On Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras Day
This pic was taken by www.nola.com on the "Bourbocam" webcam on 2/28 a.k.a. "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras" Day at 7 p.m. They had live feeds of the action, and archived some photos.
Mardi Gras was definitely less crowded than it was 2 years ago, but people in the service industry were genuinely happy to have the tourists there. As our airport shuttle driver said, "Thank you for coming and putting your money into our economy." She said New Orleans' top money makers are Mardi Gras, Conventions, and the Port.
We did notice some differences in quality of service at some places we visited. Many of the hotel and restaurant workers were evacuees and have not returned. Many restaurants were operating with shortened hours and limited menus. Saturday night at 9 p.m. it was difficult to find open restaurants! Almost every place we went had signs in the window that they were accepting applications. A lot of shops were not open, but a lot of others were (and keep in mind that some are closed anyway during Mardi Gras.) I imagine this will get better as more people return, or others decide to move to where workers are needed. Many "Fat Tuesday" costumes were political, but showed the remarkable sense of humor they have about the hurricane.
The water & local fish had been tested by the EPA and approved for consumption.
The city smells the same as it did when we visited 2 years ago. (My firefighter friend Kevin, who went down to help post-hurricane Katrina said it smells much better now.)
If you are going to ALA, here are my recommendations: if your schedule permits, go to brunch at The Court of Two Sisters (make reservations!) Take the (free) ferry over to Algiers and visit Mardi Gras World. Shop til you drop to help boost NOLA's economy, and remember to pack your sunscreen. (I'm sunburnt!)
More pics on my flickr account.
I had tagged some websites in del.icio.us for the rest of our group to access, here are some links for New Orleans tourism and some for dining
Mardi Gras was definitely less crowded than it was 2 years ago, but people in the service industry were genuinely happy to have the tourists there. As our airport shuttle driver said, "Thank you for coming and putting your money into our economy." She said New Orleans' top money makers are Mardi Gras, Conventions, and the Port.
We did notice some differences in quality of service at some places we visited. Many of the hotel and restaurant workers were evacuees and have not returned. Many restaurants were operating with shortened hours and limited menus. Saturday night at 9 p.m. it was difficult to find open restaurants! Almost every place we went had signs in the window that they were accepting applications. A lot of shops were not open, but a lot of others were (and keep in mind that some are closed anyway during Mardi Gras.) I imagine this will get better as more people return, or others decide to move to where workers are needed. Many "Fat Tuesday" costumes were political, but showed the remarkable sense of humor they have about the hurricane.
The water & local fish had been tested by the EPA and approved for consumption.
The city smells the same as it did when we visited 2 years ago. (My firefighter friend Kevin, who went down to help post-hurricane Katrina said it smells much better now.)
If you are going to ALA, here are my recommendations: if your schedule permits, go to brunch at The Court of Two Sisters (make reservations!) Take the (free) ferry over to Algiers and visit Mardi Gras World. Shop til you drop to help boost NOLA's economy, and remember to pack your sunscreen. (I'm sunburnt!)
More pics on my flickr account.
I had tagged some websites in del.icio.us for the rest of our group to access, here are some links for New Orleans tourism and some for dining
posted by digital.brarian at
10:26 PM
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