BIG EASY: Parakeet Pointe at Audubon Aquarium

The backstory really isn't relevant to the experience, but it's sort of funny. My son and I wound up at Parakeet Pointe by accident when we and my husband got stuck in gnarly, snarly French Quarter Fest traffic. Out of desperation--and to avoid an ugly, unavoidable altercation between my frustrated husband and whiny-whiny five year old--I grabbed the boy and set out on-foot. In an effort to keep my son from burning out in the crowds and heat before his poor dad found a stupid parking place and could meet up with us again, we took a detour to the Aquarium. We'd been meaning to check out Parakeet Pointe, anyway, so this was perfect.

Now, to be honest, I was a little trepidatious, as I've been known to have issues with other such enclosures where birds are flying overhead and either landing on me or leaving a little souvenir in my hair or on my clothing. And, don't get me started on the whole Tippi Hedren angle. But, much to my delight, these are some well-behave birds. You have the option of paying $1 at the entrance for a popsicle stick with some birdseed attached to it and--voila--an instant bird perch. Being the well-mannered birds that they are, you have to sort of coax them onto the stick, but once they're on there, it's actually pretty cool. I'm shocked they allow unpredictable little hellions such access to the poor little creatures, but none of the parakeets were injured during that particular visit. Hope that remains the case.

My son was dying to pet the birds, but when we asked, we were told it wasn't allowed. But, believe me, I got an EARFUL when my son watched some Aquarium commercials at home a few days later, which showed kids touching the parakeets. "See mom, TWO FINGERS! That's how I was going to pet them!" You better believe they'll have a serious fairness debate on their hands when my little juris-pre-K boy steps foot in there again. We'll see how that goes.

Luckily, it's a lovely facility, they didn't rush us through, and it's conveniently located in the food court, sort of behind the Häagen-Dazs counter. I say "luckily" as we had plenty of time to kill visiting with the birds and eating ice cream--my husband spent an hour-and-a-half slogging through traffic looking for parking, only to wind up driving to Algiers and taking the ferry back across to meet us. Not exactly the quaint experience my son and I had. And, needless to say, the next stop was a daiquiri stand!

Entrance to Parakeet Pointe is free with Audubon Aquarium of the Americas admission. For more info, visit their site: http://www.auduboninstitute.org/visit/aquarium/fun-favorites/parakeet-pointe.