St. Patrick’s Parades 2019

The month of Carnival parades just ended on the 5th but we were back in the streets again ALL weekend starting with the Molly’s (Jim Monaghan’s) Irish Parade Friday in the French Quarter. The Pussyfooters were invited to join in the festivities this year and I love any chance to dance. The weather was awful, cold and rainy, but we were grateful for inclusion in the lively second line.

Saturday, we met family at the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club‘s Irish Channel Parade. The parade features double-decker floats, dancers and bagpipers but the heart of the Irish Channel parade is the many groups of walkers exchanging silk flowers for kisses (mostly on the cheek).

My Niece Visits NOLA – Fun Ensues

We were still in our formal wear at midnight when we got to the airport to pick up my niece and her 2 friends from college. We’d been dancing and dining at the annual Raintree Gala benefitting foster children and the families who care for them. We dropped the kids in the French Quarter and hoped they didn’t get in too much trouble on their Spring Break’s first night. We all enjoyed a tasty brunch at Wink’s Bakery the next morning, finishing our meal with super-tasty donuts and their famous Buttermilk Drops.

As Pelicans season ticket holders, we were invited to their annual appreciation day so we left the kids to the Quarter and headed to the Arena for a day of tours, games, lots of freebies and Pelicans players everywhere.

Brothels, Bordellos and Ladies of the Night Walking Tour

Other than hitting Bourbon Street, I believe the city’s many walking tours and carriage rides must be the most popular tourist activity in New Orleans. Throughout the French Quarter and Garden District, people gather around stringently-licensed tour guides enlivening historical facts (and stories) about everything from architecture and colorful characters to above-ground cemeteries and Voodoo. At night, the Quarter is cluttered with criss-crossing groups of people wanting to learn more about the “most haunted city in America” from one of the city’s many spirit tours (Scary Mary is regarded as the most fact-based fun). But there are many stories locals tell each other that tourists seldom hear. The stories of the city’s brothels and the women who worked them are the subject covered by Two Chicks Walking Tours‘ unique Brothels, Bordellos and Ladies of the Night walking tour. 

Molly’s (Jim Monaghan’s) Irish parade

Whichever name you call it by, this was its 32nd year. Molly’s at the Market is an Irish pub with game nights, neon cluttered walls and a jukebox full of rock and local favorites. It’s also where the parade was born, begins and ends. A friend of mine from college had just arrived in New Orleans for her first visit to the city. After lunch at K. Paul’s, a visit to Jackson Square, Photoworks Gallery and Maskarade mask shop (all from my list of Fav Things), we headed over for her first parade – ever. The parade is short on floats but big on fun and she loved it.

Molly’s Halloween Parade

Since 1995, Molly’s at the Market has sponsored a Halloween parade in the French Quarter. The Storyville Stompers led throngs of costumed paraders on Decatur along with the Bearded Oysters, the New Wave Brass Band, the Kazoozie Floozies and the Muff-a-Lottas.

Though beads were thrown from horse-drawn carriages and dancing was done in the streets, Halloween is really about the costumes so I leave you with photos, photos, photos.