'24 Hours In' New Orleans

The Early Show's Dave Price was in New Orleans Tuesday morning, enjoying everything "the Big Easy" has to offer as part of a series calld "24 Hours In."

And he learned a valuable lesson: you really can get too much of a good thing. The following is his report.

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New Orleans, the Crescent City, the Big Easy - from historic steamboats to the chaos of Bourbon Street, 24 hours is never enough.

My first stop, the epicenter of Cajun cooking: K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. And who better to cook with than Chef Paul Prudhomme himself?

Getting some of the tricks of the trade, I learned how to work with fish.

"Just drag it through and drop it in the pan," Chef Paul said, and after I flipped it straight up in the air, he could not be more pleased.

"That is a dead fish, boy! I never seen one fly that high before," Chef Paul said.

I tried it again but in the process I broke some dishes. Still, the chef was impressed.

"Now that's a great flip." Chef Paul said. "You did perfect. Now you could not have done better!"

It was time to taste what we prepared. "You know what we say about that? Better than sex," he said.

Well, pretty close.

"I only got one more thing to say," Chef Paul said. "Good cooking, good eating, good loving. We love you guys!"

Not everything good about New Orleans is inside the city limits: there's a swamp just a few miles away.

I went on the Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour, looking for some 'gators. My guide, Capt. Joe Hattey, was born on the bayou.

Asked to for tips for tourists, Hattey says, "Watch, listen. Hear the birds? You hear the crickets late in the evening. Sometimes you might hear a marsh hawk flying overhead. Sometimes you might hear the grunting of an alligator."

Looking at 'gators is one thing; I had to get my hands on one.

I thought having a 'gator on your shirt was something else but a 'gator in your hands? Now, that's living! (It looked more like a lizard.)

And as the sun began to set on the bayou, the French Quarter back in New Orleans was just starting to come alive.

Aboard the Steamboat Natchez the Dixieland Band was smokin'.

And before long, the Mardi Gras beads were flying back on land. As the hour got later, it only got crazier on Bourbon Street.

People were waiting, and waiting, to get inside Pat O'Brien and start the evening celebrations.

Pat O'Brien's is the home of The Hurricane, and a lot of people on Bourbon Street acted as if they'd already had one - or perhaps several.

Maybe it's the music; maybe it's the spirit, or maybe the spirits. New Orleans will always be the place to party 'til dawn.

Thank you, thank you, thank you New Orleans!