I'm walkin' to New Orleans...

[ceebeegee]

I have something really fun to look forward to--in 2 1/2 weeks, my friend Krista (goldilocksprime) are goin' to New Orleans for Mardi Gras! I've been to New Orleans several times but never for an actual Mardi Gras--the closest I got was when Krista and I were there for our friend Madeleine's wedding which was during the season but nothing much was happening yet (no parades or anything). I got a little bonus from my temp agency this Christmas and I decided to put it toward this trip. The timing is great because 1) NO needs the business more than ever, because of Katrina, and 2) it will be less crowded, for the same reason.

We are staying at the Hotel LaSalle on Canal Street, 3 blocks from the Quarter. I thought about staying at the St. Vincent (where Doug and I stayed last year, and where Krista and I stayed for Mad's wedding) but I wanted something a little closer and I got a great deal at this place. I called up the hotel directly and chatted up a storm with Orlando, the clerk who answered the phone--he told me which parades were rolling that weekend (not the really good ones like Rex and Zulu--they roll on the actual Mardi Gras Day, Shrove Tuesday). Still, I've never seen a MG parade at all so it's all good. I want to do a couple of specific things that I haven't done before--I want to eat at a "name" restaurant like Antoine's or Tipitina's, and go to Preservation Hall or some other music venue. I'm also planning to take one of the "hurricane destruction" tours, so I know what we're dealing with (I am planning in a few months to have a New Orleans fundraiser party for Habitat for Humanity). Of course Krista and I will do the usual things like Pat O'Brien's, Cafe du Monde, Camellia Grill. I'd like to fit in a ghost tour if I can find one that's not too expensive.

Man, I cannot wait. Mardi Gras in my favorite city with one of my best friends. What could be more fun?

Comments

[nppyinzer.livejournal.com]

There's really a restaurant in New Orleans named Antoine's? Wow. I was watching one of the new Looney Tunes DVD collections recently, and it included a cartoon I hadn't seen in years, where Bugs is in Paris, being chased by two French chefs. He gets out of it by showing the chefs how to make an authentic Louisiana Back Bay Bunny Bordelaisse a la Antoine. I always thought the name was arbitrary, but now I know better.

[xinher.livejournal.com]

Have a good time! My mom was in the hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi when I was 17, and my dad and I were down there with her. We had friends who lived in Metairie so I stayed with them for a couple of days. And luckily, it was during Mardi Gras and the friends were a younger, cool couple so they took me to Mardi Gras! It was the one and only time in my life that I ever did something remotely naughty in public (to get the beads).

[dry-2olives.livejournal.com]

The last time I went to NO I saw the Doggie Parade. (Or was it the Puppy Parade?) Dogs dressed like Bush, Elvis and Rex, of course. (There's a pun in there somewhere.) People were tossing strings of beads shaped like dog biscuits.