Mardi Gras

This year I was lucky to be able to attend Mardi Gras with one of my best friends. I, obviously would have been able to go to Mardi Gras at any point, however would have not had the experiences I had for my first time. My friend visits New Orleans almost yearly since she has family there and was able to create an itienary that would give me the experience of Mardi Gras but as a local not a tourist. Below is our itinerary that her dad created.

Day 1 we got off the flight, changed our clothes, and then we hit the ground running. We were able to arrive at the Carosuel Bar 20 minutes before they opened and secured a seat at the bar. After a drink, we made our way to Cafe Du Monde and got the world famous beignets. Then we walked around Jackson Square up to the French Market. In Jackson Square, I was able to see the bench from the Originals where Niklaus and Elijah said bye to each other. Next we did lunch at Cafe Maspero where I tried gumbo, which was low key spicy. Cafe Maspero was a cool place to try New Orleans food and get that French Quarter vibe. After the cafe, we tried out the Sazarec House that was free. Sazarec was not for me but they had other drinks that were good. It was also cool to see the other liquors they offer. The last thing on the agenda was a craft cocktail tour, which wasnt the best. It would have been better if the guide wasnt so annoying. He overexplained and just generally talked so much and there wasnt enough alcohol. Overall, the day was great especially since we ended Raising Canes for dinner.

The next two days was spent doing more touristy things. We did the zoo and aquarium because I love them and like to visit them all over. Prior to the zoo, we drove around the garden district and saw some celebrities mansions. After the aquarium, we did Vue Orleans, that offers a 360 view of New Orleans. The Vue was nice but could have been skipped. For a quick lunch, we visited Vampire Cafe, where they had blood bag drinks which was cool. As we made our way to the ferry to get to the parade, we obviously had to stop for beignets again. The next day was a swamp tour, an oak planation tour, and DiMartinos for lunch. The swamp tour was a bit cold but otherwise cool to see the gators and the different wetlands in Lousiana. The oak plantation tour was nice to also learn the history in Lousiana and how it was in the slavery time period and how it is affected everything.

The rest of the trip was PARADES, PARADES, and PARADES. I cant not stress how much fun the parades were. I always thought the parades were one or two days and only on Bourbon st but they actually are not. The parades start in January and continue until actual Mardi Gras. Again I was so lucky to be able to do this trip with acutal locals because we got great spots for the parades and we knew the in and outs of them. We did parades on Thursday night, Saturday and Sunday morning. In each parade, they throw the obvious beads but also cups, toys, and some do some speciality items. The Muses threw shoes and Tucks did toilet brushes and plungers. It was cool to see what was being thrown and catching things. I had such a great time catching things and seeing all the different floats. It was also great to see how the community comes together and celebrate Mardi Gras. I would definitely do Mardi Gras again and possibly be on a float, throwing things.