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Mardi Gras isn't only about topless girls and drunken antics on New Orleans' Bourbon Street – though there's definitely plenty of that among the city's tourist population. It's also about spending time with family and friends, putting work on hold, and forgetting about life's hardships, if only for a few days. Children joined drunken partiers along the parade route, though few could be found in the French Quarter, with the occasional youngster tossing beads from a balcony.

Between work, home, and everything else you've got going on, it can be tough to keep the spark alive for even the most in-love couple; that's where romantic getaways for couples come in handy! Regardless of whether you love to luxuriate in bed, share the same taste in music, or just have a big appetite for life, there's a vacation out there for every single couple, but, hey, don't blame us if you don't leave the room enough to enjoy your entire getaway!

Tourists visiting New Orleans for Mardi Gras this week may have spotted CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and TV host Kelly Ripa on-board a float during Sunday night's Endymion parade – the pair served as grand marshals for the famous parade, which often features celebrities.

Hundreds, if not thousands of musicians, from Louis Armstrong to Louie Prima have passed through the New Orleans music scene over the years, and there isn't another city in the country whose jazz heritage is as rich and vibrant. It's easy to think of jazz as a staid and mouldering tradition – it's certainly not a huge part of mainstream music consciousness anymore – but New Orleans' traditional jazz foundations mix with blues, hip-hop and indie rock in exciting and inventive ways that prove that jazz is not only alive and kicking, but finding a comfortable place amid its genre peers in the Crescent City.

Believe it or not, it's not too late to book a hotel for Mardi Gras 2011. From an out-of-this-world package at the Ritz-Carlton, complete with a ride on a float, to more reasonable deals, would-be revelers still have time to plan a trip.