AUDUBON BUTTERFLY GARDEN AND INSECTARIUM

A DIAMOND AT THE U.S. CUSTOM HOUSE IN NEW ORLEANS

 

We may have been the only Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium visitors without kids, but what did it matter?

Even a pair of childless Miamians celebrating their combined 50th birthdays can have a lot of fun in this very wheelchair-accessible attraction.

Displays feature outstanding barrier-free access (though we did pass on the area offering free fried, chocolate covered and other allegedly gourmet preparations of edible insects!

The largest free-standing museum in the world dedicated to all things bug and arachnid begins in the Prehistoric hallway with 30-inch insect replicas.

We loved the disgustingly realistic display of real cockroaches taking over a mocked up kitchen under glass

According to the museum:

It's always dinner time for this family of American cockroaches in New Orleans.

Known also as the palmetto bug or water bug, American cockroaches are the largest common species of pest cockroach.

So pull up a chair, relax and enjoy dinner time with these critters.

Frommer's loves the gallery that simulates the experience of being underground and exposes the tiny world living in our soil.

The Japanese-inspired butterfly gallery, full of fluttering beauty, ends the experience.

The gift shop is outstanding too.

Tue - Sun | 10am - 5pm, Closed Mondays. Admission: $16.50 

423 Canal Street near North Peters Street, New Orleans.  504/581-4629

Because it is located in a Federal building, all visitors must pass through metal detectors and have their belongings scanned.

http://www.auduboninstitute.org/insectarium