Southern Decadence Parade (photos!!!)

Southern Decadence is a 5-day weekend of costumes, revelry and parades celebrating the LGBT community that brings over 150,000 people and a nearly $200 million economic impact. Decadence started at a party of friends and roommates throwing a going-away party for a friend in 1972 in their inauspicious Treme home nicknamed Belle Reve after the  Mississippi plantation Blanche DuBois’ refers to in A Streetcar Named Desire so the roommates (including gays, straights, blacks and whites) made the send-off a costume party with the theme of coming as your favorite “Southern Decadent.” They chose the Sunday before Labor Day to give themselves a day of recovery afterward then repeated the party the following year with an informal parade. Over 40 years later, the all-inclusive party is bigger and more decadent than ever.

I’m So New Orleans #ImSoNewOrleans

The Twitter-verse and Facebook have been buzzing for the last couple days with all things New Orleans. No one seems to know who started the #ImSoNewOrleans trend but it’s brought the city together in a way usually reserved for football season. People are sharing childhood memories, old photos of long-gone places and jokes and trends so inside, only someone who grew up here could truly get them. I didn’t. I wasn’t born here and I don’t have a good answer to, “Where’d you go to school?” (meaning which local high school), but I’m so New Orleans that my family owned property on St. Charles in the 1700’s. Okay, that doesn’t help me decipher some of the local references or share some of the memories, but it does make me feel like I’m home. 

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.

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.

Easter in NOLA

Easter in New Orleans means many things and, as usual, we had to miss events like the 100th running of the Louisiana Derby and the Historic French Quarter Parade, in order to make our events starting with brunch at the Red Fish Grill. On our way down Bourbon Street, we passed the line for the first seating at Galatoire’s. I love all the men in their seersucker suits and straw hats and the women in floral dresses with fancy Easter bonnets – just like when my mom was a girl. At the front of the line were two folding chairs holding tattered men who’d clearly been paid to hold a place in line – a tradition nearly as long as the line. 

Krewe of Barkus Parade 2013 – Dogs!!!

Established in 1992, the Mystic Krewe of Barkus may have started as a silly way to get friends back (see story here), but it has grown into a parade big enough to shut down a chunk of the French Quarter. Between the adorable dogs, the costumed walkers, the floats made from wagons and shopping carts and the terrific bands, this parade has something for everyone. 

Favorite Things in NOLA 2012

I must confess that I didn’t get out as much in 2012 because Hollywood South is booming and I worked a lot. Even so, here are my 2012 favorites in a nutshell followed by my Favorite Things in NOLA 2011 and Favorite Things in NOLA 2010. Anything named previously in my Favorite Things in NOLA 2011 is marked with an Asterix*.

I have divided the list into categories this year including: Food & Beverage, Music & Entertainment, Culture, Shopping and Giving & More.

I’m on “Treme.” Peace Day and Saints

I haven’t done a TV show since 2000. My manager retired and, without representation, most of my connections were in film. My first audition after I moved to New Orleans was for a new show called Treme. Everyone was talking about it as it was from the creators of The Wire, considered by many to be greatest drama ever on television. I didn’t get the part, but I kept trying. I auditioned for another part in season 1 and another in season 2. Third season’s the charm and I was finally cast as David Morse‘s ex-wife in the premiere episode. Saturday, I attended a cast and crew screening at the newly restored Joy Theatre.

Southern Decadence

The people of Plaquemines Parish and several other surrounding areas continue to suffer the effects of Isaac. In New Orleans, there are still many without power, phone, wifi or cable TV. That said, Isaac was not Katrina and last weekend, the French Quarter was filled with revelers attending Southern Decadence. For them and the many people who found themselves on an unscheduled week off from work, this week could be called a “Hurrication” (got the term from a local). There were repairs to be made and debris to pick up, but the French Quarter, with it’s allure of electricity and satellite TV, beckoned.

Christmas in NOLA

Due to technical difficulties, I’ve been unable to write about the many NOLA Christmas festivities I’ve been enjoying. I will attempt a Reader’s Digest version. First up, the Newcomers Club of New Orleans annual gift-giving at Raintree Children and Family Services. Raintree has been providing services to foster children and the families who care for them as well as the homebound of all ages for 85 years. The Newcomers Club offers activities to women moving to the area including a book club, a gourmet group and, of course, participation in non-profit organizations like Raintree.