Bourbon Street

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Bourbon Street ("Rue Bourbon" in French), is a famous and historic street that runs the length of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. When the city was founded in 1718, it was originally centered around the French Quarter.<ref>http://www.inetours.com/New_Orleans/French_Quarter_History.html</ref> New Orleans has since expanded, but "The Quarter" remains the cultural hub, and Bourbon Street is the main attraction there.

The most frequented section of Bourbon Street is "Upper Bourbon Street", an 8 block section of popular tourist attractions. Bourbon Street begins at Canal Street (across Canal is Carondelet Street in the New Orleans Central Business District). The straight street continues downriver, southwest to northeast a few blocks from and roughly paralleling the Mississippi River, and comes to its terminus at Pauger Street in the Faubourg Marigny. (In the 19th century, Pauger was named as a continuation of Bourbon Street.) Bourbon Street was named in honor of the House of Bourbon, the ruling party in France at the time of the city's founding.

The street is home to many bars, restaurants, strip clubs, as well as t-shirt and souvenir shops. The upper end of Bourbon Street towards Canal Street is home to many of the French Quarter's strip clubs. These include Rick's Caberet, Temptations, and Larry Flynt's Barely Legal Club. Towards the central section of Bourbon Street one can find many famous bars including Johnny White's, Pat O'Briens, The Famous Door, Razoo and The Cat's Meow.

The section of Bourbon Street from the intersection of St. Anne Street proceeding several blocks northeast caters to New Orleans' thriving gay community, featuring such clubs as The Bourbon Pub and Oz. Lafitte-In-Exile is the oldest gay bar in the country and has a long and interesting history. During his years in New Orleans, Tennessee Williams was a frequent customer at Lafitte's. New Orleans most celebrated Mardi-Gras event the Bourbon Street Awards were hosted by Lafitte's until the early 80's when massive crowds forced them to move from Bourbon Street to St. Ann and Burgundy.

From Dumaine Street to Pauger, Bourbon Street is largely residential with scattered businesses still catering to locals.

Though largely quiet during the day, Bourbon Street comes alive at night, particularly during the French Quarter's many festivals. Most popular among these is the annual Mardi Gras celebration, when Bourbon Street teems with hundreds of thousands of tourists. There are no open container laws in the French Quarter and the streets are packed with tourists drinking Hurricanes, Hand Grenades and Big Ass Beers - a large plastic cup of draft beer marketed to tourists at a low price. Other festivals and events focusing on Bourbon Street include French Quarter Fest and Southern Decadence.

One of the oldest and most popular restaurants on Bourbon Street is Galatoire's, which was founded in 1905. Known for years by its characteristic line snaking down Bourbon Street, patrons would wait for hours just to get a table — especially on Fridays.<ref>http://www.galatoires.com/html/history.html</ref>