Old Absinthe House

The two-centuries-old original bar from the Old Absinthe House was returned to its 240 Bourbon Street home in early 2004 and maintained its decrepit vibe in the good old NOLA way. There are autograph registers on display; one signed by Billy Joel and one ancient with signatures such as "I.P. Freely" in a spidery fountain pen. This place was frequented by Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, Ernest Hemingway, and Frank Sinatra - some of the decors looks unchanged since those days. Thousands of business cards pinned to the wall serve as interesting wallpaper, and you can bring your own.

It was Oscar Wilde who gave one of the great quotes about any beverage: "After the first glass [of absinthe], you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world." The drink was once outlawed in the US, but now you can legally sip the infamous libation.

The ritual goes like this: sugar cube on the slotted spoon, cold water 'dripped' over the ice cube, melting the sugar and causing the green liquor louche into an opaque opalescent white. It is where the "green fairy" comes into play, as you see the green absinthe changing before your eyes, creating what might appear to be a fairy swirling in your glass. The bartender will probably light the sugar cube on fire, which is always exciting.