New Orleans celebrates tricentennial as only it can

Traditional architecture in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. (Contributed Photo | Getty Images)
Traditional architecture in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. (Contributed Photo | Getty Images)

If you go

Where to eat:› The Napoleon House: 500 Chartres St., 504-542-9752, napoleonhouse.com› Café du Monde: 800 Decatur St., 504-525, 4544, cafedumonde.comAttractions:› The Historic New Orleans Collection: 533 Royal St., 504-523-4662, hnoc.org› Cabildo: 701 Chartres St., 504-568-6968, louisianastatemuseum.org› Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo: 739 Bourbon St., 504-581-3751, voodooneworleans.com› Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro: 626 Frenchmen St., 504-949-0696, https://snugjazz.com

NEW ORLEANS - I have an eccentric friend who can be as genteel as a debutante at a garden party or as ribald as a sailor at last call, a contradictory nature I've learned to love. When we're together, I'm putty in her hands, always giving in to her whims.

One day I'm reverently admiring the glowing stained-glass windows of a historical church, and the next, I'm in some crazy-weird bar, laughing so hard I have snorted my fancy cocktail through my nose and am crying black mascara tears.

The old gal is celebrating a milestone birthday this year. She's turning 300. Her name is New Orleans.

In honor of the tricentennial, I strolled through the French Quarter, the oldest section of my beloved port city on the Mississippi River, to reacquaint myself with the venerable landmarks and action-packed hotspots that give the Big Easy that quirky personality that attracts thousands of tourists every year.

The Historic New Orleans Collection

I kicked off my city tour at The Historic New Orleans Collection, a French Quarter museum, to peruse "New Orleans: The Founding Era," an exhibit on view through May 27 to commemorate the tricentennial. It offers insight into what life was like in the city's nascent stage, long before it became famous for Mardi Gras and Sazeracs.

The show examines the complex and conflicted nature of the colony as a diaspora of French, Germans, Canadians, enslaved Africans and others settled the swampy, inhospitable land in the first half of the 18th century, laying the groundwork for what would become one of America's most culturally diverse cities.

Rare artifacts from the museum's collection as well as from institutions in Europe and Canada are featured.

A pair of bear paw moccasins are a reminder that Native Americans inhabited the region long before French explorer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded "La Nouvelle-Orleans" in 1718.

Highlights include original handmade maps that show how New Orleans' footprint evolved over time and a mortar and pestle used by an early hospital.

Jackson Square

Next, I headed to Jackson Square, the very heart of the French Quarter and the city's most recognizable landmark, where I was greeted by Andrew Jackson, the park's namesake. The statue is a tribute to the general and future president of the United States who protected the city against the British in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, the last major battle during the War of 1812.

Artists sat in the spring sunlight painting St. Louis Cathedral, a triple-steepled marvel of French architecture that rises majestically above the square and is the oldest continuously active cathedral in the United States. A 6-foot-tall marble statue of canonized pope St. John Paul II was erected in January to commemorate the city's 300-year-old ties with the Catholic church.

Nearby, a brass band started blasting jazz standards beneath a sign that read, "Church quiet zone," transforming me from reverent to devil-may-care in seconds.

To the left of the cathedral is the Cabildo, an imposing building that was once home to the Spanish colonial government and is now operated by the Louisiana State Museum. The French left an indelible legacy, but Louisiana was under Spanish control from 1763 to 1803.

The museum's grand-scale exhibit, "Recovered Memories: Spain, New Orleans and the Support for the American Revolution," runs through July 8.

The show chronicles Spain's support for the American colonies before and during the American Revolution and illuminates influential Spaniards who helped shape the emerging country.

After a morning of indulging my inner history buff, I took the advice of the Lyft driver who picked me up at the airport and just wandered. He lives in the French Quarter and says he loves to just start walking beneath those swirly ironwork balconies and see where the ancient cobblestone streets take him.

One led me to Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. Voodoo (or vodou) is a religion brought to New Orleans by enslaved West Africans, and Laveau, a 19th-century Creole, was a renowned priestess that became known as "The Vodou Queen."

I overheard a cryptic spiritual reading behind a curtain. Some poor woman was plagued by man problems, and her future didn't look particularly bright. I wondered if she would purchase a spell kit, talisman or charm in hopes of improving her destiny.

Napoleon House

For lunch, I found a seat in the courtyard of the historical Napoleon House and ordered a muffuletta, a hot sandwich piled high with salami, pastrami, ham and cheese served on sesame-crusted Italian bread. What sets it apart from any run-of-the-mill meat-and-cheese sandwich is the generous scoop of tangy olive salad slathered on top. I washed it down with a Pimm's Cup, a refreshing cucumber-infused cocktail that's a New Orleans classic.

Jazz was the expected soundtrack, but instead, I dined to the dramatic swells of arias from some of the world's most-beloved operas. The music is a tribute to Joseph Impastato, the Italian immigrant who owned the place in the 1920s and '30s when it was a grocery store and tavern. "Uncle Joe" liked to entertain customers by playing operas on his Victrola.

About a century earlier, the building was the opulent residence of the city's mayor, Nicholas Girod. According to legend, he planned to rescue Napoleon Bonaparte from his exile and offer him refuge in New Orleans. Well, Napoleon never made it, but the name stuck. A bust of the military general stares stoically from behind the bar.

All that jazz

Frenchmen Street, lined with more than 20 lively clubs and bars, is the place both locals and tourists go for some of the best live music in the city. (The tourists are the ones wearing Mardi Gras beads even if it's not Carnival season.) When the venues get too packed for comfort, the party spills onto the sidewalk.

I'm a jazz enthusiast, and there's no better place to get my fill of that buoyant, feel-good music than the city where the genre was born. I always end up at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro buying tickets to any show with a "Marsalis" in it. The famous Marsalis family, sometimes called the "First Family of Jazz," has deep roots in New Orleans.

The Uptown Jazz Orchestra is a classy, old-school-cool band that plays in perfectly tailored suits and shoes as shiny as their instruments. Band leader Delfeayo Marsalis is one of the top jazz trombonists of his generation, and I could have listened to him throw out those spirited riffs all night.

Afterward, I dug into a plate of French-style beignets at Café du Monde. Open 24/7, it's just the spot to wrap up a late night. With music still trilling in my head, I boogied on back to my hotel covered in powdered sugar. The perfect end to a birthday bash.

Tracy Teo is a correspondent for The Tennessean in Nashville.

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