Reports, news, and stories on quirky roadside attractions! Not all tips verified -- call ahead! Submit your own tip.
Results 31 to 35 of 144...[Previous 5 items] Page of 29 [Next 5 items]
- New Orleans, Louisiana - National World War II Museum
The new multimedia presentation narrated by Tom Hanks and the cafe run by John Besh bring this top notch museum up another notch. Not really quirky enough for this database. Andrew Higgins and his Higgins boats were the real impetus for a museum that is now as much a part of NO as the Audubon Institute.
[SJB, 12/21/2010]National WWII Museum:RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
- Address:
- 945 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA
- Directions:
- Downtown, on the northwest corner of Andrew Higgins and Magazine St. Entrance on Andrew Higgins Drive.
- Hours:
- Daily 9-5 (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 504-528-1944
- Admission:
- Adults $23 to start.
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
D-Day Museum plan gets boost from Private Ryan
Despite the ample coverage of the Normandy Invasion in countless taxpayer-funded military museums across the US, there are plans for a new "D-Day-only" museum. D-day historian Stephen Ambrose hopes to open it in his hometown of New Orleans, LA. The idea has gotten an economic boost by recent donations from "Private Ryan" director Stephen Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks. Ambrose served as a consultant on the film.
The 15 million dollar museum is proposed to open June 6th, 2000.
[08/23/1998]D-Day Museum Planned For Frenchiest Town In America
The National D-day Museum has settled on scaled-back plans to open in New Orleans, LA, by June 6, 1999, the 55th anniversary of the historic event. The museum will pay particular attention to the important role played in the Normandy, France landing by craft manufactured in New Orleans by shipbuilder Andrew Higgins. Other historic amphibious invasions of World War II will also be remembered.
Planners said they want to make extensive use of taped, written and possibly video accounts from those who took part in the invasions. "In the end, this is a story about people," said the flack for MetaForm Inc., a New York City firm designing the museum, which will be located in an abandoned brewery on Magazine Street. "We want to bring a personal sense of experience."
Exhibits would be displayed on the second and third floors of the building. The first floor would have a theater, a gift shop and possibly some sort of food service. The first part of the museum would cover the Allied landings in Normandy, Sicily and mainland Italy, while the second would be devoted to battles of the Pacific theater, like Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In all those invasions, men were taken ashore in boats made at the Higgins yard.
Over the past four years, the project has been scaled down considerably from the original vision of University of New Orleans history professor Stephen Ambrose, author of a book on D-day. Ambrose wanted the museum to be at Lake Pontchartrain, where the Higgins boat underwent its first sea trial. Ambrose's plan also called for an endowment of as much as $10 million to cover operating costs. Both ideas have been dropped.
[05/10/1997]- New Orleans, Louisiana - Westgate Museum of Necromantic Arts
The Westgate Museum of Necromantic Art and Gallery closed in September 2005, and the purple and black house at 5219 Magazine Street is presently for sale. The move had been planned before Katrina hit. The Westgate also had a short-lived bed and breakfast, certainly the most unusual experience in New Orleans.
[Allen Herd, 02/18/2006]Westgate Museum of Necromancy:- Directions:
- On Magazine St. between Dufossat and Bellecastle.
- Hours:
- Reported Closed.
- Status:
- Gone
- New Orleans, Louisiana - Westgate Museum of Necromancy
For a trip down creepy lane, don't miss the Museum of Necromancy the next time you're strolling down Magazine St. in New Orleans. Hailed by its creators as "a point of contact between Life & Death" (eeek) the old bright purple house moved to New Orleans in 1990 and is home to drawings, paintings, sculpture, and poetry devoted to necromancy. Even though these folks bring new meaning to the word "serious" (they are also home to a publishing company that specializes in necromantic literature), the place is really unlike anything you've ever seen and beats the hell out of the other touristy "voodoo" shops in the area.
[Jen Ashlock, 06/16/2002]
[Previous 5 items] Page of 29 [Next 5 items]