel Pearl, right down

(15:40):
on Lower Saint Charles, right neck in the heart of downtown.
It's called Charles and Julia. It's a rooftop bar in
terrace with light bites and you can get some wonderful food.
It's owned by the same family that owns Two Jacks,
one of the most famous, historic, second oldest restaurant in
New Orleans. I love this place. There is a pool.

(16:02):
I think it's only for hotel guests. It's a very
elegant hotel. By the way, if you're looking for a
really beautiful, upscale place, the Hotel Pearl p E R
L E. But Charleston Julia and the rooftop bar are
open to everyone, and I would definitely go there. Another
really popular place and deals to be had right now
in the summer is the Ponta Train Hotel, which turns

(16:25):
one hundred this year. Very historic hotel. I'm going to
share a cute story with you about it. It's right
on beautiful Saint Charles, not far from where I have
family living, and they have a bar upstairs on the
roof called hot Tin, and boy is it hot to
get into. Make reservations. You see a three sixty view

(16:45):
of the city the Ponta Train because it's turning one hundred,
it's offering one of the best hotel deals with the
city one hundred dollars a night rooms. That's right, one
hundred dollars a night room, So check it out. Another
thing I love about the Ponta Train is there's this
famous Mile High Pie that was invented at the Poncha
Train Hotel. It is like kind of like a baked

(17:07):
Alaska with multicolors. It's really awesome. When I was a
little girl, during my first trip down here, my parents
took me to the Ponta Train for a slice at
Mile High Pie. I was as happy as possible. And
then a very famous nightclub entertainer came in named Chris Owens,
and she was really a hot thing back then. She's
passed since, and my cousin was so shocked to see
her he spit out his sable And whenever I see

(17:31):
my cousin, I still tease them. But My High Pie
is a real treat, particularly for traveling with kids. But
you know, we're all kids, really, we're all grown up kids.
Another great bar in downtown New Orleans is Rosie's on
the Roof at the Higgins Hotel, right across from the
World War Two Museum, which is a great museum. To visit,
you need about two days. Rosies on the Roof has

(17:52):
the most stunning view of downtown New Orleans and they
do have specials. Another one I like is the View
Rooftop Bar on Canal Street. It's also tied to one
of my favorite museums. The view very interactive. Highly recommend that.
There's others, but you know what, there's also bars with

(18:13):
pools and you can take a dip. There's something called
resort pass. I don't need it because lucky me, I
have a pool in my house, but a resort pass
will get you access to different pools. The pool club
at the Virgin Hotel Obsolute Bar and now I actually
like the restaurant of the Virgin Hotel, but it has
a beautiful pool club you can go to downtown. Another

(18:34):
one is the Knapsi Hotel, which has some very good
deals this summer in terms of rooms. They all do
above the grid is their bar and hotel pool. Highly
recommend it. A lot of friends today at the Knapsi.
The hotel Monoleone in the French Quarter, which has the
most famous one of the most famous bars in the city.
The Carousel Bar is Lily Carousel. It goes a round

(18:55):
and around. I love their rooftop pool. I think you
need to do it through resort pass though. Another one
is the rooftop at the Roosevelt Hotel. The Roosevelt also
has some great deals. It's owned by Hilton now or
Walde for Surrey Hilton, and it has the famous Sasaraq
bar where the Sasaaq was invented and a great rooftop pool.

(19:15):
So resort pass is I think it's resort past New Orleans.
If you go, you can find out where you can
get passes to rooftop bars with pools to take advantage
of in the summer, and the passes start at twenty
five dollars. Great thing to do if you live here
or if you're visiting for a period of time. But
I do recommend trying to find a hotel with the pool.

(19:36):
There's many the w and the New Orleans. Just you know,
go online and say do you have a pool and
take advantage of it because you will want to take
a dip at the end of the day, trust me.
So another reason I love New Orleans of the summer
are the amazing dining deals. This week and it's June
eighth to fourteenth, it's restaurant week, but guess what, it

(19:58):
gets even better as a summer progresses. My favorite dining
deals can be found during the month of August all
the way into September fifteenth. They're called Culinary Cool Cool
Na culinary dining deals. Much like restaurant Week, they're fixed price,
two or three course lunches and dinners and some brunches

(20:18):
offered by dozens of restaurants throughout the city who are
welcoming you with open arms and great dining deals. David
and I take advantage of Culinary all the time to
go visit some of the restaurants maybe we haven't tried,
or to revisit some of the classics we had been
to in a while. This week we went to Antoine's,
which is the oldest restaurant in Louisiana and one of

(20:40):
the oldest in the United States. Established in eighteen forty.
This is a classic historic restaurant that everybody should visit
when they come to New Orleans. They have a great
dining deal going on, not only doing culinary but throughout
the summer. Highly recommend it. Gallatoise, another great French Quarter
historic restaurant, has some wonderful dining deals going on well.

(21:03):
Check their website out, check their Instagram out. I also
suggest in the Quarter for Classics, because I think if
you're going to go dine out in the Quarter, go
to some of the classics. They're historic. You'll feel like
you're stepping the history. The other one is Arno's Wonderful
rest These are restaurants so famous they have, you know,

(21:25):
museums on site. Both Antoine's and Arno's have rooms that
are museums. Actually, Arnes has a museum. You can ask
to tour it, and I highly recommend you do it.
They offer incredible dining deals through the summer, especially doing culinary,
but I'm on their mailing list now. There's deals to
be had, particularly on quiet like some are open on Monday.

(21:46):
Not everybody is open on Monday, like I know Antoine's
is because we had lunch there this week, so they're
good to check out on Mondays. Highly recommend it. Gallatois, Arno's, Antoine's,
and finally Brennan's Brennan's eighty years in business. Big beautiful
pink building where the Bananas foster was created. Great courtyard,
you can go see the turtles. Those are the four

(22:09):
I would recommend in the quarter for elegant, upscale dining. Brennan's, Antoine's,
Gallatoise Arenos. Please dress appropriately people in New Orleans, residents
New Orleans, we dress, we look nice. We wear sun dresses,
we wear you know, collared shirts, we wear nice shoes.

(22:30):
We don't go out in shorts and tank tops to dinner.
We look nice and we really want our visitors to
respect that and do that as well. Not you don't
have to wear a suit or anything like that, but
just dress a little nicer for dinner. It'll make your
experience better and frankly, we appreciate it as New Orleanians.
If you want a little less expensive, more casual, but

(22:51):
still dressed nice. That we love. In the French Quarter,
Mister B's Bistro, hands down fabulous. Mister B's Bistro love.
There's a little courtyard place I just discovered called Patchula
in the crew Iware Building. I also some of my
favorite restaurants in the French Quarter need visitors now the

(23:14):
Cater Street is under construction and some of the most historic,
wonderful restaurants are located on the Cater Street and they
need people to go through the construction barriers to visit them.
Tableau is one, Canaan table is another. French market. Love
their seafood. We just aided a Chinese restaurant down there,

(23:35):
Dan Jay Love. Support them. They're hurting right now. I
don't know how long that construction's going on, but we
want them to stay in business. These are independent the
shops too, So when you go down to the French
Quarter and you see construction, just walk right past and
into that street and support those small independent businesses. They
need you, they really do. All the hotels in New

(23:56):
Orleans in the summer have great deals. Call the hotel directly.
This is what I suggest to get the best deal,
contact the hotel directly. Sure you could use booking dot
com or hotels dot com, but just remember those hotels
pay a fee to those booking services, so they are
more likely to give you a deal if you call direct,
and you can say I saw the price on booking

(24:19):
dot com or hotels dot com, but we'd like to
book direct. So you don't have to pay the fee.
What's the best price you could offer? I promise and
guarantee you they will appreciate that and they will do
their best to give you a great rate or a
better room. Trust me on that we do this all
the time in Europe's it's not just New Orleans. That
could also include complimentary drinks at the bar, a discount

(24:43):
on the on site restaurant. So remember there's deals to
be had. Even if you don't get the rate you want,
they may give you a little land yap as we
like to say, to enjoy a cocktail or meal. A
great One of the hotels we recommend all the time
is the old seventies seven Chanlery compare Lapan. One of

(25:03):
the top rated restaurants in the city is in that
hotel and there's a great art exhibit in the back
to check it out. Great location, great prices. We tell
people all the time to stay there. Like I said,
if you book direct right down the street. Another place
is a Kimpton Hotel with King Russeri, a discovery that

(25:23):
we discovered doing culinary last summer. Okay, great restaurant on
site in the Kimpton Hotel honestly support these restaurants and
they will love you to death and giving up grades.
Trust me. So another great thing about New Orleans is
the museums. A their air conditioned and B there's deals

(25:43):
to be had duringout the summer. The Historic New Orleans
Collection in the French Quarter is doing a special exhibit
on the American Revolution running through January seventeenth, twenty twenty seven.
During the month of August. I told you about culinary
restaurant programs, Well guess there's also museum Month. If you
buy one membership at any participating museum in New Orleans,

(26:09):
so you know, go find one you like. I joined
the Southern Food and Beverage Museum last year because I
love that museum. It's on Aretha Cassel Haley Boulevard. If
you join one museum, you get free admission for two
to all the other museums. And let me tell you,
New Orleans has some great museums. My top five New
Orleans Museum of Art is City Park with the adjacent

(26:33):
sculpture Garden. I love the Ogden Museum, a Southern art
in the Arts District. I love the Contemporary Museum of
Art right across the street, The World War Two Museum
is one of the finest in the country. You need
a couple of days. I mean, you can just get
lost there. And like I said, the Higgins Hotel has
a great rooftop bar rosies when you're done, and there's

(26:55):
some really fun entertainment. So the World War Two Museum
is a destination and two it's self, but I do
love that place. Another museum I highly recommend that I
just mentioned is the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. It's
all about Southern food and beverage of state by state.
You could just get lost in there. I mean, I'm
from Tennessee. I could just get lost with all the

(27:16):
Tennessee exhibits. It's wonderful. And if you want to take
a cooking class, delightful route cooking school. You could book
a cooking class. Some of my friends say, I want
to do a cooking class and learn how to make
crawfish at two Faith. This just happened and delightful. Rue
d Levine is one of the top. She's really the
second only woman of color owned cooking school in the state,

(27:40):
I think in the country. I don't know, but she's awesome.
If you can take one of her classes. They're on
site at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. There's also
talks I Love this Museum and you know I love Anymore.
The two eating spots literally steps away. The first is
Cafe Reconcile, which is a nonprofit that was created over
twenty years ago to help underserve youth children sixteen to

(28:03):
twenty four get skill training and hospitality, restaurant management and
life skills. When you go there for lunch, which you
book through open Table, it's incredibly popular because it's also
well priced and great food, and it is a cause
to help urban youth. Your meal will be served by
a young person in training. It may be prepared by

(28:25):
a young person in training under the amazing direction of
chef Martha Wiggins, who is a force and to herself.
It's called Cathe Reconcile, one of our favorite go to
lunch places in New Orleans with a heart. Right down
the street from the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and
right around the corner is Lanya Bakery. Caitlyn Guran has

(28:49):
been recognized by the James Spear Foundation. She was a
finalist in twenty twenty five for the Awards rising star.
She has a tiny little bakery. It's now she told me.
I saw her recently at the Creole Tomato Festival. We'll
get into festivals in a minute. Katelyn says she's now
doing wine service, afternoon wine service. It's tiny, it's mainly

(29:13):
out tours, so hopefully the weather holds up. But she
is one of the fine small, women owned, minority owned
businesses in New Orleans that I support, and I hope
you will consider. It's called Langyat Bakery. Remember I said
Langyette means a little something extra. This place is just
a jewel box Lanyet Bakery, cafe, Reconcile, Southern Food and

(29:37):
Beverage museum, all in a very historic neighborhood in Areta
Castle Haley Boulevard, not far from downtown New Orleans. Definitely
put that on your busier list. I would be remiss
not to talk about the two Weather museums before I
move on. They're big museums you need time. I highly

(29:57):
recommend them versus Sazaak House. So, the Sazarac is a
cocktail that was worn here in New Orleans with a
great story. Sazaac House is its homage. It's a multi
level interactive museum that basically tells you the story of
the Sazaraq but cocktail culture starting with coffee culture during

(30:17):
Prohibition when you couldn't get alcohol in New Orleans. It's interactive,
it's terrific, and yes, you get to try some Sazaraq
cocktails too, so it's well worth it. I would do
that if you can do a guided tour, even better.
I neglected to mention that inside the Southern Food and
Beverage Museum is a special exhibit called the Museum of

(30:39):
the American Cocktail. Cocktails are said to have been born
and created here in New Orleans. All that the French
say they did it, But then there was a French
New Orleans connection. So what do we know in America?
At the cocktail New Orleans is the birthplace of a
cocktail in America? How about that? So there is a
cocktail exhibit at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, and
there's this amazing Sazac House museum right on Canal Street.

(31:03):
So when you're done visiting that museum, may I highly
recommend walking over to the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel, go
to the Chandelier Bar and have one of my favorite
cocktails born in New Orleans, the French seventy five. They
do it there with sparkling wine and cognac, which is
my favorite way to have the French seventy five versus

(31:23):
with gin. And this bar, it's backcacular to stare at
the chandelier and gas and they have really good French fries.
Trouble with French fries, by the way. Also right next
to the the Chandelier Bar is located in the super
Luxe or Seasons hotel if you have a budget to
stay there. But Miss River is a terrific restaurant that

(31:44):
run along Shaia down to the main floor, open to everyone,
and it's a great restaurant. Their fried chicken dish, their
whole fried chicken is amazing. I also if the Shandelier
Bar is a little too crowded, I'll sit at the
bar at Miss River and get the same French seventy five.
Still a great experience. Right next to the four Season,
another amazing museum called View Nola v u E Nola.

(32:10):
It is the history of New Orleans, all interactive, multi
level story of the music, story of the culinary, story
of Prohibition, story of the different cultures that immigrated here,
because this is the great multipot New Orleans. You've got,
you know, French, Italian, Spanish, English, German, Caribbean, African, American,

(32:33):
Acadian from Canada. And I know I've blest somebody Irish. O,
my god, the Irish Channel. I know I've left somebody out.
But it's the greatest multipot in the United States of
New York City. So at the very top of the
view is a bar, as I mentioned, a great rooftop
bar and a three sixty view of New Orleans. Really
a cool place. You need time. The best way to

(32:55):
get deals is to go to New Orleans dot com
and get deals. They have special rates in some of
these museums. They have special packages if you're here for
a couple of days. Snorles dot com has all of that.
And I'm not paid to say that, but I use
them all the time as a source. Really terrific. So
if you love music, it's a great place to be

(33:15):
in the summer. First of all, Tipatinas, which is a
classic music joint uptown on Choppatula Street, not far from
Panson Snowbiz free Fridays in the summer. Now, David and
I just went for a Prince showdown with DJ Solcier.
It was not free, it was all prints. It was cool,
very packed, but we're going to go to free fridays

(33:36):
from now on. Tippatina's is a legendary bar. You should
go anyway, but who can't beat free fridays with live
bands starting at I think the doors open at eight,
performances at nine. You'll get out by midnight. If you
want to eat nearby, I highly recommend a Chaffoala, a
tiny little restaurant nearby. I also recommend Pascal Manali's, that

(33:58):
bit down the street on the Pole, one of the
classic older restaurants, now owned by Dickie Brennan's. Another one
that I recommend is Superior Seafood. I go there for
Oyster Happy Hour from four to six. Whenever I can
you get Oyster half happy Hour, I think a dollar
fifty oysters and half price drinks. Love it. A lot

(34:20):
of little eateries around there. Before you have your night
out at tip Atina's Frenchman Street, you just walk it
at night, you go in and out, in and out,
in and out in the mariny. It's so much fun.
You just walk in walk out, just tip the band,
have a drink, tip the band. Admission is free in
all these places, you'll have a blast. I can't even

(34:42):
tell you it. DBA is the one that everybody goes to.
I go to mcgrill. I love the live band there.
Haven't been in a while, but I highly recommend. If
you're visiting and you want some great music, make sure
to see Preservation Hole. I think there's three sessions a night. Again,
you may find deals in the summer. I haven't been
in a while, but I love it. You know. Another

(35:02):
great source for music is gambit where You're at or
nola dot com. Where you at is a weekly monthly
magazine excuse me, and it tells you what's going on
for the week or the month. I think it's where
he has weekly and gambits monthly. Nola dot com is
a good source. Just type in music really great now
if you really want something really special and you're in town.

(35:25):
August twenty fifth, Buddy Guy blues legend Buddy Gary is
throwing a ninetieth birthday party in performance at the Sanger Theater.
If David irontown, We're gonna hopefully go. Tickets are probably
selling fast but buddy guy. We saw him at JazzFest.
Oh my god, he's amazing, so ninety you may not
see him again. The Two Lane Summer Lyric Theater is

(35:47):
top notch. Two Lane University is my alma mater. They
have summer Lyric theater as though students perform. Chicago is
performing this summer Lakajo Fox and a Little Night Music.
You can go to Liberal Arts dot Tulane dot edu
to find the schedule. Another great two other theater groups
we recommend here is La Petite Theater. It's in the

(36:10):
French Quarter. It's a very historic old theater right next
to Dicky Brion's Tableau restaurant. They do a really good job.
We saw guys and Dolls here most recently. You can
go to La Petite Theater to see if they're, you know,
have any shows while you're visiting. Another theater group, we
recommend it as to Tennessee Williams Theater Company. You know,
Tennessee Williams was inspired to aniwe Orleans and lived here.

(36:32):
This is a small little theater company that produces some
really terrific shows. If you're a Tennessee Williams fan like me,
check it out. These are running throughout the summer, and
you can go to their sites. I will put this
all up on my blog Melody Fabulous at Substack, so
you have it as well. But music and theater are

(36:53):
abundant in the summer. You can also find just outdoor
music festivals happening, which leads me to summer events you
should check out if you're coming to New Orleans in
the summer. First of all, I mentioned go Forth on
the River, the Independence Day celebration with massive fireworks over
the Mississippi River. Fabulous. The same time July three to

(37:15):
five is the Essence Festival at Caesar Supergome, a huge
event with major players. I think Michelle Obama's going to
be there. It's Essence magazine puts it on big draw.
Lots of activities. Some of my personal favorites really goofy
only in New Orleans. The annual Running of the Bulls. Yes,

(37:36):
people dress up in horns and red and run around
chasing each other. It's to call the Sun for Men's
Celebration like it's called in Pamplona, with festivities July tenth
through twelve. There's a fundraiser you can join and go
and have special VP access and the money goes to
support the Great Cause Cancer Cause. That is July tenth

(37:58):
through twelve. Another only in New Orleans that I love
is well, there's all of these are only in New
Orleans right now. Tails of the Cocktail Okay. Tails of
the Cocktail is the largest cocktail congregation and conference in
the world. Its started in New Orleans. It's been going
on for years. It's July nineteenth to twenty fourth. Yes,
it's really meant for people who work in the industry,

(38:20):
but there are events available to people who just want
to go taste great cocktails to learn about a favorite spirit.
It's in the French Quarter, mainly based at the Ritz
Carlton Hotel on Canal Street, with many many events going
around around the city. Tells of Thecocktail dot org is
the website. July nineteenth to twenty fourth. I love Satchmo

(38:43):
Summerfests because you know the city. We even are named
our airport after Louis Armstrong. He is the news of
New Orleans. He lived here for many many years. He
also lived in New York. The Statue Moot Summerfest celebrates
Louis Armstrong's birthday. It's the first two days of August
one and two, so the first weekend, lots of great
live music. There's a parade. David and I volunteered to

(39:06):
be in the parade. Great music with performers like Kermit
Ruffians around the Jazz Museum which is in the French Quarter.
Another great museum. By the way, the Jazz Museum. Highly
recommend that one as well. Three other crazy fun only
in New Orleans. There's the Fidelity Bank White Linen Night.

(39:28):
I've done this event. It's uptown in the Arts District.
Everybody whoars white. All the art galleries are open. There's
cocktails and food all over to go. It's like a
strolling art walk, which actually happens all the time because
the first Friday of every month is an art walk
in the Arts District. Free if you're in New Orleans

(39:48):
on a Friday. Art walk is a big deal the
first Friday of every month. So this is the white
Linen first Friday, which is when you wear white. And
it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun.
It's hot, it's a lot of fun. There's live music
on the streets. Again, bring a fan, I didn't mention
bring a fan or an electra. You know one of
those push button fans to cool off. I carry one

(40:10):
in my purse and I have a small purse, but
I managed to get everything in the purse. Erdie Linen
Night is the French Quarters version of white Linen and
I it's all in the French Quarter. People wear whatever
they damn well please, they wear costumes. Again, you walk
around the different galleries and there's eating and drinking throughout.
It's also fun. And finally, the red dress run. Okay,

(40:31):
what is that August eighth. Yes, you put on a
red dress, whether you're a man or woman, you put
on a red dress or something similar and you run
for charity. Yes, and you will see people running all
over the French Quarter in the river in red. And
even if you're not running, wear red to support It

(40:52):
benefits heart health. I think it's either hard held or cancer.
But all of these events benefit worthy charities. So yeah,
there's a lot going on in this summer right. So
you know another reason that comes to all these fun evants.
My vote Tails of the cocktail, my vote satchmost summer vest,
my vote check out these amazing rooftop bars. I particularly

(41:14):
like Charles and Julia. I think it's just really elegant.
I particularly I haven't been to hot Ten in a while.
It gets really busy. That's probably why I check it out.
Some of my father favorite other out there venues. Bacchanal
in the Bywater is this really cool outdoor wine garden,
great wines, live music, way back in the buy Water,

(41:35):
but it's really fun. A lot of industry people like
to go to that. I also like Parlow Beer Garden,
not far from Bacchanal in the Bywater. Parlow is an
artisanal craft beer. Artismal craft beer. You sit outside and
have beer in the garden. There's corn, a hole, They're

(41:55):
just it's fun. Chill axe, that's my word. So many
wonderful outdoor spaces to chill down in this and I'm
gonna tell you New Orleans in the evening cools down.
It's nice. It's still hot, it cools down just for
bunks break, but it's really nice. If you're really not
a sun person, go out at night New Orleans and
you're gonna love it so much to do so, have

(42:18):
I given you enough reasons to visit New Orleans in
the summer. One, there's lots to do. Two, as the
temperatures rise, prices tend to go down three. There's printing
the green space to chill out as well as well
air conditioned galleries and stores to visit. Dining deals are abundant,

(42:42):
really fun music events that are free, free. You don't
have to spend a lot of money to go to
New Orleans, and you're supporting a city at its most
challenged time. People don't say oh. People don't wake up
and go, I'm gonna go visit New Orleans in the summer.
They go, oh, I'm gonna go visit New Orleans at
Christmas or Mardi Gras or jazz vests, and those are

(43:03):
busy times. But sometimes it's fun to go somewhere that's
perceived this off season. I do this a lot in Europe.
I go to Europe off season. It's quiet. You're gonna
stand in line. Other than snowball, you're not going to
stand in line to see attractions. I was just in
Florence just for a day, and then San Jiminyano. There

(43:26):
were lines everywhere and tour buses. You don't have that
in the summer as much. Here. There'll be some tour buses,
but not mass crowds. You just have more time to
enjoy and explore. Just don't rush it. Pack well for heat,
wear comfy shoes, and take your time. But then that's

(43:46):
the way all travel should be, whether you're in New
Orleans or Europe. I see people planning trips to Europe
and it's like, we're going to be one day here
and one day there and one day here. And I'm like, no,
why don't rush around so much? You don't enjoy, You
get overheated, you get tired to feed her. You don't

(44:08):
need to do that. You just enjoy the pace, get
a part of the city. So I'll be here this
summer in New Orleans, and I actually have a list
of my favorite places I like to go. I share
many of them with you on all the restaurants. But
if you really want to know, reach out to me

(44:30):
at Melanie Fabulous on Instagram and I can send you
my list. That's right, it's always being updated. As I
like to say, New Orleans sizzles in the summer with
great deals. It's the big easy takes it easy, and
you will have a great experience because people will welcome

(44:51):
you with open hearts and open arms and a chilled cocktail.
So come on down len'slay Le bontap Roulet, slowly, chill
out and chill ax. This summer in New Orleans the
big easy I'll be here. So wherever you're traveling, put

(45:12):
New Orleans on your list at some point, and always
travel with purpose, respect for the local culture, Be polite,
dress appropriately, do your research ahead of time so that
you're comfortable and you make people comfortable wherever you go.
You never want to be the demanding person, the ugly American,

(45:33):
the person who talks too loud. You want to be polite, respectful,
You want to listen. You want to have tip. Tip
people work hard in the industry, the tourism industry, and
tipping in most countries is acceptable even if they say
it's not. Just be thoughtful and have a good time.

(45:54):
I'm Melanie Young. This is fearless, fabulous you. This is
a fearless, fabulous travel sem I will be doing more
of those in the future because travel is my passion.
You always have a choice on how you want to
choose to live your life. Always put self care first.
Take care of yourself, take care of your loved ones,
and expand your horizons. Choose to live life on your

(46:16):
terms and not those set by others and always choose
fearless and fabulous. Thank you,
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