The very first thing I did, in order to soak up the local culture, was to go to a German beer place, because I lived in Germany for so long.
I had never been to New Orleans, so I added a few days before and afterwards for tourist things. From the 7 th to the 9 th of November ASUG (American SAP Users Group) did their equivalent of TECHED in New Orleans, due to the fact SAP itself was not doing a TECHED in the USA this year, only India.