honestly, greg my advice is:
1) Do not publically urinate in the Quarter. No matter how drunk you are. It's something they crack down on inordinately. Pay $10 to use a bathroom if you have to.
2) Look, but don't touch.
3) New Orleans policemen are not your friends, especially if they hear your accent. Yeah, yeah, we've all been bullied by a dick cop before, but there are plenty of cops around here who will be nice, civil officers if you're polite to them. Not so in New Orleans.
4) Get a Hand Grenade at Tropical Isle. Or two. But probably not three.
5) No matter how crowded it gets in the Quarter, do NOT walk in the gutter. There's a reason it's the only place that's not crowded.