Chemical Education Today
ACS National Meeting
by Lin Morris
photo Carl Purcell
Even if your team isn’t playing in the Superdome and it is too late for Mardi Gras, there are plenty of things to do and see while you are attending the ACS Spring Meeting. ACS has some special events planned. One of them is on Sunday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.: Celebrating Chemistry: Kids & Chemistry LIVE!, at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, and described on p 242. The other is on Monday from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m: Second Annual Fun Run; there are student (ticket #105, $10) and regular versions (ticket #106, $20). This 5k run/1.5 mile walk may be just what you need to work out the kinks after a long plane ride. The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, http://www.neworleanscvb.com, is a good place to start looking for extracurricular activities. General Information includes Frequently Asked Questions and Travel Tips; Around Town includes a detailed description of the public transportation (airport shuttle, $10 one way) and information about getting a VisiTour pass for unlimited rides on all Regional Transit Authority buses and streetcars (phone: 504/ 248-3900; WWW: http://www.norta.com). Events covers the range from crawfish festivals to the New Orleans Opera Association’s presentation of Don Giovanni. The Bureau distributes the Official New Orleans Visitors Guide at the Louisiana/New Orleans Welcome Center, 529 St. Ann Street (across from Jackson Square in the French Quarter), 9 a.m.– 5 p.m., seven days a week. To get a Guide by mail visit the Web site or phone 800/672-6124. Other brochures are available in print and online as well, including the French Quarter Walking Tour and a bird watcher’s guide. When in New Orleans you can get information updates and suggestions on what to see and do by calling the Bureau at 504/566-5003. A visit to http://www.neworleans.com will get you to a commercial Web site with so much information that you’ll have to plan another trip to take it all in. It includes a comprehensive history of New Orleans and a detailed map of the city. This site has numerous links to other commercial Web sites with offerings of everything from a carriage ride to ordering an alligator! A poll of colleagues and friends, all former New Orleans visitors, resulted in the following “Must Do” list. Call for current admission fees. Aquarium of the Americas, 1 Canal St., 504/581-4629 or 800/774-7394, Daily 9:30–7. Admission from $17.50 to $5.
Louisiana Children’s Museum; copyright © New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc.
photo Richard Nowitz
New Orleans in March
Audubon Zoo and Gardens, 6500 Magazine St., 504/5814629, Mon. to Fri. 9–5, Sat. and Sun. 9:30–6. Admission from $9 to $4.75. Ride the Swamp Train while at the Zoo, $2. Louisiana Children’s Museum, 420 Julia St., 504/5231357, Tues. to Sat. 9:30–4:30, French Quarter Alley Sun. noon–4:30. Admission $6. with Flags; copyright © Includes The Lab, special math New Orleans Metroand physics activities. Children politan Convention and under 16 must be accompanied by Visitors Bureau, Inc. an adult. D-Day Museum, 945 Magazine St., 504/527-6012, Daily 9–5. Admission $10 to $5. Free for military members in uniform. Louisiana Nature and Science Center, Joe Brown Memorial Park, 504/246-5672 or 246-7827. Includes science museum, planetarium, and gardens. Tues. to Fri. 9–5, Sat. 10–5, Sun. 12–5. Admission $5 to $3. New Orleans Fire Department Museum, 1135 Washington Ave., 504/896-4756, Mon. to Fri. 9–2. Free. New Orleans Museum of Art (in City Park) 504/4882631, Tues. to Sun. 10–5. Admission $6 to $3. New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, 514 Chartres St., 504/ 565-8027, Tues. to Sun. 10–5. Admission $2 to $1. Drive north across Lake Ponchartrain on the 24-mile, four-lane Lake Ponchartrain Causeway. Call 504/8353118 for info. The toll to drive south back to New Orleans is $3. Visit the Bayou Sauvagae National Wildlife Refuge (on the north shore of the lake) 985/646-7555. Open dawn to dusk, the refuge contains 23,000 acres and 340 species of birds. Free. Take a ride on a Mississippi River Paddleboat. Canal Street Docks. Daily, fares $16 to $6. Take the ferry to the West Bank for a fantastic view of the downtown skyline. Leaves from Canal Street and Jackson Avenue dock. Free for pedestrians. $1/car. Other interesting and fun stuff includes: checking out the art and the artists at Jackson Square, stopping in and listening to jazz music at Preservation Hall (726 St. Peter Street), visiting the French Market and eating something you’ve not eaten before. My favorites are walking the selfguided French Quarter Walking Tour (it’s free), watching the sun set while sitting on the Terrace at Riverwalk (also free), and visiting the New Orleans Museum of Art (with a grand Degas collection—Degas’ mother was born in New Orleans). So, after you have picked up your registration packet and checked into your hotel, change into some comfortable walking shoes and let the adventures begin. You are in New Orleans and it’s Spring! Enjoy.
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 80 No. 3 March 2003 • Journal of Chemical Education
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