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Helmed by Chef Danny Trace, a New Orleans native whose resume includes stints at Commander’s Palace and Cafe Adelaide, Brennan’s is the kind of place you go to for well-executed classics: Oysters Rockefeller, Shrimp and Grits, Gulf Fish Pontchartrain. But should you happen to venture into less predictable territory, you’ll be just as pleased. Still, every meal should end with bananas foster prepared tableside.

Created in memory of a Missoula native who loved kayaking the world’s rivers, Brennan’s Wave is located in the middle of the Clark Fork River just off the shores of the city’s downtown. If you want to ride the man-made wave, summer crowds will gather along the banks to see you tempt the rapids and hearty winter souls will brave the uber-cold temps with you for Stand Up Surfing. I learned to kayak from one of Missoula’s best instructors. His name is Land (perfect name for a guy who spends most of his waking hours on the water) and he runs Tarkio Kayak Adventures. Land and his team of intrepid teachers take groups of adventurers on week-long trips through Montana and Idaho, and they have a fabulous kayaking expedition through Bhutan. If you only have time for a short course, individual experts will spend a day showing you the ropes on either the Clark Fork or the Bitterroot River. My day with Land made me feel like an expert, and even when I flipped and fumbled my kayak, he patiently taught me to take my time and enjoy the beauty of nature. Call Land at: 406-543-4583 or 503-260-7116, or check out the company at http://teamtarkio.com If you are up for some mid-river adventure and the Tarkio crew is busy, contact the folks at Zoo Town Surfers at http://www.zootownsurfers.com The Zoo Town crowd takes to the waves in any temperature. As Norman MaClean wrote, Missoula is a town where the “river runs through it”. Here’s your chance to test the waters for yourself.

First opened in 2004 in a former office building in the Central Business District, the Loews New Orleans Hotel completed a $4 million renovation in November 2014. The new look is modern, but with a nod to the Big Easy: rooms and suites (which, by the way, are among the most spacious in town) are done up in soothing blues and grays, and feature local photography on the walls, and the carpets have a wrought-iron fence motif. Large picture windows afford vistas of the city or the Mississippi River.

Run by the legendary Brennan family and named after the vivacious Adelaide Brennan, the hotel restaurant also got a makeover—think canary-yellow seats, teal tufted banquettes, and Andy Warhol–esque pop art of its namesake.

Located in the New Orleans Museum of Art, this Ralph Brennan Restaurant features light, artisanal meals made with local ingredients. Some choices include house-cured salmon bruschetta, turkey bacon panini, roasted chicken salad, homemade chicken salad on a croissant and mushroom leek soup. The restaurant also runs numerous promotions, like complimentary summer cooking classes and $10 pizza and wine on Fridays. After enjoying your sustainable lunch, peruse the museum exhibits, wander the sculpture garden or lay in City Park.

Ralph Brennan’s Red Fish Grill pairs eclectic, of-the-sea décor with some of the best seafood in town. Don’t miss the BBQ oysters with Crystal Hot Sauce and blue cheese dressing. Next door, Bourbon House is known for its towering plateaux de fruits de mer, which comes with oysters with caviar, boiled Gulf shrimp, mussels, crab fingers, and seafood salad, and its impressive bourbon selection. Donald Link’s latest endeavor, Peche, is to seafood what Cochon is to pork. On Magazine Street, Casamento’s is an institution for its oyster loaf and fried seafood platters, plus it’s fun to watch the hulking shuckers tackle piles of just-off-the-boat bivalves.

For an occasionally harrowing (but always interesting) peek into traditional Hanoi, spend an afternoon navigating the maze of the Old Quarter markets. Traditionally, certain streets were named after the product that was sold there (i.e. shoes, textiles, gold, etc.). Much of that tradition remains, and there seems to be very little you can’t find here - from party products to jewelry to delicious street food. Keep your head up -- not just for the sights but also to be aware of the traffic whizzing by in all directions.

Owen Brennan founded a fine-dining restaurant empire in 1946, when the proprietor of Arnaud’s taunted him by saying that no Irishman could succeed with anything other than a hamburger joint. Brennan got his revenge at this French-and-Creole restaurant located in a sprawling pink 1795 Spanish-era structure that’s become iconic. After some slouching in recent years, Brennan’s is back on culinary maps following a change in ownership (from one branch of Brennan descendants to another). Pro tip: It’s more famous for breakfast than dinner. Among the more noted dishes is eggs Hussarde, involving poached eggs and Canadian bacon served with both Marchand de Vin and hollandaise sauces.

Royal Street is to antiques and fine art what Bourbon Street is to booze. This elegant urban thoroughfare is not only home to some of the best examples of the city’s early-19th-century Creole town houses, but is also loaded with high-end antiques retailers. These feature mostly ornate 18th- and 19th-century European sculptures and paintings, early furniture, chandeliers, and dinnerware used by the upper crust. Most of the inventory has a decidedly Continental air to it. Among the better-known shops are Waldhorn and Adler (343 Royal St.); Ida Manheim Antiques (409 Royal St.), run by the same family since 1919; and haute-upscale M.S. Rau (630 Royal St.), with its warren of hidden back rooms open only to serious customers.