The thought of vacationing in New Orleans at a time when the city still is recovering from the Katrina disaster of 2005 might seem tasteless, callous, or even exploitative. The more noble thing to do would be to travel to the city as a volunteer with one of the many relief groups working on various rebuilding and cleanup projects.

New Orleans needs those groups, but it also needs visitors, which the city always has relied on to fuel the energy that has defined the Big Easy for generations. Without an audience to hear its musicians, there will be no jazz or zydeco. Without customers to fill its restaurants, the city that launched its own cuisine will have to close its kitchens.

This moment in history is a remarkable time to see New Orleans. The city still has much of what it always had to offer for visitors who want to stick near the French Quarter, but those venturing beyond can witness a city and people still healing from the nation's worst natural disaster.

There still is much healing and much work to do after almost two years, but don't be a "looky-loo" or disaster tourist collecting snapshots of devastation. Instead, take a guided tour of New Orleans that will take you through the historical sections, including the city parks, famous aboveground cemeteries and mansions along the Mardi Gras parade route.

And yes, you will see devastation from Katrina and the subsequent flooding from breached levees. The truth is, you do not have to look far before you see the signs. On my June visit to New Orleans, the first reminder of the flooding came on my cab ride from the airport, when my driver told me about his own damaged home in the Ninth Ward.

Everybody who lives in New Orleans has a terrible story, I was told. Listening to my tour guide talk about his own Katrina experience helped put the devastation in a context I never grasped through the broadcast images and newspaper photographs I had seen before coming.

"This is the part of the city you don't see on TV," said the guide, Billy.

He was not talking about the poor part of town, as you might expect, but the upper-middle-class neighborhood that also was flooded. The major levee breach happened near lakefront property, and sickly yellow floodwater lines on the front of neighborhood homes show the water reached almost to ground-floor ceilings of some houses.

Billy drove us to the spot where the 17th Street Canal levee broke, questioned the actions by the Army Corps of Engineers and, like many residents there, showed little confidence in the management and execution of the recovery in general.

Smaller acts of kindness were more meaningful to Billy. Passing a new park that had been created by a major company, he sounded choked up as he recalled seeing a group of college students tearing through the weeds with push-mowers. The builder had not provided a maintenance plan for the park, but the students had flown in from another state to take care of it.

Billy also showed us the New Orleans Museum of Art, which on June 3 concluded its exhibit "Femme, Femme, Femme," featuring works by Renoir, Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso.

An entire vacation can be spent just visiting the city's museums and historical sites. From a little bookstore called the Faulkner House that operates in the home where William Faulkner wrote his first novel to the nation's official World War II Museum, New Orleans' historical sites can shame those of almost any other city.

And then there are the city's natural wonders. Visitors can tour swamps aboard a high-speed airboat that gives a thrilling ride skimming the water's surface. The tours are about $85, including a ride to the docks from your hotel.

I opted for a slower ride with Honey Island Swamp tours, which cost $45 with a pickup. My tour guide, Ted, a Cajun who grew up along the river, seemed to know every stretch of the West Pearl River.

"Katrina pushed a lot of stuff here we've never seen before," he said about the small white flowers and crabs he is seeing for the first time in the river.

It turned out that April was the perfect time for a swamp tour, because alligators were no longer hibernating and the mosquitoes were not buzzing yet.

Ted shared some of his favorite Cajun recipes, talked about the swamps' plants and wildlife, gave a history lesson about how the pirate Jean Lafitte lured the French into a trap on the waters during the Battle of New Orleans, and told us a creepy story about the time he had novelist Anne Rice in his boat.

Finally, of course, there are the night life, the music and the food of New Orleans. The French Quarter is legendary for all three, especially Bourbon Street at night, when vehicle traffic is shut off and pedestrians are free to roam.

Don't miss the flaming fountain at the patio of Pat O'Brien's, where the drinks also seem strong enough to burst into flames.

Not that it needs to be said, but the French Quarter is not exactly family-friendly or for the faint of heart. And if you want to hear zydeco or jazz, you might be a little frustrated with Bourbon Street, where cover bands and recorded music dominate the clubs. Big Al Carson's set at the Funky Pirate, however, should not be missed.

A few clubs do have zydeco bands, but their sets were over by 8 p.m. To hear more, you can catch a ride to Mulate's on Julia's Street, Tipitina's on Napoleon Avenue, the Maple Leaf on Oak Street and Mid City Lanes, a bowling alley on Carrollton Avenue that has zydeco every Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Only one club on Bourbon Street had an authentic jazz band, although the venerable Preservation Hall at St. Peter's Street in the French Quarter has jazz nightly, while Snug Harbor on Frenchman Street bills itself as the city's premiere jazz club.

One final tip for anyone staying in a French Quarter hotel: Unless you're a sound sleeper, pick a place at least a couple of blocks away, or the revelers are going to keep you up most of the night.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.