Boobs, Booze, Beads and Brass.
Mardi Gras; what a whirlwind. If you ever get the chance to go be ready for crowds, beads, glitter, and nudity. Three close friends from home came to celebrate with me along with two couch surfing hosts I picked up on the way and I'm so glad they did! I wouldn't have wanted to experience this by myself. We got there Thursday night and by Sunday morning I had already decided Frenchmen Street was far superior to Bourbon Street. It's only a three block stretch but you're rewarded with live music from almost every bar and brass bands on street corners. We saw everything from bands with clowns playing the stand up bass to bands that used a tap dancer as a musical instrument. Frenchmen Street is really the epitome of what I pictured New Orleans to be; roaring with music and people dancing in the streets. If I could have an hour of that every day, I would be content.
Bourbon Street, however, is madness. It's incredibly fun, don't get me wrong. The music is more top 40 than jazz and changes with each new bar you walk past. I spent most of my time looking up while we danced our way through the long street packed with bodies. Like most of the french quarter, Bourbon Street is lined with balconies and during Mardi Gras people hang over the railings teasing you with beads. Men; if you want beads at night, good luck, you're going to need it. Ladies; if you want them, be prepared to flash someone. I saw more boobs walking down Bourbon Street in an hour than I would in a women's locker room. By now you're either wishing you came or glad you're at home reading about it from afar. Even though Bourbon Street sounds like complete mayhem, which it is, it's still an experience I wouldn't have missed. It was a ton of fun and I love that I got to see New Orleans at its prime.
Over the last few days, I've collected at least five pounds of beads, ranging from small chains to beads the size of softballs. Some are really cool and have rubber ducks or footballs on them, people get aggressive over those, but most are small strands. Keep in mind, you want the big ones. The bigger the beads the better the bargaining chip. Two of us had women walk up and ask if they could flash us for our beads. Really, that happened. If you really want to get a ton of free goodies then go to the parades. We went to one, and to be honest, I had a different expectation of it. I pictured a parade similar to the Mummer's Parade in Philadelphia; costumes, sequins, feathers, music, and dancers. In reality, there's 30 - 40 floats all with a different theme, playing music and throwing everything from beads to pillows. Swarms of people pile on the sidewalks, arms outstretched, hoping to catch everything that comes near them. Towards the end, we had somehow gotten ourselves stuck in the median where the trolley typically runs through. Floats were coming down the street on both sides and we were surrounded. I'm not joking when I say this, if you looked away you got hit with beads. We kept our heads on a swivel and decided to make the most of it, catching everything we could before making our escape back into the french quarter.
Since it was all of our first times in New Orleans, we wanted to make sure we did some exploring. How many beads can you catch, really? The garden district is particularly beautiful and Magazine Street has great little shops on it along with some really delicious po-boys at Parasol's. Marginy, where we stayed, has a very artsy, local vibe that I really enjoyed. We made sure to take a day to drive out to the plantations and chose one to go into, Oak Alley Plantation. There are a few you'll pass en route to this one, which is slightly farther out than the rest, but worth the time and money. The most beautiful oaks surround this gorgeous home and the house tour concludes on the second floor balcony overlooking the walkway of 28, three hundred year old oaks. Out of all the tourist spots, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was my favorite. It's already intriguing with its above ground tombs, and then you learn all about the history and the customs unique to New Orleans and it's even more interesting. Fun fact, cremation is not done with fire here. After a person dies they are placed inside their family tomb which cannot be reopened for one year and a day. During that time, the body will rapidly decompose leaving only bone fragments and dust. The hot climate effectively turns the tomb into an oven. Pretty crazy, right? You can, however, still be cremated the typical way, but most are not. Some people prefer to be buried in their family tombs while others choose society crypts, where, for example, local musicians are all buried together. There is a tomb in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 where twelve best friends chose to be buried together in the same tomb. I love that. Among the many buried here, Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen, is one of them. She made her money as a hairdresser, eavesdropping and learning the secrets of high society through her clients all the while. As one of the most widely known practitioners of voodoo, people would come to Madame Laveau asking for favors. Hoping not to be cursed, they would bring her offerings and made sure to knock on her doorway three times before exiting. Prior to all the vandalism and mandatory tour guides in the cemetery, people would come to her tomb and write "XXX" on the exterior, hoping she would grant them their wish. It's illegal to do that now, but people still leave small things on her tomb. I found a small seashell and put it there, I'd rather not have voodoo spirits chasing me if I can help it.
Among the many things you should try in New Orleans, po' boys are at the top of the list. They are huge sandwiches on what looks like a wide, flat baguette. The staple is roast beef or fried seafood, but really any po' boy is great! The crawfish here are also worth mentioning but the trick is to figure out the most efficient way to eat them. I haven't quite mastered that yet. Lastly, make sure that Café du Monde is on your list. It really is as delicious as people make it out to be. I don't drink coffee, but Katie and Rayza could not stop talking about their frozen coffee with chicory, a New Orleans classic. You must try a beignet while you're there as well, it's worthy calories. They are small, square, fluffy doughnuts covered in powdered sugar. If you go, promise me this - you will pick up the doughnut carefully, hold it up to the person next to you, and blow. Don't be afraid of what will happen next. Remember, sugar doesn't stain clothes. The powdered sugar war that ensued over the next twenty minutes was one of the highlights of my trip, the six of us were completely covered.
New Orleans is somewhere I have always wanted to experience and I'm glad I stayed as long as I did and took it all in. Make sure to stay for Fat Tuesday, if you can. It's the best day for people watching. People of all ages are dressed in creative costumes or covered in body paint strutting down the streets excited just to be there. If I ever do Mardi Gras again, I'll do it right and pile on the glitter.
Talk soon!
Happy Mardi Gras!
- G.
The Photo:
A candid shoot along the Mississippi River.
New Orleans, LA.
2/28/17.
