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There's only one rule in southern Louisiana: leave your cares at home. Diets, stress, moderation, and inhibition take a backseat on the drive from New Orleans to St. Francisville, where everything from eye-popping parades to gator-filled swamps to filigreed plantations make for the definitive southern escape.

Start the journey in New Orleans' famous French Quarter, where neon signs hang on wrought iron-porched mansions in an unlikely mix of kitsch and class. Tennis shoes are the only transportation needed in the Quarter: Royal Street's antique shops, Bourbon Street's jazz clubs, and a host of cafés, boutiques, galleries, and French groceries are all within a few minutes' walk of Jackson Square, the epicenter of the tourist district. While there, check out The Cabildo, where the Louisiana Purchase was signed in 1803, and The Presbytere, which houses a fantastic collection of Mardi Gras gear.

One of the tastiest hand-held meals in the city is served around the corner from the Square at Johnny's Po Boys. Huge, flaky rolls overflow with fried oysters and an enormous dousing of mayo. With almost everything on the menu ringing in at about $7, it's a diet for the wallet – just maybe not for you.

Almost every cobbled street in the Big Easy houses some eclectic museum or another, and the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum is one of the best. Take a time machine back to the 19th century, when bloodletting, leeches, snake oil, and voodoo concoctions were all legitimate medical remedies as evidenced by the museum's vast collection of potions and medical devices. Other unique exhibits worth checking out: the spooky trinkets at the Voodoo Museum and the eerily lifelike New Orleans historical figures at the Musee Conti Wax Museum.

Mark Twain and Tennessee Williams used to visit the dimly lit Napoleon House Bar and Café for inspiration, and the creaky, weathered eatery remains a haunt for writers and artists of all persuasions. The original owner of the 200-year-old building, New Orleans Mayor Nicholas Girod, was a great Napoleon Bonaparte admirer. Local legend says Girod even organized a rescue to save the doomed leader from exile on Elba and bring him back to New Orleans, but the little Emperor died before the rescue could be completed. Still, the place oozes regal spirit – patrons sip drinks called "Pimm's Cups" made from an 1840s recipe while Beethoven symphonies waft through the air. The muffuletta – flatbread piled with ham, Genoa salami, pastrami, Swiss, and provolone, then spread with olive tapenade and drizzled with olive oil – is outstanding.