Hurricane Ida – Monday the 30th

The power went out Sunday afternoon as the Cat 4 winds of Hurricane Ida bashed the Louisiana coastline. I’ll admit the storm had been scary at times as we waited in candlelight, gusts ripping at rooftops and bending trees to breaking. It was very noisy until late into the night. 

Monday morning we looked around, checking out damage in the French Quarter and later on Magazine Street uptown and through Central City (PHOTOS BELOW). There were broken windows, tumbled bricks, and scattered roof tiles but the historic district had withstood the storm well, just as it had in Katrina. Our 300-year-old city was built to withstand a lot of abuse. And the levees held. 

Mardi Gras Day 2012

Mardi Gras Day means many things to many people, but in the French Quarter, it means costumes, costumes and more costumes.  Uptown and on Canal, Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French) means parades all day starting at 7:30 am with Zulu. On Bourbon Street, the day means beads thrown from balconies, rebel yells and partying ’til you puke. But for the many who choose to meander the streets of the Quarter and the Marigny, it’s a spectacle of creativity set to a soundtrack of wandering bands and rolling boomboxes.

Halloween and the Saints – Boo Dat!

Apparently, Halloween is the third largest holiday in New Orleans, but don’t quote me on that as I got the info from a bartender finishing his shift at Rawhide, not the Guinness World Book of Records. But Guinness was here to count how many people wore costumes to the Saints game Sunday. With almost 18,000 people in costumes – mostly black and gold, we set the record for the largest costume party.