First I have to say that there is no comparison between New Orleans and Miami. New Orleans is old (by US standards), having been settled by Europeans, aka the French, in early 1700s whereas Miami isn’t considered to be that old and it certainly doesn’t seem to be a city that has much history. In N’Awlins, History is everywhere!

Firstly, language – in New Orleans, most official signs were in two or three languages – English, Louisiana French & Spanish. But most of the time, English was the language spoken everywhere, even though sometimes it was so heavily accented, we were sometimes stumped! In Louisiana, they have a real drawl when they speak, so “New Orleans” becomes “N’Awlins” and “Louisiana”becomes “Lusi-ana”!

In Miami, it’s is Spanish first, then English! All the signage was in two languages, but nearly all the advertising that we saw was only in Spanish! Apparently, 70% of the population in Miami is Hispanic and of that 70%, half are Cuban refugees. Most of the people working in shops, as drivers or wait-staff spoke Spanish and their grasp of English varied from minimal to excellent.

Food – both places had amazing food! In New Orleans, Creole or Cajun were the main types of cuisine but these have been developed and influenced by each new group of people that has settled in New Orleans, eg Germans (sausage used in Gumbo & Jambalaya, but with a French name – Andouille), French (Beignets), Native American (tomatoes, spices, capsicum, okra), African slaves (slow cooking meals & beans) – even Tabasco Sauce was developed by an Irishman!!

In Miami, you are overloaded with choice! But apart from the overwhelming choice of Italian restaurants, there are lots of Mexican or Cuban food choices. We sampled both in our short stay in Miami and we were seriously impressed and we’re still a bit full from the last night’s dinner!

History – in New Orleans, you will get the full history in any tour that you do, be it either a Haunted Tour or a Food Tour. You will learn about the colonization by the French, how the Spanish got their hands on the city and how the French got it back before it was sold to the Colonies as the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 – Wow! That brought memories of sitting in Modern History classes! And in New Orleans, they talk about Parishes when we would talk about Councils and/or Wards.

In Miami, all the history seems to be recent or all about the Cuban influx or the growth of Miami Beach as a hotspot for rich folk.

We had 4 nights in New Orleans and stayed in a 300-year old area which if full of Creole Cottages.  A Creole Cottage is particular to the South in the USA, especially Louisiana. It is believed to be influenced from Haiti and therefore has an French style. Some things that make a Creole Cottage are that it is usually built right on the front property line, has no hallway and the front door opens into the lounge with bedroom behind.

While we were in New Orleans, we did a Food Tour where we got to sample Beignets, Gumbo, Jambalaya, Muffuletta sandwich, the French bread that is traditional used in Po’Boys and Praline. And we also learnt what contributions were made to the New Orleans cuisine by each ethnic group that settled in the area. We did an evening Jazz cruise (with dinner) on the Mississippi River, we explored the Public Transport system and found it rather good. With a Jazzy Pass, you could travel on buses, streetcars and ferries. And all for the princely sum of $0.80 per day for us “old folk”! We also spent nearly a whole day at the National WW2 Museum, which was well set out, full of information. At the end of the day, we were suffering from information overload!

What else can I say about New Orleans? It is noisy! When you walking around the tourist areas, it seems like every second building is a bar and, of course, each bar was playing music, VERY loudly to compete with the Bar across the road.  And it is also a target for bachelorette parties or birthday groups, so it tends to fill up, on weekends, with the US versions of yobbos! But, everyone that we spoke, that was a local, was incredibly friendly and helpful.  Would I go back? Yes, I think I would but I would check the weather first.

Miami was almost as hot as New Orleans but nowhere as humid, which was a good thing. We discovered that Miami isn’t just Miami – it could be Miami-Dade, Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Boca Raton, Kendall, Doral, Delray Beach, Deerfield Park, Sunrise, Jupiter or Palm Beach Gardens. And each place is a city in its own right!

The tour guides spent more time telling people about what celebrity owned what house, or what they paid for a house, or how they earned their millions that telling you any historical information about Miami. And they seemed to be more proud of having the largest number of domestic and international banks in the CBD, in the USA, than anything vaguely interesting.

The architecture is a mix of high-rise (imagine 4 or 5 Gold Coasts spread along the same length of coastline) or hotels from the 60’s that had been renovated & modernized but thankfully without changing the charm of the building. Imagine the motels that used to be in Terrigal or The Entrance in the 60’s and 70’s, and you will understand what I mean.

Would we come back to Miami? No! Been there, ticked that box! There are many more places that would be more interesting to us than to come back to Miami. But I don’t regret going because I loved discovering Cuban food!