Come back to the historic sights, the Zydeco music, the crazy Cajun cuisine that survived Hurricane Katrina, bigger, better, bolder and more heartbreakingly beautiful than ever before.

See New Orleans through the eyes of Frances and Linda, two local lovers of Louisiana lore who can grant you access to a New Orleans few will ever know. Or taste.

Because you can’t really experience the essence of the Big Easy without loosening your belt, tucking in a napkin, and pulling up a chair (or barstool) with a local in one of the dozens of indigenous eating and drinking establishments that sets New Orleans apart from the rest of America’s great cities. Celebrated chefs such as John Besh, Tony Chachere, and Paul Prudhomme launched their international reputations from their N’awlins kitchens where diners covet a seat to sample award-winning cuisine at their local restaurants.

The history of New Orleans is rooted in the French dynasty, where families named Orleans and Bourbon staked their claim in 1718 on a coastal crescent of southern Louisiana, situated precariously between the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain. More diverse cultures simultaneously set down roots during the 18th century in New Orleans than anywhere else in the United States. Next-door neighbors included Anglos, French, Blacks, Italians, Irish, Spanish, Cubans and Cajuns (or Acadians), who are descendants of French émigrés expelled from Nova Scotia (or Acadia). They speak their own French dialect, which is considered the local tongue to this day. These eclectic, multi-cultural roots can be heard in the music, tasted in the food, celebrated in churches and voodoo alters. Only in New Orleans can you eavesdrop on a voodoo priest discussing local politics and the bodacious beauty of a beignet with a four-star pastry chef in a Dixieland Jazz club over an icy Abita beer at the Bulldog.

And speaking of jazz, American music has roots running deep in New Orleans. The annual Jazz and Heritage Festival held every spring welcomes home local favorites such as Harry Connick, Jr., Wynton Marsalis, and Terrence Blanchard. Tourists and locals alike happily toast tall, potent Hurricane cocktails in the dozens of great music clubs located in The French Quarter. Sporting events are a big deal in the Big Easy. New Orleans Saints (2010 Super Bowl Champions) fans fire up a tailgate party like none other, serving up plates piled high with succulent gator meatball and Andouille sausage po’boy along with steaming bowls of Big Charlie’s Gumbo and Dirty Rice.

The most important annual tourist event is Mardi Gras, which is celebrated for a week before the start of Lent and sends countless revelers into rehab for many weeks following. In 1827, masks and costumes were introduced as de rigueur Mardi Gras attire. Despite our exhaustive research, it as yet undetermined when tradition dictated that women strip their tops off, exposing their breasts for a string of colored plastic beads. Rest assured, the research will continue.

In 1871 partiers began the custom of presenting a young woman with a golden bean hidden in a cake. This young woman was the first queen of Mardi Gras. This was also the origin of the King Cake tradition, which remains popular to this day, replacing the bean with a small plastic baby doll. Frances and Linda are famous for their delectable King Cake, which they lovingly prepare for only the closest friends and family members.