FRIDAY
GETTING ACCLIMATED
"You should know a couple of local expressions, like 'Where you at?' That's something that we say. It means, 'How are you doing?' Call everybody baby or darlin'. That works. 'Where you at, baby? Where you at, darlin'?' You say that to anybody down here and they'll think you're a local. As far as what to wear, if you go anytime between April and October, you better not bring much to wear because it is hot."

LODGING
"The Fairmont is the hotel that probably brings back the most memories, because I went there a lot as a kid. My mother died, but she was a politician, and my dad is a politician, and they used to have fundraisers there. The Omni Royal Orleans Hotel is also great. That's an old-school French Quarter hotel right on St. Louis Street, within walking distance of most everything. It has elegance about it. The Hotel Inter-Continental is where we stay when we go home for Mardi Gras. It's a full-service, big hotel. Then, there's The Columns, one of those hotels where you have to walk down the hall to use the bathroom. It's an old house on St. Charles Avenue. That's a cool place, if you're into that sort of thing. I pass the Cornstalk Hotel all the time. The cast-iron fence is real famous because it looks like cornstalks. I've never stayed there, but it looks like a cool place."
Dinner "Mandina's is a real local joint. It's my first stop. It's where locals go to eat, and they have the best food. Cajun isn't really New Orleans; it's more straight-up Creole food. Mandina's has crab fingers in this butter sauce and some of the best po' boys in town. They also have grilled pork chops and string beans, and stuff you can get anywhere. It just tastes better there."

NIGHTLIFE