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New Orleans
www.neworleansonline.co	Notes
	By Bridget Avila

I know what it means to miss New Orleans. I lived there for 4 years of college plus a year after graduation. While I moved away 10 years ago, I’ve been drawn back several times by that homesickness that generations of world-class musicians have sung about in this famous song about the city.

In January of last year, 5 months after Hurricane Katrina and its ensuing floods devastated the region, I visited my parents in Lafayette, Louisiana. Despite not really knowing what to expect, my husband and I took our two small children on a day trip to New Orleans.

Commander’s Palace, a legendary New Orleans restaurant in the historic Garden District, reopened its doors 13 months after Hurricane Katrina. Like many businesses that depend on tourist dollars, the restaurant is still wanting for labor.

That trip was largely about bearing witness to the tragedy. Just as I traveled to New York shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, I took my family to New Orleans as a show of support.

We dropped a little bit of money into the local economy, visited friends who were still processing the tumult of their lives, thanked National Guardsmen for their work, and mulled over the blatant evidence of the storm damage—waterlines near the roofs of buildings, blue tarps over roofs, incinerated homes, abandoned businesses, enormous piles of trash, stop signs where once there were traffic lights, a lack of streetcars, and the haunting FEMA code spray-painted onto homes—an X with dates and the number of bodies found—animal or human.

It was not the easiest trip to make.

But as angry and bruised as they are, New Orleanians are ready to move forward and ready to play host to the tourists who have long been a huge source of revenue for the city.

“Please, come,” they say. “And bring your friends.”

By October, when I returned for my college reunion, there were still whole communities virtually unoccupied. But the places that tourists go were back and running. The so-called “sliver on the river” (the uptown, downtown, central business district, and French Quarter all sit on the crescent-shaped curve of the Mississippi River) saw less flooding than other parts of the city (1–6 feet versus 20 feet of water), and has been able to recover more quickly.

If you’ve never been to New Orleans, you may, understandably, be hesitant to visit in these post-Katrina days. Allow me to persuade you otherwise. If you love music or food, you must go to New Orleans.

A jazz funeral may make its way to one of New Orleans’s famed “cities of the dead.” Because the water table is so high, early settlers found that above-ground tombs were necessary to prevent coffins from literally floating through the earth’s surface. You can tour several cemeteries around town, which feature ornate wrought-iron and decorative sculptures.

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, or Jazz Fest, runs the last week of April and the first week of May each year. Hands down, it is my top recommendation for a New Orleans experience. For an incredibly paltry $25 or so, you get an entire day of music on twelve stages. I last fest-ed in 2005 and I saw performers who were all over the musical map—zydeco, Dixieland jazz, gospel, pop, and funk. There are also numerous craft booths and amazing food (no funnel cakes here—vendors are vetted by judges just to get a booth).

But if you can’t make it to Jazz Fest, hit the legendary music halls in town. Tipitina’s, Muddy Waters, Snug Harbor, Preservation Hall, O’Flaherty’s, and the Maple Leaf are all legendary for the fantastic live music they feature. These clubs all book national and international acts, but local acts like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Dr. John, Galactic, and Ellis Marsalis are must-sees.

As for food, I don’t know that I will ever be able to visit all the restaurants I want to in New Orleans. While you may encounter shortened business hours (a huge post-Katrina challenge to restaurateurs is a lack of labor), you can find restaurants to satisfy just about any palate and any wallet.

My most recent favorites are Upperline Restaurant for traditional Creole, Dick & Jenny’s for a funky mix of Southern with European undertones, Elizabeth’s for breakfast (praline bacon!) and Restaurant August for the tip of the spear in fine dining. For my next trip I want to make the scene at Galatoire’s, which has served classic bistro cuisine for more than 100 years.

I’d be remiss if I did not mention Mardi Gras. On my last trip I bought my daughter A Mardi Gras Dictionary by Beverly B. Vidrine. As I read it to her, I was reminded that Mardi Gras is so much more than the drunken debauchery of college students and Bourbon Street tourists (hint: not too many locals on Bourbon Street—ever). Mardi Gras is a complex and rich tradition unparalleled in this country, with something for every age group.

The best way to experience Mardi Gras is with a local. Catch some doubloons. Attend a debutante ball. Dance with the Mardi Gras Indians. Eat a po’boy. And—if you’re really lucky—get a coconut at the Zulu parade on Fat Tuesday morning. There are plenty of other reasons to visit New Orleans, but I’m already beyond my word limit. Go visit the people of New Orleans. You’ll be glad you did. And so will they.

Yes, Mardi Gras is a family event. Parents often camp overnight on parade routes to reserve spots where their kids can view the passing floats and bands. To see above the grownups (and catch the choice beads), kids sit in custom-built boxes atop ladders. Mardi Gras The colors of purple, green, and gold adorn the costumes, floats, beads, and decorations associated with Mardi gras, held on the Tuesday before Lent. Celebrated in great style in the City of New Orleans, this year Mardi gras falls on February 20th. The two weeks leading up to the big event are filled with parades and parties. For detailed and up-to-the-date information on scheduled Mardi gras activities in New Orleans visit www.mardigrasday.com or www.mardigrasneworleans.com