I'm going to NOLA to visit a friend in early November for a long weekend. She lives in the Baton Rouge area and we're going to split our time between the two areas. I was planning on taking the City of New Orleans train from Chicago to NOLA, but I finally found decent airfare ($400 round trip non-stop on United). Southwest was about the same, but it wasn't worth it to me to drive all the way down to Midway, when I live a half-hour from O'Hare. Since I work close to the airport, I'm going to leave my car at the office and cab it to/from airport, which will save me a lot of money on parking.
We're going to visit the World War II museum, as well as doing a private history tour of NOLA she's done before with out of town guests and loved. She told me to do my "NOLA bucket list." I was there 17 years ago for a friend's wedding, but it was Labor Day weekend and so hot/humid, I spent most of my time in the hotel. I didn't see much as a result. I definitely want to see St. Louis Cathedral (I love old churches), do Cafe du Monde, and walk around the French Quarter - during the day.
I'm well aware NOLA has some iffy areas. My friend and her DH are both Louisiana natives and spend much time in NOLA, so it's not like I'm going to be wandering off on my own into the 9th Ward.
Any suggestions on what to see/do?