Did You Know.... ????? Things to Do in the Crescent City.

The nickname "The Crescent City" comes from the Mississippi River. New Orleans is located on the banks of the river that forms the shape of a crescent moon. While you spend your days in sessions and at the Real Show, here are some suggestions for your evenings or any extra travel time:

* Canal Streetcar Line. In December 1997, the nine-year-old Riverfront Streetcar and the historic St. Charles Avenue line were connected for maintenance purposes. It is expected that by 2003 the St. Charles and Riverfront lines will be connected via a Canal Streetcar system that will run from the Riverfront line to the end of Canal Street. Passengers will also be able to ride all the way to the New Orleans Museum of Art via a spur line.

* Jazzland. Jazzland, a 140-acre theme park approximately 12 miles from downtown New Orleans opened last month. The park offers entertainment, regional food, a variety of music, a lawn amphitheater, games and 31 rides. Outdoor, open-air concerts will take place on The Great Lawn. In Cajun Country, visitors will dance a two-step and sample crawfish. Jazz Plaza will bring visitors back to the New Orleans of the past, thanks to the Jazz Hall's fabulous shows and cuisine. Pontchartrain Beach recreates the famed Crescent City amusement park with rides, shops and water ski shows. The Children's Area will delight parents and children alike. Plus, guests can experience a Mardi Gras parade every night. Visit the Jazzland web site at www.jazzland2000.com.

* National D-Day Museum. The National D-Day Museum relives the day the U.S., England and Canada invaded the beaches of Normandy. The museum stands as America's tribute to the men and women who made the invasion possible. An economic impact study by the University of New Orleans projects the museum will draw 70,000 new visitors to the city annually who will spend more than $28 million. The total impact of direct and secondary spending is estimated to be more than $65 million.

* Audubon Zoo Swamp Expansion. Sights, sounds and smells of the Louisiana swamp country fill the air. Alligators, bobcats and snakes are housed here. Artisans fashion objects of beauty and charm from natural materials. It's all at the Audubon Zoo's new $3 million Louisiana Swamp Exhibit expansion, which opened in the spring of 1999. New features include a 3,000-square-foot dance hall called the Fais-Do-Do, an Alligator Museum, the moonlit white alligator exhibit, the Gumbo Trail exhibit featuring the classic staples of Cajun cuisine and the Swamp Nursery for baby swamp-dwelling animals.

* What's New at the Aquarium?. The Aquarium of the Americas celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with several new exhibits. In The Crescent City Meets West Coast, Pacific Coast mammals from killer whales to tiny beach creatures have made the Aquarium of the Americas their new home, thanks to the new exhibit. Visitors can dig into a Southern California Beach and feel the spray from an Orca's blowhole. Also check out, Sea Otters Arrive. Buck and Emma, two members of the threatened sea otter species, arrived at the Americas last July. The Aquarium of the Americas is now the only place in the South where the species can be seen. The new Seahorse Gallery is a 1,000 square-foot exhibit and part of Project Seahorse - an international effort to educate people on seahorses and seadragons. It highlights their behaviors, history, evolution and mythology. The Aquarium is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children 2 through 12.

* Exploring Lake Pontchartrain. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in nearby Madisonville will allow visitors to learn about the largely unstudied record of the arrival of Europeans to the Lake Pontchartrain Basin area in 1699 and the lives of the Native Americans which preceded them. Exhibits will highlight the ebb and flow of commerce, war, industry and culture in the area. As part of a collaborative effort with Southeastern Louisiana University, the museum will also serve as a teaching facility for accredited college courses that are maritime in nature.

Music to Everyone's Ears

New Orleans musicians represent a potpourri of musical richness, performing everything from zydeco and gospel to jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock. Music is literally in the air no matter where you are in New Orleans. A new wave of Crescent City music clubs has hit the scene, from the Funky Butt Jazz Club on North Rampart to the Mermaid Lounge in the Warehouse District. Some old clubs are getting facelifts. Tipitina's is doing extensive renovations to revive the city's premier music club.

If jazz was born in New Orleans, it grew up in the Storyville District. The original Storyville opened in 1897, spreading the sounds of New Orleans jazz throughout the French Quarter, encouraging the relatively new and uniquely American style of music to mature.

Now, 100 years later, renowned restaurateur Ralph Brennan, Jazz Fest founder George Wein, Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis and architect Arthur Q. Davis have teamed up to pay homage to the club with The Storyville District with a jazz and food complex that opened January 1999 on Bourbon Street. The Storyville District complex features multiple rooms with constant music from noon until 1 a.m. Each room has a state-of-the-art sound system, a permanent stage featuring the city's best jazz, and food and concession stations serving the cuisine Ralph Brennan is known for.

Opened in June 1999, Le Chat Noir began renovating its turn-of-the-century building at 715 St. Charles Avenue in October. The building was developed into a 4,500-square-foot, swanky cabaret-style theater on the ground floor with dressing rooms and offices on the upper floors. Performances of New Orleans original musical revues and plays are held Thursday through Sunday.

Ti Adelaide Martin, a member of the famous Brennan family of New Orleans restaurateurs, opened a new gourmet food emporium called Foodies Kitchen in July 1999, featuring take-out, a bakery, wines, fresh produce, meats, specialty items and a coffee bar. The 8,500-square-foot gourmet shop employs 40 chefs and offers more than 100 prepared meals for takeout every day. For those who do not want to take it home, there is also an informal dining area.

RELATED ARTICLE: New Restaurants

* Mike Ditka's, 628 St. Charles Avenue, 773/832-9474. A restaurant owned by former New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears football coach Mike Ditka.

* Chef Horst and Karen Pfeifer's VIP Kitchen, Chartres Street at Ursulines, 504/529-1583. Enjoy dinner at the historic French Quarter home of one of New Orleans' premier chefs.

* Mr. John's Steak and Seafood House, 2111 St. Charles Avenue, In the Avenue Plaza Hotel, 504/566-0207. Steaks, seafood; breakfast, lunch and dinner.

* Lemon Grass, 221 Camp Street, In the International House, 504/523-1200. Lunch and dinner, Vietnamese.

* Cuvee, 322 Magazine Street, 800/496-1733. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Menu centered around the vast wine collection of Kenny La Cour.

* Gamay Bistro & Bar, 320 Decatur Street, in the Bienville House Hotel. New for Gabrielle owners Greg and Mary Sonnier, 504/299-8800.

* Midi, 614 Canal Street, in Le Meridien Hotel, 504/525-6500. Menu offers French country cuisine.

* Nirvana, 4308 Magazine Street, 504/894-9797. South Indian dishes, including a Tandoori menu and expanded vegetarian selections.

* Dick and Jenny's, 4501 Tchoupitoulas Street, 504/894-9880. A "neighborhood hangout with quality fare."

* Hyde Park Steakhouse, 1523 St. Charles Avenue, 504/525-7484. Steakhouse.

* Zoe Bistrot, 333 Poydras Street, in the W New Orleans Hotel, 504/525-9444. Classic French Brasserie menu.