School History Trip To Louisiana

Get your bearings with a 3 hour guided walking city tour which explores the historic French Quarter, St Louis #1 cemetery nicknamed City of the Dead, City Park and the lakefront area as well as the oak-lined elegant St Charles Avenue.

The lively grid of streets that make up the French Quarter is the city’s most touristy area, yet also its heart. It’s a sultry melting pot of French, Spanish, Italian, Caribbean, African and Southern styles that magically blends decadence and elegance. Take a stroll among the gloriously faded buildings, musicians, magicians, psychics and tap dancers.

Trace the legacy of the Pelican State at the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans. Exhibiting thousands of artefacts and works of art, students will learn about the historic events that have shaped this state and the diverse culture found within its communities.

On this tour, students learn more about the tragic disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. Visit the Ninth Ward, one of the neighbourhoods devastated by the flooding, and see an actual levee that ‘breached’. Visit the monument to Hurricane Katrina, the Make it Right houses sponsored by Brad Pitt and the Musicians Village created by Harry Connick, Jr.

Learn the basics of Louisiana cooking at an entertaining class held at the Louisiana General Store in a converted molasses warehouse in the French Quarter. Students are shown how to create delicious creole dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, corn and crab bisque, crawfish étouffée and bread pudding. The class also reveals some of the folklore of New Orleans.

Carnival in New Orleans is celebrated with great enthusiasm and preparations start months ahead of time. Visit the art studios of the people who create the floats, sculptures and props for the carnival in this tour, taking you backstage the Blaine Kern Studios. Students see the artists at work designing, carving, painting and building next year’s parade.

Take a tour of some of the plantation homes around New Orleans to hear stories about the famous local families that built and owned them and the people that walked through their halls. Students can get a feel for the antebellum (pre-Civil War) South as they look out over rows of oak trees to the Mississippi river from the porch of a plantation home.

At the Jazz National Historical Park students can enjoy exhibits, walking tours and live performances of old-style Jazz. Learn about the birth of Jazz in New Orleans and trace some of the music’s big players including Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong.

For the chance get up close and personal with an alligator and cruise lazily along the mysterious, moss-draped bayous, take one of the many swamp and wildlife tours offered by boat captains in the watery regions around New Orleans. Observe exotic flora and fauna from deadly snakes – from a safe distance – to long-legged waterfowl, swamp deer and racoons.