New Orleans Mardi Gras 2006; Travel Advice ?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve got it into my head to try to go to New Orleans for this year’s Mardi Gras, Feb. 28. I’ve been to many Mardi Gras there, lots of friends, many not there now, and a sister who moved back recently, so I would have a place to stay.

It won’t be the same, I know, but I love the city of NOLA so much, and would like to be there in solidarity of spirit for this wonderful city,for it’s unique celebration.

I’m asking my sister, but does anyone else have any airfare advice or travel tips going down there? NOLA residents advice especially wanted. Is Mardi Gras a good thing this year, or should I wait a year?

2

A former New Orleanean here (moved away a month before Katrina). I understand they’re expecting a huge turnout this year. You are aware that they’ve shortened the whole Carnival season, and there will be strict time deadlines – no more than 8 hours of parades in any one day. Which will definitely put a crimp in Endymion’s style, among others. Those 14-hour days on the parade route were always so amazing.

It’s hard to know what to expect, really. I just wish I could be there, too. If for no other reason than the 30+ bags of beads we’d been gathering to ride in a parade and then had to move before we did, and were then going to freecycle, got loaded in the truck by our movers accidentally. So at some point we need to take the beads back and recycle them!

3

A lot of the parades have been consolidated so they’re not spread out all over the place with different routes. There’s not enough police protection to do that and there’s still a lot of destruction on the traditional routes.

This is a really short parade schedule…the shortest I’ve ever seen. There are only 3 routes with the exception of the Krewe du Vieux which I think is just a disorganized walk through the French Quarter.

There is one Uptown route which seems to be pretty typical of the Uptown route, except that there are a few parades that don’t normally use it. The typical Metairie Route is being used and Gretna has it’s normal route on the Westbank. There are no Terrytown Parades this year.

Zulu always had it’s own special route, and has been required to use the standard Uptown route this year. Endymion always ran in Mid-City near City Park…it’s on the Uptown route this year.

Krewe of Elks Orleans has always used the Uptown route, but is using the Metairie route this year. Elks Jefferson once ran in Gretna on the Westbank (hasn’t in a few years though) but has joined Elks Orleans on the Metairie route this year.

The Gretna parade schedule seems to be the only one that’s not any different than last year.

The shortened schedule isn’t going to do much for tourism, but there’s really not much accomodations for tourists. Many of the large downtown hotels are still not operating. Most of the hotels that are open are renting out rooms by the week to workers who are rebuilding the city.

Crime in the suburbs has skyrocketed. I’m no longer comfortable being in the suburbs (that I lived in most of my life) after dark.

To be perfectly honest, I really can’t recommend that you come here for Mardi Gras this year. It’s not the same as it always has been. I don’t see where the area is ready for Mardi Gras. I think they had it because it would be a release for the locals who have been pretty stressed over the past 6 months.

Next year, things will probably be back to normal.

Anyway, here’s the parade schedule.

Feb. 11 is Krewe du Vieux in the French Quarter
Feb. 12 is Little Rascals in Metairie
Feb. 17 is Atlas and Excalibur in Metairie
Feb. 18 is Krewe of Pontchartrain, Shangri-La, Pygmalion, Sparta and Pegasus Uptown (This is an all day thing, with Pontchartrain starting at noon and the rest following)
Feb. 18 is Caesar in Metairie
Feb. 19 is Alla in Gretna
Feb. 19 is Bards of Bohemia, King Arthur, Merlin and Carrollton Uptown
Feb. 19, Krewes of Rhea and Centaurians in Metairie
Feb. 22, Krewe of Thor, Uptown
Feb. 23, Krewes of Chaos, Babylon and Muses Uptown
Feb. 24, Hermes, d’Etat and Morpheus, Uptown
Feb. 24, Krewe of Aquila and Knights of Jason in Metairie.
Feb. 25, Isis in Metairie
Feb. 25, Iris, Tucks and Endymion Uptown
Feb. 26, Okeanos, Thoth, Mid-City and Bacchus are Uptown
Feb. 26, Adonis in Gretna
Feb. 26, Napoleon in Metairie
Feb. 27, Proteus and Orpheus Uptown
Feb. 27 (Lundi Gras), Zeus in Metairie
Feb. 28 (Mardi Gras), Zulu, Rex and Crescent City Uptown
Feb. 28, Argus, Elks and Jefferson in Metairie.
Feb. 28, Choctaw and Grela in Gretna

4

I, on the other hand, think you should make a special effort to get down here this year. We need a few days of drunken mayhem to help get things back to normal, and the more the merrier! Feel free to e-mail me when your plans are more definite, and we can get together for a parade.

5

Just a couple days ago, as it happens, I heard a report on NPR about how ERs in the few hospitals that are currently operating are extremely busy, and it’s taking ambulances far longer than it should to get patients out of their care and into the hospitals’ care. This means fewer ambulances on the street, and longer delays for help to arrive for 911 calls. Also, the number of 911 calls usually triples during Mardi Gras, so it will be extra crowded.

Anyway, the advice is, don’t get hurt, start a fire, or do anything else that would require you to call 911.

Have fun!

6

This thread is better suited for In My Humble Opinion.

I’ll move it for you.

Cajun Man
for the SDMB

7

If you go parade watching on the Metairie route, you’ll probably see the Riverdale High School Marching Scottish Rebels. That’s the only route they went on when I was in school.

8

Thanks, Jason for posting the parade schedule, and tsarina for the invite; I’ll let you know if I do come down.

I know how bad NOLA is right now, have seen recent photos from friends. It will never be what it once was, but Carnival has always been about celebrating despite hardship, and looking toward rebirth and spring. NOLA so needs that now.

As an aside, anyone know if there are NOLA diaspora Mardi Gras celebrations planned? Curious if Houston is doing this for the new residents there.

9

I don’t know about Houston but other cities have had Mardi Gras celebrations for years, staged by New Orleans residents who migrated elsewhere. St. Louis is one of these cities.

Mardi Gras is an even older tradition in Mobile that it is in New Orleans. It was settlers from Mobile who brought Mardi Gras to New Orleans.

10

The first modern Mardi Gras staged by a krewe, that is.

11

elelle

I’ll second tsarina’s recommendation that you come on down, and not just because the two of us inaugurated the first Tulane ‘PJ’s at Stern’ Dopefest last week.

Some reasons:

(1) It’s actually safer in Uptown than it’s been in my six years in town. Random crime has dropped significantly. Not many folks are wandering the street after dark. If you’re not going to buy or sell any crack, you’re not likley to get involved in any drug related violent crime.

(2) It will be easier to see parades - - while there will be fewer starting Uptown - - they’ll all be on the same route, though Zulu won’t begin all the way Uptown. If you prefer family oriented parading, come up to Napoleon Avenue. If you like a rowdier, more adult crowd, stay on Canal Street.

(3) We need people from outside NOLA to see how things are down here and report back to their family and friends. We’re down, but not out. We’ve some big problems to fix, and we need some help fixing them, but we’ve done a lot of recovery work and the parts of town that didn’t flood are getting more normal every day.

Considerations:

Hotels are full of FEMA and insurance workers and displaced residents. It will be hard to find a room. Plan ahead. If you have a car, consider staying in Algiers on the West Bank of the river.

The streetcar route on St. Charles isn’t operational. There are buses on that route, so you can still get around, but it’s not normal. Riverfront cars are working, and I think some on Canal are as well.

Restaurants can be very crowded, as fewer are open. Going early is a good option if you cannot get reservations. Rumor has it that it’s easier to dine in the French Quarter than it’s ever been as most locals don’t eat there.

As for things to do:

Sightsee in the French Quarter. Shop on Magazine Street. Stroll in Audubon Park. Get a drink at the Columns Hotel. Have a beer at Cooter Brown’s. Breakfast at the Bluebird Cafe on Prytania near Louisiana Avenue. Get dinner at Dick and Jenny’s on Tchoupitoulas. Drive through Lakeview and thank God you don’t live below sea level. Go to the zoo. Take a riverboat cruise. See a parade. Have dinner at Vincent’s Italian Restaurant on St. Charles near the Riverbend. Go to House of Blues. Go to Tipitinas. Have fun. As long as folks can come visit and be happy and have fun, then the hurricanes won’t win.

12

I don’t know how the Hurricane Katrina aftermath has affected Carnival, but a few years ago when I tried to make reservations in September, I couldn’t find any hotel rooms left in the city for under $200/night. We ended up staying in a suburb across the river, and taking the ferry.

13

On the subject of hurricanes, stop by Pat O’Brien’s and drink one.

14

Friends have told me that they are planning on going to St. Louis this year. They didn’t expect to find a place to stay in New Orleans.

15

Mr. Legend and I would love to go to New Orleans for Mardis Gras. Some friends of ours are playing at different events on Feb. 25 and 26, and we’re dying to go see them. However, it’s looking impossible.

We have frequent flyer tickets on Southwest, and it looks like there’s one flight in and one flight back that still has seats. There are, however, no rental cars available, and we can’t find a place to stay (the friends, whose houses/apartments are gone, will be sleeping on their friends’ floors themselves, and there won’t be room for friends-of-friends). The few hotels that are taking reservations are full up, except for one that’s asking $399 a night.

We’ve even considered the idea of driving in and sleeping in the car, but I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, especially that weekend. If any local has suggestions for finding a place to stay, I’d be delighted if you’d email me.

16

Also keep in mind that the areas of town where the parades will be are basically back to normal. I take the St. Charles bus (which is running along the old streetcar route, and is free of charge right now!) to school every day, and after I got used to seeing occasional piles of debris and a few boarded-up stores, I sometimes forget there was even a storm here.

So come have fun - the places that you’ll be seeing are as good as ever.

17

I haven’t been local for nearly two decades but I’d suggest looking Jefferson Parish for accomodations. They weren’t hit as hard.

18

Um…“Jefferson Parish” = “Metairie”, “Kenner”, “Jefferson”, and “River Ridge” on the East Bank; “Gretna”, “Westwego”, “Tarrytown”, "Marrero, “Avondale”, etc. on the West Bank.

19

Check for space at Bed and Breakfasts. You may wind up way Uptown, but that’s good thing, IMHO.

Check Algiers, Gretna, Harvey, Westwego, Kenner, Metairie. All of these areas are in the metro NOLA area south of Lake Pontchartrain, anywhere from 5 - 15 miles from the FQ and Uptown. Check in Slidell, NE of NOLA on I-10, about 20 miles from NOLA. Check in Mandeville and Covington. These are communities on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, about 30 miles from NOLA. All would require some driving, but the rates are probably lower.

20

I wouldn’t, unless you like being stuck in traffic for a couple of hours.