Take it Inside

How to survive summer in a subtropical city

During February we couldn’t stop longing for summer. Now in the thick of it, we can’t seem to find enough shade. Such is life in “the northernmost Caribbean city.” Where to chill when the temperature soars? Follow us.

The Historic New Orleans Collection

Let's All Go To The Lobby

Get out of your hotel room…and hang in the lobby. Not much happening where you’re staying? Head to The Eliza Jane, where you can spend an entire afternoon people watching and moving from one chic setting to the next (there are close to a dozen). The Press Room Lounge—a double parlor with leather couches and a cozy library feel—is ideal for curling up with a good read or a game of Scrabble. At the Ace Hotel, retro club chairs, deco lighting and dark tones impart a vintage train-station vibe. Settle in with a Sazerac at the front-and-center bar or a Cold Shot from adjacent Stumptown Coffee.

The Eliza Jane

International House visitors will find the lobby outfitted in “summer dress,” with winter rugs replaced by sisal and furnishings draped in white slipcovers.

Check out the cool Banksy street art, while savoring rum-punched, summer-fruit granitas (think adult snoballs) from the hotel’s LOA bar.

International House Hotel

Museum Meandering

The 19th-century Southern ritual of “summer dress” is also on display at the circa-1857 Gallier House, where chandeliers, gilded mirrors and beds are covered in bug-resistant netting and heavy draperies are packed away in favor of lacy window coverings. The Historic New Orleans Collection’s free French Quarter Galleries likewise offer insight into local customs through three centuries of rare art and artifacts. The tandem “Art of the City: Postmodern to Post-Katrina” exhibit views things from a contemporary perspective. Through July 10 at the recently reopened New Orleans African American Museum, you’ll find “Paper Monuments: Claiming Space,” a cool exhibit of works created in response to the heated topic of Confederate monument removals.

N.O. African American Museum

Star Attractions

Escape the heat by escaping reality for a few hours at the movies. For big family fun, head to the Entergy Giant Screen Theater at the Audubon Aquarium. Included in general admission, the aptly named, five-story facility offers daily screenings of the new 3D feature “Hidden Pacific.” At the Broad Theater in Mid-City there are four screens, reclining seats, an in-house bar and concessions ranging from popcorn and Junior Mints to chicken adobo, sisig rice bowls and other Filipino fare. Traveling with in- fants? During Thursday-morning BYOB (bring your own baby) screenings, sushi is the order. Old-school cool is the draw at the century-old Prytania Theatre, which mixes current releases with celluloid classics.

Have a Ball, Y'all

Boutique bowling is the name of the game at Fulton Alley, where the weekday happy hour (4 to 7 pm) helps players loosen up before rolling out. You can dance in the lanes at Rock ’n’ Bowl, where live bands perform most nights of the week; Wednesdays are devoted to swing music, Thursdays to zydeco. Mystery-room junkies will find their fix at Escape My Room, while foodies will want to dig into the New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute’s fun Enthusiast Courses. And what’s summer in New Orleans without a syrup-soaked snoball? At Hansen’s Sno-Bliz, (counted among “America’s Classics” by the James Beard Foundation), Ashley Hansen continues the sweet tradition her grandparents started during the 1930s.

Fulton Alley