Favorite Things in NOLA 2011

I continue to accumulate favorite things about New Orleans, but here’s my second year favorites in a nutshell. Anything named previously in my Favorite Things in NOLA 2010 is marked with an Asterix*. Though there are too many “ties,” revealing an inability to “just pick one,” I promise you there were so many more things I wanted to include, so many more people and places I felt deserved mentioning.

New Year’s and the Saints at the Dome!

I didn’t bring my camera to the fireworks this year. I figure most major cities put on a fairly good display, though ours is shot off a barge over the mighty Mississippi, reflecting on the ever-flowing surface. And maybe other cities don’t have as many people wearing tuxedoes and top hats or costumes or beads or drag. But, the one thing I know your celebration didn’t have was Shamarr Allen and the Underdawgs playing in front of Jackson Square. I love that celebrations here almost always include horns and drums.