Places Michael Barera Wants to Go

The South's nickname was supposedly born at a former bank in New Orleans' French Quarter.

After serving in Vietnam, Korea, and even a stint in the Turkish navy, the unique ship is now open as a museum.

The beautiful, fruit-covered facade hints at this building's former life.

The oldest operational cathedral in the U.S. has one shell of a way of projecting speakers' voices.

Every year, a Louisiana town remembers a brief Civil War truce inspired by Masonic brotherhood.

The ill-fated plan to reroute the Mississippi so that Union ships could bypass Confederate fortifications on the river bend.

This strange example of the Egyptian Revival architecture trend now holds Mardi Gras floats.

World's largest precision optical instrument used to detect Einstein's elusive gravity waves.

The LSU mascot lived on the college campus in one of the most impressive tiger habitats in the country.

This colorful New Orleans bookstore features rare and used titles, with a specialty in Cajun fare.

A mysterious find dredged from Louisiana waters.

This Birdsill Holly fire hydrant is the remnant of a very different type of hydration innovation.

This museum chronicles the history of a leprosy quarantine hospital that then became a refuge.

A 19th-century Gothic, castle-like statehouse by the Mississippi River.

A prime example of New Orleans' unique architecture these early 20th century homes were built to look like steamboats.

The Louisiana sandwich shop that served Bonnie and Clyde's last meal is a museum that chronicles the criminal couple and honors the Bienville Parish lawmen who stopped their crime spree in an ambush.

For 150 years one family has been producing the iconic hot sauce on a bayou island made of salt.

A small park on Bourbon Street features life-size bronze statues of New Orleans musicians.

The state's oldest continuously operating museum houses more than 5,000 Civil War artifacts.

The stone labyrinth in this New Orleans city park was laid to symbolize healing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Tiny historical streetcars wind through a small scale version of Crescent City in this whimsical train garden.

This abandoned Civil War fortress is slowly being swallowed by the waters of Lake Borgne.

Formerly known as National D-Day Museum, this collection commemorates the battles of Normandy and WWII.

This float factory takes the mask off of Mardi Gras and lets visitors see where the magic happens.