Road Scholar : Home
New Orleans Saints, Sinners and Secrets

Program Number: 18497RJ
Start and End Dates:
10/6/2013 - 10/11/2013; 11/10/2013 - 11/15/2013;
Duration: 5 nights
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Price starting at: $897.00 - Price may vary based on date, departure city
Program Type: History & Culture; Philosophy & Religion; Arts, Misc.
Meals: 13; 5 Breakfasts, 4 Lunches, 4 Dinners    
Meal Options: Vegetarian    

America’s most colorful city has been the home of an amazing cast of characters for three centuries, a place of contrasts, conflicts and contradictions where religion and depravity, goodness and immorality, saints and sinners all have coexisted. Get acquainted with the long line of residents who have made New Orleans special as you explore the many corners of the city where their unique stories have played out. Visit sacred places to hear tales of the faithful, tread in the footsteps of the first free Americans of color, follow the infamous to the scenes of their crimes and walk with ghosts in moonlit cemeteries. Local experts set the scenes in which these players were cast and convey the resilience of a city whose people bounced back from the cataclysm of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to the elation of a Super Bowl win in 2009.




Highlights

• Pay visits to the city’s sacred places, including the oldest Jewish house of worship in America outside the original 13 colonies and St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in North America
• As you learn about the "sinners" who have operated in New Orleans’ shadows, visit the Dueling Oaks to see where the city’s many “affaires d’honneur” were settled.
• Spend a day exploring New Orleans’ bizarre and magical side, from a haunted history walk in the French Quarter to a visit to the Tomb of Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen of New Orleans.



Activity Particulars

Walking up to a few blocks at a time, some uneven terrain, stairs in historic buildings.




Date Specific Information

10-6-2013, 11-10-2013

Enjoy the latest in hearing technology — listening devices — on this date.




New Orleans

The Crescent City is among the United States' most unique and colorful cities, owing in part to the various heritages and cultures that influenced its growth over the past 300 years, including Cajun, Creole and French, a rich blend apparent in everything from the city’s architecture and cuisine, to its dialects and corner cafés.
Accommodations
Comfortable hotel with outdoor swimming pool six blocks from the French Quarter.
Meals and Lodgings
   Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown
  New Orleans, Louisiana 5 nights
 Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown
Type: Full Service Hotel
  Description: The first sounds of jazz were heard in the dance halls on the very blocks surrounding the hotel. Magnificent jazz murals commemorating this historic neighborhood including a 150-foot clarinet mural...New Orleans newest landmark! The hotel, in the heart of downtown, is 6 blocks from the French Quarter. True Southern hospitality will make you feel right at home while still close to all the action. Multi-lingual staff.
  Contact info: 330 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70112 USA
phone: 504-581-1600
  Room amenities: Bathtub/Shower Hairdryer Iron/Ironing Board Coffee and Tea Maker Hairdryer Refrigerator Microwave oven Cable / Satellite TV In Room Movies - Pay Per View In Room Movies - Premium Cable Stereo Work Desk w/ Lamp Phone / Fax Speaker Phone Free Local Phone Calls
  Facility amenities: Outdoor Pool Health/Fitness Center On-Site ATM/Cash Machine Business Center (staffed between 8am-5pm) Concierge Services Dry Cleaning Pickup On-site Guest Self Laundry Facilities Ice Machine Newsstand Porter/Bellman Room Service Safes in each room
  Smoking allowed: Yes
  Elevators available: Yes
  Additional nights prior: $129 + tax/some dates higher Price of rooms for additional nights dependent on time of year and availability. Price is not guaranteed and is subject to change by the hotel. SEE PRE/POST HOTEL INFORMATION CONCERNING SPECIAL PRICING FOR CERTAIN DATES DURING 2013.
  Check in time: 3:00 PM
  Additional nights after: $129 + tax/some dates higher Price of rooms for additional nights dependent on time of year and availability. Price is not guaranteed and is subject to change by the hotel. SEE PRE/POST HOTEL INFORMATION CONCERNING SPECIAL PRICING FOR CERTAIN DATES DURING 2013.
  Check out time: 12:00 PM


Travel Details
  Start of Program:
Hotel check in: Sunday 3:30 pm. If you arrive earlier you can check in if your room is available. Bellmen will store your luggage until your room is ready. Registration:3:45 pm. Orientation: 4:15-6:00 You will be staying at Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown that night.
  End of Program:
Breakfast is 7:00-8:30 am. Lecture: 8:30-11am. Take away lunch provided: 11am (or you may eat with group in hotel). Hotel checkout: Noon. Bellmen will store luggage if you are leaving later. You will be staying at Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown the night before.
  Required documents:
The Road Scholar Health & Safety Form is required.
  Parking availability:
425 Parking Spaces. Regular Daily Parking Fee: $15.00 plus tax - special negotiated daily rate for Road Scholar $8 plus tax. Covered, indoor garage attached to hotel. Garage is a self-park and lock facility. Bus and RV parking also available for a fee.
Transportation
To Start of Program
  Location:  New Orleans, Louisiana
  Nearest highway: Interstate 10
  Nearest airport:  Louis Armstrong International Airport-(MSY)
  From End of Program
  Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
    (Additional transportation information same as above)
Travel Details
 

Union Passenger Terminal New Orleans

 

From Train Station

 
 

Service:

 

Taxi
multiple taxis

 

Per Person/One Way:

 

$10(approximately)
Prices are subject to change.
 

Travel Time:

 

5-10 minutes 
 

Distance:

 

1 mile
 

Louis Armstrong Airport (Moisant Field-MSY)

 

From Airport

 
 

Service:

 

Commercial Van/Shuttle
New Orleans Airport Shuttle
phone: 866-596-2699 xTollFree

 

Per Person/One Way:

 

$20 per person one way
Prices are subject to change.
 

Travel Time:

 

20 minutes 
 

Distance:

 

15 miles
   

Shuttle will be outside of the baggage pickup area. Shuttle may make stops at several hotels before arriving at your hotel.
 

Louis Armstrong Airport (Moisant Field-MSY)

 

From Airport

 
 

Service:

 

Taxi
multiple taxis

 

Per Person/One Way:

 

$30(approximately) for one or two people
Prices are subject to change.
 

Travel Time:

 

20 minutes 
 

Distance:

 

15 Miles
   

It is cheaper to take Taxi for 1-2 persons. $30 for 2 plus extra for 3rd and 4th person.

 
Driving Directions
  Holiday Inn From East 1. Merge onto I-10 west. 2. Follow I-10 west and exit at Canal Street. 3. Turn right on Cleveland Street. 4. Go 7 blocks to the end of Cleveland Street. 5. Turn right on Elk Place. Holiday Inn is located 2 blocks on the left.
  Holiday Inn From West 1. Follow I-10 East 2. Merge onto U S90-W toward the Superdome(it will be on your left-looks like a space ship) 3. Take the Loyola Avenue exit-it will be on your right 4. Veer left as you exit-this will be Earhart Blvd. 5. From Earhart veer to the left onto Loyola Ave- go 3 blocks- you will be at Loyola and Poydras. 6. Cross Poydras and continue straight for 2 more blocks on Loyola-look for the giant clarinet on the side of the building-that will be the Holiday Inn. Turn right into the parking lot.
Elevation Note: Totally flat terrain

Equipment Requirements: No equipment
The prices listed for commercial services and facilities that are not included in the program cost, such as airport shuttles or extra nights lodging, are subject to change without notice. Since Road Scholar cannot guarantee the accuracy of these prices, we strongly suggest contacting the companies directly for the most up-to-date information.


Daily Schedule

Day 1: Arrival & Check-in, Registration & Orientation, Welcome Dinner, Opening Presentation
(Sunday, October 6)
   
 Afternoon: HOTEL CHECK-IN: Available from 3:30pm.

PROGRAM REGISTRATION: After you have your room assignment, come over to the Road Scholar desk to register with the program staff and pick up your arrival packet containing your name tag, updated schedule, and other important information we will review during orientation.

ORIENTATION: 4:15pm. We will begin with introductions followed by an informative overview of the program. We will review the schedule and any changes; discuss responsibilities, safety guidelines, emergency procedures; and answer any questions you may have. Please be aware that program activities and scheduled times could change due to local circumstances. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

 Dinner: Enjoy a tasty meal in the hotel's Streetcar Restaurant with classic New Orleans and innovative American cuisine in a setting enhanced by original art works
 Evening: PRESENTATION: Saints, Sinners, and Secrets. America’s most colorful city has been the home of an amazing cast of characters for three centuries. From ritual dances of the original Chitimacha inhabitants through the ceremonies and indulgences of succeeding waves of French, Spanish, English, Americans, German, Irish, Italians, and more down to our own time, New Orleans has always been a place of contrasts, conflicts, and contradictions. Religion and depravity, goodness and immorality, saints and sinners all have co-existed here, sometimes within the same people such as the blend of spiritual influences in Marie Laveau, notorious as the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans who was also a devout Catholic. We hope your head won’t spin, but your eyes will be opened!
   
Accommodations: Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown
Meals Included: Dinner

Day 2: Saintly Influences and Sacred Spaces, Ursuline Convent, St. Louis Cathedral, Touro Synagogue, Fr. Seelos Shrine, Old Mortuary Chapel, and "Madam" Josie Arlington
(Monday, October 7)
   
 Breakfast: The hotel's buffet breakfast offers multiple choices to please your palate.
 Morning: PRESENTATION: Saintly Influences and Sacred Spaces. We will highlight remarkable tales of the faithful and their spiritual power and influence during crucial times for New Orleans and its people. Learn how residents preserve and revere these guardians of the city.
 Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.
 Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Sacred Spaces. Our first stop is the Old Ursuline Convent in the French Quarter, oldest building in the Mississippi Valley and the oldest example of French colonial architecture. The first 12 Ursulines arrived here from France in 1727, known as “casket girls” for the wooden cases containing their possessions.

Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France: This grand title identifies the oldest Catholic cathedral in continual use in the U.S. -- established as a parish in 1720 -- and one of the city’s most notable landmarks, a cultural and architectural treasure.

Touro Synagogue is named for Judah Touro, a wealthy merchant-trader and son of Isaac Touro who founded America’s oldest synagogue in Newport, RI. Touro in New Orleans is the oldest Jewish house of worship outside the original 13 colonies, dating back to the 1820s.

St. Mary’s Assumption Church, the first German Catholic Church in Louisiana, houses the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, beatified in 2000. Fr. Seelos came to New Orleans in 1866, but the very next year contracted yellow fever and died. During that short time, he took on the hardest tasks and did the most penance, with miracles attributed to his intercession both during his life and after his death.

The Old Mortuary Chapel is the city’s oldest original church still standing, built as a place to bury victims of the annual Yellow Fever season (July-December), epidemic in New Orleans through much of the 19th Century. It is now the official chapel of the New Orleans Police and Fire Departments.

 Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.
 Evening: PRESENTATION: Legacies of New Orleans. Learn about the lives and legacy of free people of color, philanthropists and businessmen, the impact of Plessy vs. Ferguson, and more.
   
Accommodations: Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3: Villains and Vamps, Dueling Oaks, Dinner & Evening on Your Own
(Tuesday, October 8)
   
 Breakfast: Breakfast buffet at the hotel.
 Morning: PRESENTATION: Villains and Vamps. Without darkness, there is no light, and vice-versa. New Orleans has no shortage of unsavory characters and criminals who have operated in the shadows. Learn about some of the city's most despicable bad guys…and gals…from the infamous 1830s socialite-serial killer Delphine LaLaurie to the local version of Jack the Ripper, The Axeman. The police themselves have been touched by scandal. And the Mafia? Some say it is gone, while others insist New Orleans still has one of the most powerful crime families in the country, surviving Carlos Marcello who -- some speculate -- played a role in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
 Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.
 Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: The Dueling Oaks. Long before it became City Park, these grounds -- once part of an old plantation -- were notorious as a place where duels were fought. More “affaires d’honneur” were fought in New Orleans than any other city. While sometimes the outcome of serious insults, they could erupt from any perceived affront to a Creole gentleman’s pride. Weapons ranged from swords and sabers to pistols and more. A local newspaper reported, “Between 1834 and 1844 scarcely a day passed without duels being fought at the Oaks.” While dignity could be satisfied with the first blood drawn, many of these crimes of honor ended with one of the combatants being carried away for burial.

Take the remainder of the afternoon to explore on your own and become better acquainted with the French Quarter and its many charms, or use the vouchers provided to attend selected museums. You will have many options to choose from.

 Dinner: Dinner is on your own tonight to enjoy the cuisine of your choice. If you have a special restaurant in mind, we recommend you make reservations in advance.
 Evening: FREE EVENING: You may return to the hotel after dinner to relax or stay out and explore. If you like jazz, there are many clubs to choose from; you will also have a voucher for Preservation Hall. Or, just stroll along Bourbon Street to see some of the sights that may surprise you. Remember, New Orleans is like nowhere else in America!
   
Accommodations: Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4: Ghosts, Vampires & Voodoo, Tomb of Marie Laveau, Voodoo Musuem, Haunted History Walk
(Wednesday, October 9)

Note: Haunted history walk in French Quarter will last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.
   
 Breakfast: Breakfast buffet in the hotel.
 Morning: PRESENTATION: Vampires, Voodoo and Ghosts. New Orleans after dark is when the bizarre, scary, edgy, mystical, and magical aspects of the city awake. Is the French Quarter really haunted? What is the origin of Jazz Funerals? Our local expert will explore the "unusual suspects" from Marie Laveau to Anne Rice and much more.
 Lunch: Lunch today at a French Quarter restaurant with its own ghost!
 Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Tomb of Marie Laveau, St. Louis Cemetary #1. Marie Laveau was born a free woman of color. She later worked as a hairdresser and gained notoriety and influence for the power of her “gris-gris” (gris = gray, a mixture of white and black magic). Reports from the time indicate her approach to magic merged Roman Catholic beliefs and saints with African concepts and spirits. There is no question that she transformed the Haitian practice of “voudon” into New Orleans voodoo and made it a successful business for herself -- regarded as religion by some and entertainment by others. Paradoxically, or maybe not, Marie Laveau was also a devout Catholic who attended daily mass at St. Louis Cathedral. Her reputed tomb is a place of pilgrimage for those who still believe in her powers.

FIELD TRIP: New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. This small museum is one of the most fascinating anywhere. Hear a brief presentation on voodoo itself -- a three-tiered spiritual system from West Africa based on an omnipotent God, spirits, and ancestors -- and the forms and features of “gris-gris” relating to love and romance, power and domination, luck and finance, and uncrossing or undoing hexes.

 Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.
 Evening: HAUNTED HISTORY WALK: French Quarter. Get ready for thrills, chills, laughs, secrets revealed, and surprises.
   
Accommodations: Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Politicians, Lunch On Your Own, Free Afternoon, Dinner at a Local Restaurant
(Thursday, October 10)
   
 Breakfast: Breakfast buffet in the hotel.
 Morning: LECTURE: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, the Politicians. These characters are so incredible they deserve a program all their own. As a noted professor of history once said, “Louisiana has never required more of her politicians than that they steal with flair!” In particular, New Orleans' reputation for corrupt politicians is well documented and often true. Learn about their campaigns, their dalliances, their habits, their legacies, the occasional exceptions, and what might have been in this entertaining lecture.
 Lunch: Lunch on your own to enjoy the cuisine of your choice.
 Afternoon: FREE AFTERNOON: Use your vouchers to attend on your own the D-Day Museum, Museum of Southern Art, free ferry, or Natchez Steamboat. Or, enjoy a musical lecture-performance at the National Jazz Park. Or, use your free time to do more exploring on your own. So many possibilities!
 Dinner: Dinner at local restaurant.
 Evening: Return to the hotel -- tired but full of impressions and ideas!
   
Accommodations: Holiday Inn New Orleans Downtown
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 6: Morning lecture. Program ends with lunch to go.
(Friday, October 11)
   
 Breakfast: Breakfast buffet.
 Morning: LECTURE: The Spirit of New Orleans. We’ve surveyed the saints, the sinners, and learned some secrets. We conclude with a discussion of the most important spirit of all, the spirit of the city and its people who have experienced triumphs and tragedies for generations. In particular, learn about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, how New Orleans got its mojo back, and what is still being done. Last and certainly not least, catch up with "The" New Orleans Saints and trace their passage from the days of “The Ain’ts” to their historic Super Bowl championship in 2009.
 Lunch: Your program concludes with lunch to go.

We hope you have enjoyed this exciting new program and will return for other rewarding Road Scholar learning adventures in the future. Best wishes for all your journeys!
   
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Free Time Opportunities
  
  New Orleans, Louisiana ATTRACTIONS AND EXCURSIONS
Aquarium of the Americas
Audubon Institute Insectarium
Audubon Zoo
Cafe du Monde
Free Ferry
Flea Market
French Market
Glassworks School
IMAX Theater
Mardi Gras World
Natchez Steamboat
St. Charles Streetcar
  HISTORIC HOMES
Beauregard-Keyes House
Faulkner House
Gallier House
Ursuline Convent
  MUSEUM AND EXHIBITS
Louisiana State Museum (closed on Monday)
Confederate Museum
New Orleans Museum of Art and Sculpture Garden
Musee Conti (Wax Museum)
St. Louis Cathedral
Voodoo Museum
World War II Museum
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
  NIGHTCLUBS AND MUSIC
Gazebo (daily jazz outdoors)
House of Blues
Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
Maison Bourbon
Market Café (daily jazz outdoors)
Mid City Lanes Rock n Bowl
Mulate's (Cajun Dancing)
Palm Court Jazz Café
Pat O' Briens'
Patout's Cajun Corner
Preservation Hall
Tipitina's
Snug Harbor
Spotted Cat
  PERFORMING ARTS
Contemporary Arts Center
Le Petit Theatre
Mahalia Jackson Perfoming Arts Center
Important information about your itinerary: Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information featured on this website. Itineraries are based on our best information at this time. Circumstances beyond our control may require us to adjust itineraries or other details. We regret any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. Information will be sent to you from your Program Provider approximately three weeks prior to the program start date. The prices listed for commercial services and facilities that are not included in the program cost, such as airport shuttles or extra nights lodging, are subject to change without notice. Since Road Scholar cannot guarantee the accuracy of these prices, we strongly suggest contacting the companies directly for the most up-to-date information.

Suggested Reading List


A Streetcar Named Desire


Author: Tennessee Williams


Description: Widely considered a landmark play, A Streetcar Named Desire deals with a culture clash between two characters, Blanche DuBois, a relic of the Old South, and Stanley Kowalski, a rising member of the industrial, urban working class. American playwright Tennessee Williams received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948.



All the Kings Men


Author: Robert Penn Warren


Description: All the King's Men traces the rise and fall of demagogue Willie Stark, a fictional character loosely based on Governor Huey ""Kingfish"" Long of Louisiana. Stark begins his political career as an idealistic man of the people but soon becomes corrupted by success and caught between dreams of service and an insatiable lust for power.



Confederacy of Dunces


Author: John Kennedy Toole


Description: A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel written by American novelist John Kennedy Toole, published by Louisiana State University Press in 1980, eleven years after the author's suicide. The book, published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a revealing foreword) and Toole's mother Thelma Toole, quickly became a cult classic, and later a mainstream success. Toole posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. It is now considered a canonical work of modern Southern literature, in the USA. The title derives from the epigraph by Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." The story is set in New Orleans in the early 1960s. The central character is Ignatius J. Reilly, an educated but slothful 30-year-old man still living with his mother in the city's Uptown neighborhood, who, due to an incident early in the book, must set out to get a job. In his quest for employment he has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters.



Creole New Orleans Race and Americanization


Author: Arthur Hirsch and John Logsdon


Description: This collection of six original essays explores the peculiar ethnic composition and history of New Orleans, which the authors persuasively argue is unique among American cities. The focus of Creole New Orleans is on the development of a colonial Franco-African culture in the city, the ways that culture was influenced by the arrival of later immigrants, and the processes that led to the eventual dominance of the Anglo-American community.



Life On The Mississippi


Author: Mark Twain


Description: An invaluable companion to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi is Mark Twain's inimitable portrait of 'the great Father of Waters'. Part memoir, part travelogue, it expresses the full range of Twain's literary personality, and remains the most vivid, boisterous and provocative account of the cultural and societal history of the Mississippi Valley, from 'the golden age' of steamboating to the violence wrought by the Civil War.



Rising Tide


Author: John Barry


Description: An American epic of science, politics, race, honor, high society, and the Mississippi River, Rising Tide tells the riveting and nearly forgotten story of the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known -- the Mississippi flood of 1927. The river inundated the homes of nearly one million people, helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president, drove hundreds of thousands of blacks north, and transformed American society and politics forever.



Why New Orleans Matters


Author: Tom Piazza


Description: In the aftermath of Katrina and the disaster that followed, promises were made, forgotten, and renewed. Now what will become of New Orleans in the years ahead? What do this proud, battered city and its people mean to America and the world? Award-winning author and longtime New Orleans resident Tom Piazza illuminates the storied culture and uncertain future of this great and neglected American metropolis by evoking the sensuous rapture of the city that gave us jazz music and Creole cooking; examining its deep undercurrents of corruption, racism, and injustice; and explaining how its people endure and transcend those conditions. And, perhaps most important, he asks us all to consider the spirit of this place and all the things it has shared with the world: its grace and beauty, resilience and soul.





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