Riverwalk Reboots

I’m not in the habit of promoting big chain retailers when I so firmly believe in shopping local, but I just checked out the new and seriously improved Riverwalk and loved it. With 75 retail and food offerings, Riverwalk is the first outlet mall in the U.S. established in a city setting. But because the city is New Orleans, the mall has beautiful views of the mighty Mississippi and cruises can dock at it’s door. They even offer tax free shopping for international shoppers. What was once basically an air conditioned way to get from Canal Street to the Convention Center could now become a “destination shopping” venue.

Favorite Things in NOLA 2012

I must confess that I didn’t get out as much in 2012 because Hollywood South is booming and I worked a lot. Even so, here are my 2012 favorites in a nutshell followed by my Favorite Things in NOLA 2011 and Favorite Things in NOLA 2010. Anything named previously in my Favorite Things in NOLA 2011 is marked with an Asterix*.

I have divided the list into categories this year including: Food & Beverage, Music & Entertainment, Culture, Shopping and Giving & More.

a French Quarter apartment hunt

When I was sitting on my couch in L.A. planning to move to New Orleans, I was open to many experiences of this city. I looked at a home in Mid-City, a neighborhood shifting identities in the last few years. I liked the idea of living across the street from City Park, home to an art museum, botanical garden, sculpture garden, a golf course and on and on and one of my favorite places in the city, the Singing Oak (which I call the Bing Bong Tree).