Essence Music Festival is "off the chain" again.  St. Charles, Riverfront and Canal streetcars are running at the same casual speed of 10 mph. Harrah’s Casino and most of the hotels have reopened. Enjoy Riverwalk Marketplace, The Shops at Canal Place and JAX Brewery. You can feel that world-famous vibe again when you walk around. Visitors are having a “wish you were here, kind of time” as more nightclubs and restaurants have re-opened in the French Quarter and Downtown. 

    Street musicians and everyday people smile and are glad you're here. Canal Street in Downtown and the French Quarter are spruced up with fresh paint, flower planters, street artists and the wonderful scent of new possibilities. The architectural richness of old-brick and stucco French and Spanish buildings decorated with fanciful  ironwork swirls on each balcony, have regained their patina. In this city where details are everything, stroll Jackson Square with its manicured garden lined with artists, prominent galleries and the penultimate St. Louis Cathedral. You won’t see a better landscaped public garden in America. Then unwind in the courtyard square where delicately sculpted monuments, flora and fauna hypnotize you like a good novel.

    Specialty shoppers will make the most of creative loafing in art and antique galleries of Royal Street -- a past time that makes it easy to forget your watch. And there's gangs of eclectic boutiques along Magazine Street to spark your imagination.

    For decades New Orleans has ranked as one of the top 5 culinary destinations in the world. With the swift return of the French Quarter, Downtown and Magazine Street, it is, by most accounts, quickly regaining its lofty culinary status. Even today, there are literally dozens of America finest restaurants located in this compact city. Genuflect over the Gumbo Ya-Ya and crawfish-laced dishes prepared by famous and should-be-famous chefs. Smell the aromas of Café du Monde and its scrumptious beignets hot out the oven.

    New Orleans’ Jazz tradition is world renown. Yet since its earliest days, the Big Easy also has deep roots in the Blues, R&B and Gospel music and each genre borrows from the other. Louisiana State Museums and the Jazz Archives help you see their unique backgrounds, as well as the coherent multi-racial whole they form in New Orleans Musical Tradition.

    Enjoy a cocktail or dinner at the revolving rooftop restaurant at the World Trade Center. See how the Mississippi River forms this crescent-shaped city and better appreciate detail in the majestic Huey P. Long Bridge spanning the great river. Need a stretch? Walk a comfortable 6 blocks up Poydras to the Superdome for a tour inside. Having completed its $180 million fix-me-up, this dominant structure once again hosts New Orleans Saints football, Bayou Classic and Essence Music Festival. The NBA’s New Orleans Hornets also play next door in their own basketball arena.

    The Garden District’s Greek Revival, Italianate and Queen Anne mansions surrounded by luxuriant lawns that still grace Better Home & Garden magazine, are a welcome treat for singles, couples and groups with an eye for landscaping and fine architecture.

    In other parts of town, charitable organizations and "Voluntourists" are taking direct action in the recovery. Many students volunteer a day to a year cleaning up and building new homes. And at night, good for them, they party like the rest of us. Big props to Habitat for Humanity for organizing a large contingent of voluntourists and residents to build over 300 homes in New Orleans. Of special note, Habitat is assisting musicians build their own homes in Musicians Village. This specific effort helps musicians return to New Orleans. Your Habitat For Humanity contributions are making a difference.

    A family-friendly destination, New Orleans' Aquarium of the Americas, Louisiana Children's Museum, and Audubon Zoo are nationally ranked as Top 10 venues. And if there were such a ranking for its outdoor category, Louisiana Nature & Science Center would be Top 10 as well. When French Quarter grown-up activities start to bore the kids, grab muffalettas or po’ boys at the French Market then picnic next door at Woldenberg Riverfront Park. It features 13 acres of landscaped green space for them to burn off energy, while you lounge under the 300 oak, magnolia, cypress, and willow trees. From that end of the park, catch a Riverfront Streetcar to the Moonwalk dock to board a giant paddle wheel ferry on the Mississippi River. Aaaahhhhhhhhh. When you lazily return to shore, let the kids enjoy activities in the Riverwalk or ride Canal Streetcar up to the City Park with its numerous family attractions. As if that weren’t enough, all the downtown hotel concierges can schedule you for morning pick-up by an alligator swamp tour operator – guaranteed to take a bite out of “Mommy and Daddy, I’m bored.” You will cherish this combination of family experiences for a lifetime.

    Congo Square, Louis Armstrong Park and the historic Black churches feel like holy ground. Thankfulness and praise are the order of the day. From a “get my groove on” perspective, the Jazz, Blues and Hip-Hop scene is as strong as ever. One should not be surprised that nearly all restaurants and shops and galleries are open in the French Quarter and Downtown.