It's more than just New Orleans. The Original Mardi Gras was started in Mobile Alabama, so I've been told, and it has expanded along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana, maybe further. Our goal was to make it to New Orleans. We did and it was well worth the journey.
The weather was unseasonable seasonable. That is it was cold but after all it is winter down here to. We had frost warnings, schooling closings, snow warnings and just plain bone chilling, damp cold weather.
We stayed at the Abita Springs Campground. It's on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain and it took us awhile to recognize what the weather and news people were talking about when they referenced the "North Shore".
Since we don't haul a tow we rent a car for the purpose of traveling and sight seeing in the areas we visit. We choose Those rental dates around the best weather we can find. With all the cold the best we could find was rainless dates.
From Abita to New Orleans we had to travel the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway. A three dollar toll on a twenty-six mile bridge. Our first trip was one of exploration. It was to learn the lay of the land. Where the streets for the parades are and where we would be parking. Of course when we went to our first parade we were nowhere near were we had explored. But what it did do was give us a better understanding of how the city was laid out and how to get around.
Parking for the parades is nightmare. It is a must to get there early, and drive around and around until one can find an unposted space, an empty space that is not a driveway or within fifteen feet of a fire plug or corner. A spot that you don't have to pay a minimum of twenty dollars for. The closer one gets to St Charles and Bourbon Streets the higher the prices. Park in the wrong place and you will get a ticket 9big cost) or get towed (big cost) or both. Double big cost.
We have Microsoft Streets and Trips and print out maps from that. This allows us access to street maps of a readable pocket size that allowed us to not only find the parade routes but when we parked it helped in finding the car when we returned. Still got lost once.
There is still a lot of Hurricane Katrina residue in New Orleans. Empty lots. Broken streets and sidewalks. The area has huge trees whose roots are breaking up some of the sidewalks and you wonder what they are doing to the foundation of the existing homes. I have been told that the new building codes requires one to build their home on stilts.
All through New Orleans and the Gulf area Saints fever is ramped. The people are proud of their Saints and the black and gold is constantly in your eyesight. And the people that we met were courteous and helpful. It is a city that is not only rebuilding it's superstructure but also it's image. When they had the parade for the Superbowl Champs there was no busting of windows or burning of cars. It was a mass of happy people enjoying the moment and their team.
More on the parade on the next entry.
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