Mardi Gras season is once again upon us so I would like to share a few memories of New Orleans as I remember them.
I live in the south, which some consider the middle of the country, so I only have a six hour drive by car to New Orleans. The place is happening and is the very best party you can ever join in just about any time of the year. I have been going there for years and each time is memorable.
A couple of years ago, I took my wife Eileen and her mother Barbara for The Big Easy's new years eve celebrations. We didn't know what to expect so we started walking down Bourbon Street to the laughs and sounds of hundreds of people in the streets. We went with the flow and grabbed at doubloons and colored necklaces thrown around by happy people. To our delight, we stumble onto a one person act where a man was sitting in a box with his baby face sticking out in a crib like contraption but when you really looked at him...he appeared to be a baby with a man-sized head and a cigarette in his mouth! Mama told him that it's bad for babies to smoke and he kept up the rapport and told her, "I'm sorry, Mama," and put out the cigarette. So funny!
I was sporting two beautiful redheads and they were looking mighty sweet in their exotic attire and colorful feather boas. I couldn't keep the fellas off of them! We all were dancing in the street and had so much fun and laughter. My then 67 year old mother-in-law was asked by several younger guys to dance (which she loves to do and can out-dance anyone I know) but they couldn't keep up with her! At one time two fellas were trying to cart her off with them but we reined her in and kept a bit closer together through the Bourbon Street craziness.
We continued making our way through the French Quarter and were dazzled at all the music and excitement. There were cat calls from above us for the girls to show off their boobs for doubloons. We did not comply but received our fair share of necklaces just the same. We would hear incredible musicians, watch fascinating magic and street acts, see painters create mini masterpieces, and my two happy campers had huge smiles and their laughter was heard all the way to Big Bend in West Texas.
We made time to pop into Harrah's French Quarter casino. I have never seen anything like it! I've never been to Vegas and gambling in Texas is illegal so I never got to go. We walked through a Roman like Parthenon and were put at ease with a humming mantra of slot machines. They also had a rotunda honoring New Orleans jazz greats as well. After losing a few bucks, the smoke filled air got to us so we departed and visited the art galleries along Decatur Street.
Eileen was in her element with her camera and we waited patiently for every shot. You can't rush art.
Later, we became hungry so we waited in line for some fine Cajun food at The Gumbo Shop on St. Peter Street behind Jackson Square. They make a praline sundae dessert that is to die for. It's basically vanilla ice cream with a pecan and coffee infused caramel sauce drizzled on top. My wife almost licked the bowl!
After a wonderful culinary experience, we headed to the Mississippi River to partake in a magical New Orleans style midnight! The sky lit up with bombs in the air during an awesome fireworks show while zydeco music played all around us. It was kind of weird to look up at the Jax Logo on top of Jackson Square's building. Displayed on top was the ugliest baby statue since Chucky. I don't get it. They have this giant baby with a new year's banner with a horrendous face. Apparently, the Crescent City has been using it for years. Anyway, we hugged and kissed at the stroke of midnight and held onto each other for warmth.
It was all a great adventure for me and my two lovely ladies.
TIP: We stayed in a Motel 6 at 4200 Old Gentilly Road outside of the French Quarter that was under ninety dollars for three. It was roomier and nicer than we expected!
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I have many memories of New Orleans since the 1970s and I would like to share a few highlights. I consider it the party capital of the United States. The Big Easy should be on your bucket list of places to see.
-- One time, I woke up with my face in the urine scented mud after a crazy Bourbon Street night on vermin infested Pirate's Alley. My friends and I had an all-nighter of drinking and fun. It was horrible! I must have passed out.
-- When hunger hit in the French Quarter, our go to meal was the Taki-Outi with their delicious chicken strip on a stick (or sausage or turkey).
-- We ate breakfast at the old Magnolia Bar and Grill on Decatur Street (now called Belle's Diner). The cooks wore ties with their white shirts and made you feel so special with their charm. Their breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs and coffee was so good but really it was the ambiance of the place that had a distinguished feel about it. Eating there was a celebration and man those cats could sing!
-- Riding the historic trolley cars throughout New Orleans' Garden District was an experience from a past era. The trolley would drive by many beautiful mansions and one of a kind shops so you could really get a feel of how it was a hundred years ago. Everything is so old and you just have to stop to take pictures. I love to talk with the locals to strike up a conversation. It's fun!
-- The big cemeteries are one of The Big Easy's treasures! It's crazy but there is wonderful carved art everywhere in these old, historic places. The above ground tombs are so old that they contain the disintegrated bones of several family members and maybe even a fresh body. Eerie...but cool!
-- In the 1970s, I took my sister Barbara, my cousin Tina, her friend Rosa, and a slew of other friends to Mardi Gras. We hooked up with my dear friend Jeanette in Gonzales, Louisiana who was the perfect hostess since she was from Louisiana and was big on history. Jeanette took us to the local cotton plantations and beautiful vistas of the Mississippi River. I especially loved how the moss hung to the old cypress trees. Jeanette also cooked up a fine meal of shrimp gumbo, jambalaya with Cajun rice, and pecan pie. We were in a soul kitchen in the heart of Delta country. Thanks Jeanette!!! Afterward, we all headed to New Orleans and had a ball eating, drinking, and having fun with the hundreds of others crowded on the streets. We picked a spot to watch the parade floats go by sponsored by their respective sororities. There were balloons in the air and doubloons flying everywhere! All you had to do was wait a moment and a necklace would hit you. You could also throw them back to other people since you had so many. It was so much fun! The highlight of that trip was watching this creepy Chester the Molester pervert open up his trenchcoat and rub himself on unsuspecting people. I saw him first then told a couple of my male friends to watch this guy in action. We laughed and laughed as he went along the hundreds of people who were watching the parade. As the girls would reach up to grab a thrown necklace, ol' Chester would mosey on over and hump the unsuspecting girl. He must have been caught a million times but he still did it. So I warned my sister and the girls to watchout. When he came to us, I can't remember who confronted him with a hard elbow, he backed off and fell backwards painfully on the ground exposing himself to all of us. All the girls wanted to kick his ass, but us guys laughed so hard.
-- It was Fat Tuesday, the last day of Mardi Gras. My friends and I went to the Superdome to catch a big music concert. As my friend Richard and I were walking around the dome, we walked alongside the entourage of Dr. John the Night Tripper. He had just completed his show and he and his band of gypsies were ready to head into the dressing rooms. Richard and I acted like we were part of his posse and glided right into a big rotunda like waiting area. We sat down and marvelled at all the activity. On the doors of the performing artists of the evening were star shaped signs touting 'Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Dr. John, Jimmie Vaughan and the Fabulous Thunderbirds' and others. We were tickled pink to be there. It was exciting!
-- Last but not least, during the late 1970s, me and my Houston friends went to Mardi Gras to see Saturday Night Live's original cast, The Not Ready for Primetime Players!!! (SNL Mardi Gras Special) I saw Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, John Belushi and the rest of their team. They filmed their individual skits throughout the French Quarter so as you walked about from Jackson Square to Bourbon Street, you could watch them film their scenes. The best part of that experience was watching John Belushi snatch a beer can out of my friend Richard McKinney's hand, tilt it up to swallow the remains, then slam it to flatten it on his forehead. He then cracked a bull whip to the music from Rawhide when Dan Aykroyd couldn't crack it! Just like in the Blues Brothers movie, we got an early look at John and the bull whip skit. So cool!