Are all the bars on Bourbon Street really essentially the same?

I just went to New Orleans for the first time a few years ago, and what a marvelous experience. There was one street that mostly had jazz, and another that was more raunchy, and a third with antiques of all kinds. We stayed on the one with the jazz, and went from place to place with more wonderful music than I could have imagined. Dancing too.
Have a great time!

Bourbon street sucks. Go to bars on the side streets. Don’t go walking around by yourself or you could get mugged. I was almost mugged walking home from the Verdi mart once.

story please, jess! don’t hold back now! what does “almost mugged” mean? what happened? how did you handle it?

omg, you can get mugged anywhere tho! doesn’t even matter if you’re with ppl. my two friends got mugged a few months ago on a supersmall college campus right in front of the president’s office in broad daylight! they were both male, tall, and athletic – they were actually returning from playing raquetball or some such at the gym!! not that you aren’t a lot more likely to get mugged in certain situations. i’m just sharing my (okay it’s not really mine but whatever) story so you’ll share yours.

My bestfriend and I were walking down the street alone after we were warned not to and a guy jumped out of a car and started waking with us but about a step behind and was about to mug us but the cops came almost instantly because they had been following the car the whole time and waiting. He was about my age so I started walking behind him a step and talking to him and was going to stab him if he tried anything funny. Sounds crazy but it is true. I have many crazy New Orleans stories. I live fairly close and my friends family owns an apartment they let us stay at on Jackson Square. A famous writer use to live there. We use to go at least once a month.

What a story!! Wow.
But what were you going to stab him with?
What did the cops do? Or did they just have to show up and the dude ran away?

EDIT: Hey wait, what the heck? How were you “alone” if you were with someone? And how do you avoid walking back from places “alone” if you’re “alone” even when you’re with a friend?

Alone as in not with a guy but just two teenage girls walking alone. I was going to stab him with the knife I had in my hand. The cops just said ” y’all alright?” and drove off. I guess they knew what the guys were up to. While one guy was walking with us the car of guys was driving on the street next to us really slow. It was scary as hell. My friend had no idea what was going on. She couldn’t imagine someone would want to hurt us.

So do you carry a knife everywhere you go?

There are many kinds of bars on Bourbon street. I do not go at night anymore. You can see and go to the bars there during the day, and you can go some place nicer at night. We like Napoleon House for sazeracs and the LaFitte Pirate Bar. We like the jazz clubs in and around Bourbon street in the quarter. If we are going out to eat or to a jazz club, we always take a cab.

Times are still tough in New Orleans. You shouldn’t be afraid of doing or going anywhere. You just need to be smart and cautious. I have been hundreds of times since Katrina and I have never had a problem. It’s a great city.

No. Just when I needed to. I haven’t been since Katrina.

My two favorites are Fritzel’s and LaFitte’s; pretty much as different as they get. I don’t like the flashy open-front bars, though. Reminds me of an alcoholic mini-mall.