by Tavia S. Cummings, Director of Convention/Meetings, AACC

When I tell a new friend that I'm from New Orleans, LA (NOLA), they know who I am.

My home is known for its food and hospitality: red beans and rice on Monday and Festival year round; Mardi Gras parties, beads and "Second Line" umbrellas; Jackson Square; haunted cemeteries; the mighty Mississippi River; street cars; Dirty Rice and Dirty Politics; and let's not forget the humidity.

People here treasure family and friends, great food and equally great music. You’ll come to New Orleans a stranger, but the city will greet you like a returning friend.

While you're here I hope you get a chance to tour New Orleans' neighborhoods. 

Faubourg is a French term that literally means 'suburb' or neighborhood. One of my favorite neighborhoods is the Tremé. America's oldest African American neighborhood, the Faubourg Tremé—or as it is more frequently referred to, Tremé—was the site of significant economic, cultural, political, social and legal events that have literally shaped the course of events in Black America for the past two centuries. Yet, few outside of New Orleans except for scholars and historians know its enormous importance to Americans of African descent. Today, Tremé is the locale for visitors and natives alike to celebrate the achievements of African Americans. Scholars and historians have shared their immense knowledge with New Orleans residents and now Tremé is home to several museums dedicated to African American life, art, and history, as well as Armstrong Park, a memorial to the great jazz legend Louis Armstrong.

If there’s time, take a leisurely walk through one of the city's unique neighborhoods and find a myriad of styles, including a shotgun house - a narrow, often one-story affair with each room situated behind the other. (The idea is that if you fired a shot at the entrance, it would travel through every room and out the back.) The city's shotguns tend to be colorfully painted; a row of them strikes a picturesque pose. Driving through the Upper Ninth Ward, Bywater, Faubourg Marigny, Irish Channel, Uptown, and Riverbend neighborhoods provides concentrated viewing.

I hope you will love my city as much as I do because Hurricane Katrina also taught me what it truly means to miss New Orleans. Every time I leave, my heart breaks a little, because I don't know when I'll be back; for my soul, it feels like leaving home again.