We took a quick three day trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. What an amazing time! Lots to see, lots to eat, (lots to drink!) We were pretty close to the French Quarter so we we walked the majority of the trip. The first day we walked 5 miles, the second we did 9 miles, and the third we walked 6 miles. (yeah, wow!)
We were able to see 3 or 4 parades, as they were happening multiple times per day. Daytime and nighttime. Some floats are very intricate as others were simple but well organized. We liked the motorized Lazy-Boy chairs! Everyone threw out beads or coins or some other keepsake. We even caught a Frisbee! The parades happen on the city streets whereas the French Quarter is pretty much closed off to traffic and just a huge party in the streets.
We had heard about Bourbon street being a little more wild than the rest of the area. The National Guard had checkpoints going into that area due to an incident a few years back of someone deliberately driving their car into the party goers. We felt completely safe due to these new restrictions. There were barricades and a Police presence you could tell, but I don’t think any more so than any other large event anywhere else. The streets were not terrible gross. Mostly beads and trash. The locals call the really gross stuff “Mardi Gras Gravy.” -Avoid stepping in that.
The daytime feel was exciting, fun, and 98% of the partiers were well behaved. No worse than a day at Disneyland. People walking in the closed off streets and stopping at every other bar for a cocktail. The night time vibe was a little more interesting. Lots of yelling, dancing and excitement, we saw a handful of folks that had obviously a little too much of something and were trying their best to stay vertical. We saw one guy just slowly sliding down a light pole. Most bars would blast their music pretty loud. I didn’t take a lot of night pictures for some reason. They would probably have been blurry anyway. 😉
Here’s some of the highlights of our trip.
- Beignets – a must have pastry when visiting “The Big Easy”
- Oysters Oysters and more Oysters!
- Try something new! We had Crawfish Etouffee, Chicken Andouille Gumbo and Jambalaya, Crab Po’boys, and Corn and Crab soup. Pro Tip: get the sample platters when you see them available.
- We did a night time Cemetery Ghost Tour. Very fun!
- Visited Latitude 29, a Tiki bar.
Although this was a quick trip we had a really amazing time. We didn’t over do-it on the liquor, I think due to the fact we were drinking, eating, and drinking eating, repeat. 🙂
Put this one on your bucket list. I would go again, even if not Mardi Gras. I think the city could do a little improvement on their sidewalk maintenance. We encountered many holes, randomly raised bricks, drop-offs and open pipes, (all unmarked!) -I may be spoiled by what we have here at home in the Phoenix area, but remember it’s an adventure! Steer clear of the potholes and don’t step in the Mardi Gras gravy! Until next time…
