Hey cadets! Happy Lunar New Year and the start of carnival week! Unfortunately, many festivities for both holidays are canceled, even in countries that have been better behaved, the people are encouraged to stay in their towns and limit travel due to a resurgence of cases in a few areas.
Carnival in Europe is pretty much canceled everywhere. In the US, Mardi Gras has not all been canceled but dramatically reduced. Mardi Gras parades and balls are canceled all through the Gulf Coast. New Orleans has even gone on to close all the bars and close major streets. Mobile canceled their parades, and “celebrations” are limited to a few outdoor areas downtown, which goes against all recommendations against the CDC.
I decided to write about my New Orleans Mardi Gras last year. It was the first Mardi Gras that I’ve been to since 2011, if I could not count German/Dutch/Ecuadorian carnival. I forget. I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. I left when I was small. But I retained parts of that culture as my mom is from the Gulf coast, and many of her family is still there. I went to college in some town on the Gulf Coast before moving abroad. That was a bit of an ambivalent time in my life for many personal and circumstantial reasons. I spent a lot of time getting to know New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast region those years, and this includes celebrating Mardi Gras.
I decided to come back to the states for my yearly visit in February and celebrate Mardi Gras. My friend Igor from Slovenia decided to come along for this. He had been to the US before, and New Orleans was his favorite city, but he had never experience Mardi Gras or at least US Mardi Gras.
For New Orleans, I had my first time Couchsurfing in the United States. I decided to the last minute to go to Mardi Gras a bit late last year. I could not book a place that was not a ridiculous rate. I also felt imposing on myself to ask one of the few friends I know there. My sort of usual hosts the years before in New Orleans left. The few people I knew still in New Orlean, I either had done kind of a mediocre job being in touch with. “Hi! I have not seen you in 5-10 years, but can you host me the busiest week of the year”..yeah, no. Or there were people that I keep more regular touch with; they would have happily hosted me if I asked a couple of months ago. I felt awkward. I was quite lucky to find hosts. I imagine hosting in New Orleans is like hosting in Prague; hosts get tons of requests, probably a hundred times more during Mardi Gras. Of course, I sent a request to so many people, much more than usual, but Igor and I are both long-time veterans of Couchsurfing; we managed to find a couple of hosts that each let us stay for a couple of days. We had a lovely person from Minnesota who just relocated to New Orleans after traveling all over South America the first couple of nights. On the third and fourth night, we had another great person from Guangzhou, China, studying abroad in New Orleans. It was interesting to hear their perspectives. I usually stay with people from New Orleans or another city in Louisiana or on the Gulf coast, local or almost.
The New Orleans community has a quite lovely Couchsurfing community. I attended a couple of meetups with them, including a big party for the Endymion parade. Unfortunately, the Endymion parade was canceled only a few floats in over an accident, but the party was still fun. It consisted of locals, transplants, and visitors from all over the USA and the world. It gave me a relaxing feeling that I was once back with my “kind of people,” not because it was NOLA people, but couch surfers, although I am quite happy to see this wonderful city have a friendly Couchsurfing community. I am feeling more like myself around Couchsurfing communities. I don’t have as much experience in the US because I’m usually around for a couple of weeks, and I see the same people.
As for other things we did in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, it was about the same thing I would do any additional time of the year, we grabbed a drink and took to the streets. While the French Quarter is beautiful, one of the biggest mistakes people make when visiting New Orleans is only staying there. New Orleans has much more to offer than just Bourbon Street and Frenchmen Street, although those are fun, and you should check them out. There are other areas, such as around Magazine Street in the Garden District. I quite enjoy Mid-city and Uptown also. Treme and Lafite can also be fantastic. You can get to all of these areas by walking or taking Uber/Lyft. You can even take the famous trolleys around some places if you are not in a hurry. They are only $1.25, but you need the exact change.
Another cool thing to do in New Orleans, whether it is not Mardi Gras or not, is to look a the cemeteries. They are above ground because New Orleans is a giant swamp. There are quite a few to visit. Igor found a sleuth of Croatian tombstones. Believe it or not, a small wave of Croatian immigrants came to New Orleans at the end of the 19th century.
Another good idea when you are tired of parades and want to walk off a New Orleans hangover is to make a small trip to Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. It is about 30 minutes or so from uptown. Unfortunately, there is no existent public transportation, so you need a car for this or to friend/ Cser with a car, but it is definitely worth doing if you have the chance. You can get the swamp/bayou feeling without having to go too far away.
You can still get back and catch some parades and other Mardi Gras fun. I’m honestly one of those that prefers to go to maybe one parade a day, or really, to be frank, if I go to two the entire week of Mardi Gras, that is enough.
Another tip: Lousiana has some of the best gas/petrol station or convenience store food in the country. Yes, there are high-class restaurants all over the city and the food is the best in the United States, but if you are a budget traveler, want something quick and easy, or hungover, you can find yourself some pretty decent sandwiches or whatever else you need in a lot of these places. You can even get yourself a daiquiri if you are feeling feisty.
Basically, for me, Mardi Gras was about the same as my usual visits, just a little more pomp and couple more parades. While I like some of the parties, I also enjoy New Orleans without Mardi Gras as much, if not more. There is so much more to New Orleans than just Mardi Gras. In fact, New Years’ and Halloween are my favorite holidays to visit this city. I’ll write a City profile about New Orleans in the future with my favorite establishment and more things to do in the future. In my next entry, though, I’ll write about a famous tradition called Joe Cain day in the city of Mobile, Alabama, where the original Mardi Gras is; I’ll also make a comparison of the two competing Mardi Gras.
Don’t be a stranger!
You are a gifted writer. I found myself truly visiting New Orleans for the first time although I have ben there many times. Thank you. Dot