Spend a couple of hours walking through French Quarter but avoid Bourbon Street.  The quiet residential parts nearer to Rampart Street are the best part.  Eat a muffalotta for lunch at Central Grocery or one of the other places near Jackson Square.  Walk up to the levee for view of river.  Catch the trolley and ride up St. Charles Avenue up to Tulane or thereabouts, and then take it back toward downtown.  Get of at Louisiana and walk through the Garden District for your mansion fix.

Downtown itself is not particularly nice or worth any time, really.

Don't rent a car--just walk.  I assume you are staying somewhere near downtown area.  Be aware that crime in N.O. is pretty high, so be careful where you walk after dark.  You should be fine during daylight hours.

Enjoy.  Take an umbrella!!

Thanks.  That seems to cover what I want.  If Tulane is on the trolley, I'd like to see it, so that's good.

Nice! I recently did a 24 hour visit to New Orleans on my way across the Country. Such a great city! It really deserves a much longer stay.

For a authentic New Orleans experience, the jazz clubs along Frenchman Street in the Marigny District (walking distance from French Quarter) are not to be missed. Grab a Po Boy at Verti Marte (open 24 hours) on your way there.

I'm sure you've already come across this, but here is anyway: ArchDaily's New Orleans City Guide...

http://www.archdaily.com/132540/architecture-city-guide-new-orleans/

There is a creperie that I usually hit up when in town just off the Tulane campus at Broadway and Zimpel. If you are over at Jackson Square, Cafe du Monde is very popular (not sure if I would credit it to the food or the location).

By the way, you catch the St. Charles trolley at Canal and St. Charles on the west side.   It is drab olive green with terracotta red trim.   Don't take the red ones that run in the median strip on Canal--they will take you to City Park. Not a bad ride, but not worth doing in your limited time frame.  

Thanks, folks, for the additions and the clarifications.  Yes, it was Cafe du Monde I was visualizing.  They had a " "Wheel of Fortune" in New Orleans week" and that's where Vanna, and maybe someone else, looked like they were eating some tasty looking food.  And I looked up muffuletta, so I want one of those, too - it originated in N.O. in 1906.  Got it on the correct tram to Tulane, though I have seen photos of red trams in the middle of Canal.  I don't mind hanging out with the crowd doing some drinking, and may rarely partake.  I only mentioned it here because my window is absurdly tight and because, for those who might be in N.O. for a whole weekend or longer, it's definitely part of the revelry.  I have been in 42 out of the lower 48 states, including Louisiana, in a car, most of the times my own car, and I've never been to New Orleans, so I'm looking forward to seeing it!

New Orleans is REAL.  It will be the last leg of an "open jaw" trip, since I was able to get a free flight out of there.  Not only that, almost 2 days, mid-week.

Day 1:

• Canal Street / CBD / Superdome (I want to see it and take photos of it)
• Buffet lunch at Harrah's at the riverfront (about $17); will be staying there, got a good rate ... yeah, yeah, tacky ... but roast beef, turkey, pizza/pasta bar, salads, desserts ...
• French Market area and possible historical tours
• Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral
• Watefront and the Canal Street ferry to Algiers across the river to take photos
• Cruise port to watch a cruise ship depart and take photos
• Cafe du Monde (dinner, and I see they only serve beignets and cafe au lait, which is fine after a buffet mid-day)
• French Quarter (Napoleon House is on the recommended list, and I can go in there and order a Sprite and still bullshit with people, or people watch the drunks, who always initiate the conversations)

Day 2:

• Breakfast at Camellia Grill in the Quarter (I heard they serve up abundant artery clogging breakfasts and are crusty and sassy, which is good)
• St. Charles tram out to the contiguous campuses of Tulane and Loyola, and Audubon Park
• Garden District mansions / Louisiana Street
• City Park, with its museum, and also because it has gators in its bayous, which you might see swimming around if you're lucky (would like to take a photo of one or two, while a handful on archinect would rather the gator would snack on ME)
• Quick return to the French Quarter to go to Central Grocery and pick up a muffuletta for a lunch-dinner meal prior to returning to car to the airport

You should hear some of the conversations I've had about circulating in New Orleans with people there via phone - the advice, largely about safety, is all over the map!

With the OP stipulations above of likes and dislikes, does this itinerary work?  How would you modify it slightly?

Observant - I suggest skip eating in the quarter only because a majority of those places are tourists traps and there are better places to eat that aren't over-priced and leaving you saying "meh" when it comes to flavor and quality. Definitely Cafe du Monde for the morning bignets but Community Coffee is better for coffee IMO. Another good place for breakfast as an option to the Camellia Grill is the Ruby Slipper Cafe. The marigny location is funky, mid-city is more quiet. I haven't eaten at the downtown location.

If I were to recommend a dinner place to eat in the FQ then I would highly recommend Cafe Amelie for your Day 1 dinner.  Great seasonal food, the quintessential courtyard dining experience, locals actually eat there (like me), plus it's reasonably priced. Make a reservation to get an outdoor table.

As far as getting around, I'd recommend renting a cruiser bike. The city is dead flat and you can cover more ground quicker plus see neighborhoods and side streets that you can't see from the street car.

And when you head uptown along St. Charles to see Tulane/Loyola & Audubon park I suggest checking out a couple of the restaurants along Magazine street. Plenty of great & reasonable places to eat. However, if you want a good po'boy go to either Domilise's for the traditional fried shrimp po'boy "dressed" of course or try Mahoney's for the grilled shrimp w/ fried green tomatos & remoulade po'boy. Both serve up great roastbeef versions too.

Since you're at the Harrah's there are some places in the warehouse district that are better places to eat than the buffet!  Butcher is a great lunch spot with house-cured meats and the sandwiches are spot on. I recommend the cuban or the pork belly with mint sauce. You can get that to go for your ride to the airport. Call in advance & get it to go because the lunchtime wait gets a bit long mid-week.

The WW2 museum is just about finished as well. Worth walking around to see from the outside. I'd also check out the Besthoff Sculpture Garden next the Museum of Art in City Park if time allows. 

Many, many thanks for the comments, iamus, as you're obviously plugged in as a local.

Sure, I can substitute Cafe Amelie for dinner, and also finish off with beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde.  I've seen that Cafe Amelie is well received, and I can just go to Cafe du Monde after breakfast on Day 2.

Yes, I also saw that there is a Ruby Slipper Cafe, with more than one location, but the fact that Camellia sounded like it would be sassy and colorful, in both its employees and its patronage, held some appeal.  I'll look at both.

Yes, I could get a small lunch along Magazine Street.  It winds parallel to St. Charles, but closer to the river.  A roast beef version of a po' boy sounds good, but I am really curious to go into an authentic Sicilian place, so the muffuletta at Central Grocery will go to the airport with me.

Let me think about replacing the buffet.  Maybe I can look at the buffet line first.  If there's a pasta bar, with mix and match types of pastas and sauces, I'm hooked.  I'll see on that one.

As for circulation, I will come in and leave with a rental car that needs to be dropped off at MSY.  At $3, a Jazzy pass on RTA for all day use sounds awesome, and that includes the street cars, which I want to ride, especially on St. Charles.  I know that the line on St. Charles is currently being worked on, but they fully expect to have it done by Mardi Gras, and my visit is right after the Easter season.

So, then, a few questions:

1.  Are Marigny/Bywater sketchy, or basically anything east of Esplanade?

2.  Is the Canal Street Ferry still expected to be free for pedestrians?

3.  Is it likely to see a gator, or part of one, floating around in City Park?

4.  Is there a problem with parking Uptown, north of the Garden District but not quite at Audubon/Tulane, on the streets?

5.  Of anything on my itinerary, which place is more "muggable" (CBD/Superdome?) and where should I be more alert, and would it also depend on the time of day?

Thanks.

Go to Bourbon and get wasted!!!!!!

Absolutely and I don't think so.  I'll do Bourbon.  I don't do wasted.  I'm both more fun and more incisive when in my typical sober state.  The same is true of the few friends I've had who were probably in the ranks alcoholics and who couldn't see what dimwits they were when drunk.

So, Bourbon without bourbon works best for me.  But thanks for the suggestion.