NOLA in a Week (Mom’s Visit)

There’s nothing like having a visitor to push you to take advantage of the city as much as possible in a week. My mom  and stepdad came to town and we went to 2 festivals, a number of concerts, a bunch of restaurants and plenty of cool shops. We even visited the set of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. If you’re planning to visit New Orleans or if you’re a New Orleanian looking for some ideas of how to entertain your guests, here are some highlights from our week.

Aunt Norma’s 85th on the River

One of the many advantages for me of living in Louisiana is that much of my extended family is here. Though I visited the state regularly throughout my entire life for holidays (and, oddly enough, Summers), I was rarely here for life’s smaller celebrations. Now, I can make it to things like my cousin’s son’s baby’s 1st birthday. My aunt Norma turning 85 is a pretty big excuse for a party, but this celebration was small – 28 people on a boat for 5 hours on the Tchefuncte (chuh – funk-ta) River, so who knows whether I would have been able to attend if I weren’t just across the lake.

Oil and the need to believe

Today, the oil is on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It spreads like ravaging cancer now. We know now that tar balls today, without stopping the oil, can mean crude later. It’s beyond heart breaking.  It’s day 80 and the only thing that’s certain is that the sun will rise tomorrow and the oil will continue to flow. This is a marathon, not a sprint, so I have to start focusing on the sun rising and find a way to believe that this could get better.

Oil and Independence day

I’m happy to be an American. I’ve traveled the world and know how privileged I am to be an American. But, the 4th was tough for me this year. It was hard to feel like celebrating our independence from the British.

Across the Lake

Last night, I ate the leftovers from my family’s trip here; red beans and rice with andouille, corn hush puppies and sweet potato fries with maple syrup. Wonderful. And it brought back all the joy and flavor of our visit. Our second day together, last Sunday, my mother, my niece and I went across the longest bridge over water in the world, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, to visit my aunt, Norma.

Across the lake

One of the many reasons I moved here was to be closer to family. My aunt, our matriarch, lives across Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest bridge (over water) in the world. I drove my tiny convertible sports car  with the top down, the wind whipping at me at 65 mph (the speed limit! I’m unaccustomed to over 35 mph). In the middle, you can’t see land in front or behind you. It brings a slightly freaky sensation of freedom and vulnerability. I decided to go with freedom and screamed as loud as I could for as long as I could…