The Goat Pen

Both large cities, NOLA gets my nod for a vacation destination. Think I'd need to get out of the city though. About a day in the FQ is all I could stand aside from the restaurants.

Montgomery is an armpit.

Lawyers and statisticians are the largest liars

WWII museum, swamp tour, visit Lafayette and Thibedeaux, boating on Ponchartrain, take the Natchez up the Mississippi, Chalmette battle field, do the Cabildo and Presbytere, take the streetcar through the Garden District, cemetery tour, head to Grand Isle for the day. Do the casino thing, dine at Commander's Palace, Galatoire's, Arnaud's, Brennan's. Jazz at Snug Harbor, some funk at Tipitina's, have a beignet from Cafe Du Monde, some bread pudding from Desire, oysters from Acme, fried chicken from the Scotch House and a Hurricane or three at Pat O's. Buy the wife a fake DG purse at the French Market and a chocolate martini from the Carousel Bar.

Good weekend.

Good weekend, heh.

Heh.

Walking the French Quarter at night is fun. People watching at its finest. Especially during Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Sugar Bowl, etc, etc.

Saw a drunk punch a police horse on Bourbon during Mardi Gras. Here's something you may not know: NOPD does not think that is funny and they will ruin your evening if you try it.

It sounds like many of the best things about New Orleans involve getting the hell out of New Orleans. Heh

I've been there twice. It's a completely unique city with a lot of heritage and some great food. But Chicago has far more options (as it should, it's 5 times the size of NO) as far as food goes. For sports, no contest: Chicago. The Saints are the only sports team with any sort of atmosphere (the Hornets will be gone soon). If you're going to count Natchez and Lafayette as part of the "New Orleans experience" then heck, Milwaukee and South Bend are both a part of Chicago.

Chicago has the Magnificent Mile, Navy Pier, Printer's Row, Grant Park, the Field Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, Northwestern, DePaul, and the U of Chicago, the Shedd Aquarium, architecture tours, gangland tours, Frank Lloyd Wright buildings all over the place, biking boating and jogging along Lake Michigan, Wrigleyville, deep dish pizza, italian beef, possibly the largest jazz/blues scene in the country, Greektown, a Chicago-style hotdog, BBQ on the southside, haven't mentioned anything in the suburbs yet

Obamacare HHS rule would give government everybody’s health records

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/o ... th-records

It sounds like many of the best things about New Orleans involve getting the hell out of New Orleans. Heh

No. Just doing NOLA and surrounding areas vs Chicago and surrounding areas. As far as Lafayette, it's a two-hour drive from NOLA - so drop it and just leave Thibodaux (1 hour drive).

* As far as nightlife, I prefer the FQ to the Magnificent Mile/pier area.

* As far as food, Chicago is bigger, but New Orleans has better restaurants, IMO. Oh, no doubt, there are 100 places you can get a decent steak in Chicago and only 25 in New Orleans, but that doesn't sway me toward the Windy City.


I did NOT count Natchez (MS). I said take a ride on the Natchez:





You mentioned Wright buildings in Chicago, and that's nice, but NOLA is one of the few places that has retained a decent amount of buildings from the 1800's. I can't imagine anyone thinking that Chicago architecture > NOLA architecture - and that's not even mentioning the plantations within an hours drive:



Chicago sports have taken a hit of late. The Bulls aren't the Bulls of old and neither are the Bears. Unfortunately, the White Sox and the Cubbies ARE the White Sox and Cubbies of old. Again, Chicago gets the nod here, but it's not something to hang a hat on anymore.

My wife and daughter will be staying at a plantation bed and breakfast just out of NOLA in a couple of months...I'll give them the list o stuff you just mentioned.

Which plantation?

Well, as far as just sports go, Chicago blows New Orleans out. Other than the Saints, New Orleans is not a major league town. Like I said, the Hornets will either be contracted soon or moved elsewhere.

Neither city has great college teams within the immediate area. Chicago has Northwestern/DePaul/Loyola, NO has Tulane the the U of New Orleans. Bleah. LSU and Notre Dame are about the same distance from the respective cities.

As for architecture, I suppose it depends on your personal tastes. If you're into Georgian/Colonial and that's all you want to see, then NO is better than Chicago. Chicago's a much younger city and much of what would have been built in a Georgian style burned in 1871. I am referring though to more modern architecture. Chicago is generally recognized as one of the greatest cities in the world for unique and well-designed skyscrapers and is one of the leading centers of architecture in the world. There's an entire Chicago school of architecture; there's no such thing in New Orleans. The Prairie School also started in Chicago.

So yeah, I stand by there being more to do in Chicago. Part of its just the size. Metro New Orleans is only about 1/9th the size of metro Chicago. You may like the food and culture down there better, probably because you were born there

for shame dsl, you left the Alder Planetarium off your list

DSL,

As far as pro sports go, New Orleans takes a backseat to Chicago. Like I said, I can accept that. New Orleans has NFL and NBA, however. And while they may lose their NBA team, they haven't so you can't discount that. I was pretty sure that LSU was about a 45 minutes closer to New Orleans than South Bend to Chicago. Whatever, though.

I am referring though to more modern architecture.

Ahh. Skyscrapers don't do it for me. As far as skyscrapers go, Chicago has nice ones, I suppose.

Anyway, I stand by what I say: More to do in NOLA - especially when you eliminate the redundancies brought on by the increased size of Chicago. You probably just enjoy Chicago more because it's closer to your birthplace.

N.O. = Andouille, red beans and rice, gumbo, bisque, jambalaya, gulf oysters, crawfish, frog legs, turtle, aligator.....

Chi = Chicago dog.

10ac wrote:N.O. = Andouille, red beans and rice, gumbo, bisque, jambalaya, gulf oysters, crawfish, frog legs, turtle, aligator.....

Chi = Chicago dog.

In other words, New Orleans has Cajun food, cajun food, and more cajun food. Which = more things to do.

Chicago = steaks, dogs, deep dish, italian, chinese, greek, indian, the best cuisine the world has to offer

New Orleans = whatever shit could be found in the swamp and stewed in a pot for two days.



(AP) A snoozing tourist from Gadsden enjoys the sights of the French Quarter

Chicago = steaks, dogs, deep dish, italian, chinese, greek, indian, the best cuisine the world has to offer

You can buy all that shit at the supermarket.

10ac wrote:

Chicago = steaks, dogs, deep dish, italian, chinese, greek, indian, the best cuisine the world has to offer

You can buy all that shit at the supermarket.

Heh. That you can. Who needs to visit New York City when you can just get Nathan's hotdogs in an 8-pack at Food Lion?

Hacksaw wrote:Never been to Chicago, but I would take it, sight unseen, over New Orleans.

Less negros is my guess.

I don't understand, DSL. Why the hate? Why elevate this? Because I disagree with you? What do the pictures show? Do these pictures of chicago change your mind?

Given the clothes, cars, and Pabst sign in photo #2, these photos were taken 30-40 years ago and no doubt great strides have been made in these neighborhoods.

I won't even get into the whole psychological profile of someone who doesn't like skyscrapers (a symbol of modernity, urbanity, and free enterprise) and prefers visiting plantations instead. To escape into fantasy I suppose. Disturbing to think about.

Jungle Rat wrote:

Hacksaw wrote:Never been to Chicago, but I would take it, sight unseen, over New Orleans.

Less negros is my guess.

Hey, some of my best friends...oh, nevermind.