New Orleans

The humid Louisiana air enveloped me with scents of sweet magnolia, chicory coffee, and roasted pecans as I arrived in the Crescent City. I checked into The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, an oasis of Southern refinement housed in the historic 1908 Beaux Arts building on Canal Street. My Luxury Suite ($850/night) was bathed in pale gold silks and dark mahogany, with towering ceilings and French doors overlooking the French Quarter. In the courtyard lounge, resident jazz trumpeter Jeremy Davenport filled the air with velvety standards.

My morning began at the iconic Café du Monde, indulging in warm, pillowy beignets buried under snowy mounds of powdered sugar paired with steaming café au lait ($12). I spent the afternoon strolling along Royal Street, exploring world-renowned antique shops, fine jewelry salons, and secret lush courtyards hidden behind cast-iron gates. I hopped on the historic St. Charles Streetcar to the Garden District, marveling at the antebellum Greek Revival mansions shaded by centuries-old live oaks draped in Spanish moss.

Dinner that evening was an opulent Creole tradition at Commander’s Palace in the Garden District. Dressed in vibrant cocktail attire, I dined in the garden room on turtle soup au sherry, pecan-crusted Gulf fish with crushed corn relish, and the legendary warm Creole cream cheese bread pudding soufflé ($110). We paired it with a vintage Sazerac—rye whiskey, Peychaud’s bitters, and Herbsaint mist.

As night deepened, I bypassed the neon chaos of Bourbon Street for Frenchmen Street in the Marigny. At The Spotted Cat Music Club, raw brass horns, banjos, and upright basses ignited the room in a fiery traditional jazz jam. In New Orleans, joy is not an occasional indulgence; it is a way of life that seeps into your soul and refuses to leave.