Saints and Skins

My parents were born in Louisiana and met at LSU. They remain LSU fans, but my father became a fan of the Redskins after moving to the D.C. area before my birth. When I was a small child, he propped me in front of the TV and asked me to tell him what happened while he attended to other things. Maybe it was initially to please my dad, but I fell in love with football and a Redskins fan was born. In the 80’s, I lost interest in the game then moved to L.A. for 18 years, where they didn’t have a team. When I moved to New Orleans in 2009, the Saints were undefeated and on their way to the Super Bowl. I was buying sundries at Walgreens when I noticed my cashier had 10-0 painted on her face with a fleur de lis. I used to paint my face, wear my colors and love my team and her face ignited my love of football again.

Got Gumbo? 2012

Where can you get all-you-can-eat gumbo from over 20 NOLA restaurants and help out the United Way? The annual Got Gumbo? event at the Royal Sonesta in the French Quarter. With competitions for best traditional, seafood and exotic gumbos, the chefs show off their best recipes on tables decorated as parade floats complete with throws. There’s even a dessert competition.