Touring NOLA, Vintage Trouble, Latin Parade and More!

Having guests is always a great excuse to hit some of those tourist spots locals tend to shy from. So when my dear friend since high school finally came to New Orleans for the first time, we “toured” the sites. Angela arrived Thursday night and we headed straight for Coop’s so she could have her first jambalaya. We stayed in to catch up that night and headed to Cafe du Monde for insanely tasty beignets the next morning. On the way there, I spotted a familiar face down the street. I said loudly, “Do you know who that is? That’s the lead singer and trumpet for Treme Brass Band!” Angela looked to the t-shirt wearing, blood-shot-eyed man holding a trumpet just as he smiled.

Favorite Things in NOLA 2013

The categories are: Food & Beverage, Music & Entertainment, Culture, Shopping and Giving & More. Anything named previously in my Favorite Things in NOLA 2012 is marked with an Asterix*. Most items have links to their site, but if you’d like to know more, use the search window on the right to find photos, videos, history and stories.

This year, I’ve added a gallery of photos. The first photos are of items listed and the last half are of stuff I love in New Orleans from Creole tomatoes to Ashley the Traffic Tranny.

I’m also revealing Your Favorite Posts of 2013.

3 – Saints Soundtrack Vol. 2

2 – Street Musicians – Tanya and Dorise

1 – Endymion Extravaganza – My First Ball! – which is also your favorite post of all time.

L.A. to N.O.LA’s Favorite Things (in NOLA) 2010

I can’t get you all of this stuff, Oprah-style, but every item has links to their site. If you’d like to know more about why each is my favorite, use the search window on the lower right to find photos, videos and stories.

I continue to accumulate favorite things about New Orleans, but here’s my first year favorites in a nutshell.

Po-Boy Festival and RED

The Saints didn’t play this Sunday so the city turned out in full force for the 4th annual Po-Boy Festival.

http://www.poboyfest.com/

For those not in the know, a Po-Boy is New Orleans’ version of a submarine sandwich invented by Bennie and Clovis Martin. Former streetcar conductors, they opened Martin Brothers’ Coffee Stand in the French Market in 1922. In 1929, transit strikes rose across the nation and, in solidarity with their former coworkers, the Martin brothers vowed to keep the strikers of Division 194 fed. When they’d see the strikers coming for a meal, they’d say, “Here comes another poor boy” and the name stuck to the large, overstuffed sandwiches they doled out.