New Orleans museums are unveiling new exhibits and overhauling old favorites.

Why it matters: They're one of the best ways to stay cool and learn something new.

Here's what's new.

🪖 The National WWII Museum is renovating its flagship D-Day exhibit.

• The project will transform the galleries to tell the story of the Normandy landings in a more interactive way, a press release says.
• The renovated exhibit is expected to reopen next year in time for D-Day.

🐊 The Louisiana Wetlands Education Center is now open in Jean Lafitte.

• The museum teaches visitors about the state's coastal wetlands and the urgent challenges they face. There are outdoor trails too. Admission is free.

⚱️ SUNO has a new King Tutankhamun exhibit that explores ancient Egypt through a New Orleans and HBCU lens.

• It's on display at the campus' Museum of Art through February 2027.

🇺🇸 The Cabildo has a new America 250 exhibit that highlights Louisiana's often-overlooked role in winning American independence.

• It includes two rare portrait paintings of Bernardo de Gálvez that were transported from Mexico.

🧠 The Historic New Orleans Collection has a new augmented reality exhibition called “American Revolution." It's here until January.

• Guests can step into 20 defining moments of the nation's founding through 360-degree reconstructions, a press release says. Admission is free.

🇫🇷 Alliance Française New Orleans has a "Louisiana French" exhibit for another week.

• The multilingual traveling display highlights Louisiana's place in the greater French-speaking world.

📸 The Ogden has a new exhibit called "I Am The Face" that explores the history of portraiture in Southern photography.

✍️ A rare Louisiana Purchase agreement heads to Baton Rouge next month. The document bears Napoleon Bonaparte's signature, according to the Shreveport Times.

• The exhibit will be on display from April 14-July 11 at the old Louisiana State Capitol. Admission is free.

🎹 The New Orleans Jazz Museum opens an exhibit next month that showcases piano masters who helped shape American music.

• The exhibit, which opens April 16, explores a largely unheard chapter of the city's musical history, a press release says.

🎶 The Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience has signed a deal with Sodexo Live!, the Superdome's previous food and beverage provider, to help fund and operate the proposed music museum, according to The Times-Picayune.

• Developers are looking at locations in the River District and on Basin Street.

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Barracuda Taco Stand has expanded yet again.

The big picture: The downtown Huntsville spot is Barracuda's fifth location, joining two in New Orleans, one in Baton Rouge and one in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

• The company first began looking for a Nashville location a couple years ago but was pointed toward Huntsville, founder Brett Jones tells us.
• "We're always adjacent to music venues ... It just always happens that we're by a park," Jones says.
• "The canned answer I could give is, 'We look at demographics and traffic counts and all that sort of stuff,'" he says. "But ultimately, it's 'Does this feel like the right spot? Yeah, this feels good.'"

Zoom in: The restaurant is in what Huntsville calls its Arts & Entertainment "purple cup" district.

• Translated for New Orleanians — you can get a go cup for your drink.

Zoom out: Barracuda joins Blue Oak BBQ in Huntsville.

• The stand has hired 40 people already, Jones says, and a press release says several more locations are in the works.

More photos, plus read about the New Orleans-to-Nashville business pipeline.

Our food scene is always popping. Here's what's caught our attention lately.

🐊 Alligator cake: Sugarbelle Sweets made an 8-foot wedding cake that looked like Tchompitoulas, Audubon's famous white gator, and served it at his home — the aquarium. See the photos.

🦞 Crawfish ice cream: A Houston sweet shop makes crawfish ice cream topped with a boiled crawdad. Your move, Creole Creamery.

👩‍🍳 Galatoire's: Nicole Theriot is the new director of culinary operations. She's the first woman to lead the kitchen in the restaurant's 120-plus years.

🧚🏻 L'heure verte: Avegno now has an absinthe and oyster happy hour.

🥣 Gumbo z'herbes: Dooky Chase is offering carryout for the seasonal gumbo this week. Tomorrow's the last day to order.

🇯🇲 Jamaican food: Chefs Nina Compton and Andrew Fowles celebrate Jamaica's flavors and culture at a special dinner tomorrow.

☕️ Waffolino: Only Coffee, a newish Quarter spot, serves coffee in a waffle cone.

🌭 Lucky Dog: The hot dog brand has a jewelry collab with Mignon Faget.

🙄 Applebee's: The chain launched a Big Easy menu, and NOLA.com tried everything. Spoiler: The reporters weren't impressed.

🍌 Brennan's: Celebrate Bananas Foster on Monday at the restaurant that invented it. There will be a party with free samples.

🆕 Now open:

• Dolfy's on Freret.
• Jamboclat Authentic Jamaican Cuisine on Elysian Fields.
• The Nell Shell at the Batture.
• Morrow's is teasing an opening date after renovations.

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⚡️ Meta has ordered 10 power plants for its AI data center in north Louisiana. (Fortune)

• The agreement initially called for three plants. Meta will play the "full cost of service," Entergy says.
• The new deal also includes the option to explore nuclear power. It still needs regulatory approval.

🏀 Pelicans' G League affiliate will relocate to Kenner and rebrand as the Laketown Squadron. (Press release)

• The team previously was in Birmingham. As part of the move, the Squadron and the City of Kenner will renovate the Pontchartrain Center.

🫨 Earthquake alert! Another one shook the Gulf south of Louisiana. No injuries were reported. (WWL)

• Meanwhile, a Tulane geoscientist installed seismic monitoring equipment in northwest Louisiana following an unusual series of earthquakes there. (Press release)