It's CARNIVAL Season!
Carnival, with all of its history, pageantry, mystique, magic, costumes, food, parades, and parties...is almost synonymous with New Orleans in many people's minds. Hotel rooms grow scarcer, room in restaurants is often sparse, moods run high, and the tourists arrive by the thousands. This year, with the Saints in the Superbowl, excitement seems to have quadrupled.
For locals in the area, Carnival often means that there is a vacation in the wings, as its not unusual for locals to escape the crowds of tourists by becoming one themselves...somewhere else! However, that usually just Mardi Gras week itself, and during the preceding weeks, everyone enjoys King Cake.
Outsiders observing a king cake for the first time usually don't notice much past the luridly colored sprinkles of gold, green and purple with the plastic baby waiting to be inserted. The king cake has a long history, dating to back to Europe, as does the insertion of the plastic baby, but that is not readily apparent to the first time visitor. While many traditions lay behind the king cake, today if you are the lucky recipient of the baby, you are merely obligated to supply the king cake next time.
But what is the king cake? Its a sweet dough, rolled with a variety of fillings: cinnamon, pineapple, apple, cherry, lemon, chocolate, cream cheese, bavarian creme...are just a few of the flavors that can be bought. Who has the best king cake? Now that is a question that would always be inspiration for heated debate. My personal favorite is the cinnamon from Rouse's...others swear by Haydel's Bakery...or Tastee Donuts...or one of the myriad of other bakeries cashing in on the king cake craze that hits every year before Lent. They are very similar to what much of the country knows as "tea ring coffee cake", but with frosting instead of glaze, and the luridly colored sugar sprinkles and plastic baby. For those in other parts of the country who crave a slice of authentic New Orleans King Cake, a simple online search will bring up a number of mail order options to arrive at your door via express mail. Serve it with some Community Coffee "New Orleans Blend" (it has chicory in it, and its probably THE most popular coffee in the city) with a splash of piping hot milk after some jambalaya or gumbo for supper...and you too will almost imagine being here with us. (Yes, I know...you still won't have our bone-chilling damp chill, the aroma of the Mississippi River, the scent of seafood boiling in the air, the potholes that plague us, the traffic jams for no reason, or authentic jazz music being played by excellent musicians right on the street...but hey, come on down and visit!)
One of the things that New Orleans is famous for is its food. From fancy white table cloth covered restaurant tables to down-home cooking in the kitchens of shotgun houses, its all about food. Food is the center of New Orleans culture, and no one will argue that, although they will argue about who has the best red beans & rice or makes the best po'boy or whether a muffelatta should ever be toasted!
Gia Scott, from Exogeny Network, is also the New Orleans Food Examiner. Read her articles at her home page on Examiner. Get other recipes and articles right here at Exogeny Kitchen.
New Orleans
For many people, that means FRENCH QUARTER!!!!!
Doreen's Jazz (Doreen J. Ketchens on the clarinet)
www.doreensjazz.com
Oh, I wish you could all hear Doreen sing and see her smile. There wouldn't be a doubt in your mind that the beautiful music that comes out of her doesn't come from the soul. She made my day, and I hope to hear more from her. They travel doing gigs fairly often, but their music is also available via cd from their website. I know how good she sounded under an umbrella on a street corner on a muggy New Orleans Saturday morning.
What does it really mean to visit
New Orleans?
Sometimes, to understand the city, it helps to venture out into the countryside that surrounds it.
Once upon a time, plantation owners often would be in New Orleans for the social season, helping to shape the city that it is today. Visiting a plantation or two is fun as well as educational!
This is the woman that I have elected as the BEST TOUR GUIDE IN LOUISIANA as of March 2009. I told her so, but in reality, she's probably the best overall tour guide I have encountered in the last 5 years!
Judy is a guide at the Laura Plantation, across the river (just a short drive, or there are tours you can take from New Orleans too) at Vacherie, Louisiana.
Laura Plantation is a Creole plantation. Fees are right here on the sign. (current as of March, 2009) They may seem high, but the plantation is being restored and is operated by a private group. That means it is entirely supported by the fees and donations, not by tax money. I would far rather pay what Laura Plantation charges for their wonderful tour than the fees charged by the less-than-wonderful tours I have taken in many locations.
It's a fantastic tour, Judy knew her history well and is a gifted storyteller, so her delivery is wonderful as well. If you ask a question she doesn't know, she just tells you she doesn't have that answer!
(That is so much nicer than being given false information, don't you think?)
Understanding the way plantations and the Creole culture worked is so important as you try to understand what makes New Orleans so special. Do try and visit Laura when you come to New Orleans!
Technical Tour Hints
Laura Plantation does have a store, they do sell some cold drinks, but they do not have an on-site restaurant. The visit to the plantation will consume about 2 hrs with some time for their gift shop, so you can plan meals around your visit. Staff there may be able to recommend a place for some wonderful creole-style food too! Vacherie is a very small berg, and didn't have much to offer when we drove there on a Sunday, just a lone gas station/convenience store that I can't recommend a stop at.
Glass Magick on Toulouse Street (713)
The owner of Glass Magick, Dawna, was ambushed one gloomy Saturday morning for an impromptu photograph. This shop is very interesting, carrying the works of 18 different artists, it has both jewelry and other decorative items, as well as objects of a more magical nature.
The first time that I visited this shop was with some friends as we wandered through the French Quarter. One of them purchased a fairy figurine as a gift for one of his daughters after we followed a trail of glittering fairy dust to the door and into the shop!
Glass Magick doesn't do mail order per se, but will ship items for clients. If you are in New Orleans, its definitely one of the shops to make certain you visit! When in New Orleans, its between Bourbon & Royal Street, at 713 Toulouse. Dawna has been a very gracious host to Exogeny Network as we conduct our interviews with her readers, so make sure you listen to the podcasts about them as they are made available!
dawna@glassdragonshop.com
Visiting New Orleans with pets
Most hotels in New Orleans are not pet friendly, and the tours and activities are also not conducive to bringing your pet along. I would suggest boarding your pet during your stay in New Orleans, and they would have a much nicer visit than being confined in a motel room or being overheated in a car.
I would suggest using Pampered Pets Bed and Breakfast. They don't book via email or internet, but you can call them at (504) 734-7387 to get price quotes or make your reservations. Proof of vaccinations IS required, but it can be all taken care of before you even leave home. Pampered Pets also offers day care, Mon-Fri.
Pampered Pets is open 7 days a week: Mon-Fri 9-5, Saturday 9-11 a.m., and again on Sunday 3-5 p.m. They are closed on holidays: New Year's Day, Mardi Gras, Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas. They close early on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. They are located at 6213 Airline Drive in Metairie, convenient to the airport, and most other locations in the Greater New Orleans area.
One particularly interesting tidbit about Pampered Pets is their involvement in pet rescues, and they have The Petique there that offers many unique pet products and fashions, and 100% of the profits go to support Metairie Humane! You can even get your pet's souvenir t-shirt there wtih a fleur di lis on it!
Please, do NOT leave your pet in your parked car, its usually quite warm in New Orleans and a parked car quickly turns into an oven that can kill your pet.
Now when you visit the French Quarter, there is also the Pet Asylum. Grooming, pet supplies, rescue kittens, and pet foods are sold here, and the two women who run it are absolute dolls! Stop by and take a look at what they have--They are at 510 Dumaine Street.
This is what most people envision when they think "New Orleans". These balconies sport many hanging baskets of boston fern, as well as flower filled boxes on the rails.
The famous "cornstalk fence" house on Royal St. Today, its a bed & breakfast.