Natchez on the Mississippi bluff, 3.5 hours northwest of New Orleans, is the antebellum river city with a Southern dining tradition, Pearl Street Pasta, Carriage House and the King's Tavern.
Tip: King's Tavern in Natchez dates to 1789; the smoked old-fashioned and the brisket flatbread are the cult orders.
Lafayette and Cajun country sit 2.5 hours west of New Orleans on Interstate 10, the heart of South Louisiana Acadian cuisine with boudin counters, crawfish boils and Saturday Cajun music dance halls.
Tip: Drive the Boudin Trail along Hwy 90 and Hwy 13; Best Stop in Scott and Billy's in Krotz Springs are the boudin-link mainstays.
Avery Island in southern Louisiana, 2.5 hours southwest of New Orleans, is the McIlhenny family salt-dome island and the home of Tabasco Sauce since 1868, with a factory tour and Jungle Gardens.
Tip: The factory tour runs daily; combine with the Jungle Gardens (300 acres of egrets and live oaks) and a stop in nearby New Iberia for lunch.
Plaquemines Parish runs an hour south of New Orleans along the Mississippi River road, with citrus orchards, oyster farms and the Plaquemines Parish Fair and Orange Festival each December.
Tip: Visit October through December for the satsuma harvest; Star Nursery sells from the orchard along Hwy 23.
Biloxi on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, 90 minutes east of New Orleans on Interstate 10, has the largest Vietnamese American fishing fleet on the Gulf, plus Mary Mahoney's and historic seafood houses.
Tip: Mary Mahoney's in Biloxi has run since 1964 in an 1737 French Creole house; the gumbo and the shrimp Mahoney are the menu anchors.
Houma, an hour southwest of New Orleans on US 90, is the Terrebonne Parish seat with swamp tours, alligator country and Cajun seafood houses like A-Bear's and Dave's Cajun Kitchen.
Tip: Combine a morning swamp tour with Annie Miller's Sons or Munson's with a Cajun lunch at A-Bear's on Bayou Black Drive.