I’m interrupting my usual sequence of posts that follow our itinerary because we finally got to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras 2023. It would be crazy to be telling you about it months from now!
Our friend Patricia dressed for Mardi Gras, enjoying the Zulu Parade from her Orleans Avenue home’s balcony
We made our very first visit to New Orleans in March 1991, for a 3 or 4 day catering convention. Since the convention was just a few days before our anniversary, we decide to extend our stay to be there for a full week. I recall quite fondly that we celebrated our special occasion at Susan Spicer’s Bayona. It was only a year or so old, but it was obvious to us that it would become legendary. We were so right!
Part of a Mardi Gras float just hiding out in an alley.
What I also remember, is just how crazy Bourbon Street was on an ordinary spring night. At the time I thought I would NEVER want to be in The Big Easy at Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras at the shopping mall in the French Quarter
That was then.
Store window display for Mardi Gras
We didn’t return to NOLA until 14 months after Katrina. It was our last stop of a six month RV journey that had taken us to 23 states in the eastern third of the country. That’s when we fell in love with both the RV lifestyle and New Orleans. The people here were so welcoming and grateful. Everywhere we went they thanked us for our support and for returning to their city.
Homes get decorated for Mardi Gras all over New Orleans
An empty Mardi Gras float parked on the street
There’s a lot to love here. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating – the people of New Orleans celebrate life each and every day, through their food, music and art. It’s what draws us back over and over.
Even the horses and their riders are in Mardi Gras regalia
Parking lot full of Mardi Gras floats ready for their parade route
We have visited New Orleans in the spring, fall and winter. There were two times of year that we have avoided in the 25 or 30 times we have been here. We absolutely do not want to be here in the summer. That will never change. But we also avoided Mardi Gras until this year. Suddenly I just HAD to experience it at least once in my life.
People setting up the night before Mardi Gras for the next day’s parade along Orleans Avenue
Parade route along Orleans Avenue seen from our friends Bill and Patricia’s balcony
We arrived at our RV park here on January 10. We were planning on staying here for at least 2 months, and had a job to do renovating someone’s RV. Lucky for us, we finished the reno just as Carnival Mardi Gras parades were picking up steam.
Mardi Gras Indians in their magnificent costumes that take the entire year to create by hand, one bead and feather at a time.
The Zulu Parade celebrating Mardi Gras 2023 New Orleans
Silly me. I thought that Mardi Gras was all there was. One day of debauchery and revelry. One really crazy day!!! Was I ever wrong.
Crowds, color and celebration mark Mardi Gras 2023
Zulu Sheriff Float
As it turns out, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a stretch of the year that lasts from one to three months. It begins in early January as Carnival. This year it started on January 6, and the streets came alive with music, art and revelers in costumes. It’s a time for eating, drink and merriment that culminates with Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday in English. The day after is Ash Wednesday, which is when Lent begins with it’s days of rigorous fasting and sacrifice that lead up to Easter.
Revelers along the Zulu Parade route seen from our friends’ balcony
Marching Bands along the parade route taken from our friends balcony
During Carnival there are days and nights filled with parades and balls and all sorts of celebrations. There are more than 100 Carnival balls each year, kicking off with the Twelfth Night Ball. Mardi Gras balls have a long history here. These balls date back to when Louisiana was a French colony.
Military Band marches along the parade route
The revelry is contagious. The crowds are unbelievable. And the traffic is ridiculous.
Our very first King Cake!
And there’s King Cake. Lots and lots of King Cake! “What is King Cake?”, you ask. It’s a sweet, circular dessert that’s the focus of the Catholic celebration of Epiphany that falls on January 6. There are many varieties of King Cake that include different fillings. But most begin as a cakey bread dough, rolled with lots of cinnamon and often cream cheese, that’s twisted into a ring (to resemble a king’s crown) and decorated with bright green, gold and purple sugar or sprinkles.
Another float from the Zulu Parade taken from our friends’ balcony
Zulu revelers right below our friends balcony on Orleans Avenue
Every King Cake contains a small trinket. Most often it’s a little plastic baby but it can also be a bean that hidden in the cake. It’s significant because whoever finds the baby in their slice gets to be king or queen for the day. And they also must host the celebration the following year.
And back at home we could continue the celebration watching on TV. Even dogs get into the party mood!
Once Carnival began, I found myself not wanting to work. At all. All Steve and I wanted to do each day was participate in the joyful celebration that would culminate with Mardi Gras 2023 in New Orleans last Tuesday!
You can see just how elaborate the Mardi Gras Indians costumes really are!
Oh. By the way, we are staying for 4 months so that we can FINALLY attend Jazz Fest which is the last weekend of April and the first weekend in May!!!
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