New Orleans, Louisiana:
The Big Easy Revisited
by Sean Fulton
We’ve all seen the destruction that hurricane Katrina threw at the city and people of New Orleans.
And now, the rebuilding process is well underway.
Many of our readers have been generous in helping with the rescue and rebuilding effort, whether donating money to the dozens of legitimate charities helping survivors, or providing relief flights for people and supplies into and out of the region.
But the long-term success of the city and its suburbs will be found in the strength and resolution of the people who live there. Many fled the hurricane and will never return. But many have returned, and have been busy trying to rebuild the city into the wild, sometimes bawdy vacation destination it once was.
With so much focus on the devastation, and so many conventions, vacations and business trips to the region cancelled, we felt the best way we could help in the rebuilding would be to remind our readers what a great place New Orleans was—and will be again. Our focus is on the good things the Crescent City has to offer, because every reader who makes New Orleans will be helping to re-build the local economy.
So here is a remix version of the story we ran in January 2004. We’ve tried to update it with the most current information available at press time, and we’ve included links and contact information you can use to plan your trip.
Enjoy the story. And if there ever was a time to work New Orleans into your flight plan, this is it!
—The editors
Much like the city it made famous, Mardi Gras is part culture, part religion, and part excuse to venture into the street and have a blast.
 The Mardi Gras celebration is based on a single day, the so called “Fat Tuesday,” when Christians indulge in one last fling at debauchery before a week of fasting and prayer that make up Lent. But over the years this single day has stretched to more than a week of festivities, with many New Orleans’ streets filled with a wall-to-wall carnival atmosphere in which almost anything goes.
New Orleans is an upbeat experience any time of year, but in January and February, the tempo rapidly builds. A mix of French and southern cultures, the city is at once elegant and casual, unhurried yet precise. It has a complex—almost schizophrenic—personality that is unlike any other in America. Certainly a place to visit at least once in a lifetime.
 The Party Of The Year
The most popular destination in New Orleans is Bourbon Street, one of the oldest streets in the historic French Quarter. It is a place where five-star hotels, trendy clubs and stuffy restaurants adjoin strip joints and peep shows. It is a 24-hour-a-day lifestyle that often makes Manhattan look like a sleepy suburb.
The Mardi Gras celebrations officially start in January, when hundreds of King cake parties are held throughout the city. The centerpiece of each party is a cake covered with almond cream paste or icing and festooned in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple green and gold.
By mid-February, the parades begin with literally hundreds of ethnic, private and charitable organizations, known as Krewes, holding parades to celebrate the coming of Mardi Gras.
There are many sources for the parades and the tradition of throwing beads or trinkets at the crowd. The most widely accepted story is that in 1871, to welcome the Grand Duke of Russia, one Krewe selected the King of their annual ball with a King cake, and dressed him up in royal garb for a Mardi Gras parade in honor of the Duke.
Along the route, the Mardi Gras King tossed coins and beads at revelers along the route, and so the tradition of “throws” and screaming, “Throw me somethin’, Mister” from the crowd began.
Where the tradition of dropping your top in response to a throw began is anyone’s guess.
Activities reach their zenith on Fat Tuesday, February 28, when each Krewe holds its annual party or ball, and fun-loving revelry spills out onto the street for a non-stop parade of excess.
According to city officials, Mardi Gras celebrations will go on. To get the very latest information, visit mardigras.com on the web.
 A Multi-Cultural History
New Orleans’ nightlife, food, culture and personality reflect the very diverse cultures that ruled it for much of its early life. The city was founded by the French in 1718 in a swamp along the banks of the Mississippi River. In 1762, France turned the city over to Spain, which operated it as a colony until 1800, when it was returned to France. France sold New Orleans as part of the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803.
The city’s original footprint was the French Quarter, laid out on a crescent of land along a bend in the Mississippi River. The famous Bourbon Street wasn’t named after the Kentucky beverage, but rather, after the Bourbon family in France. It was the last street to be built as part of a grid system of streets in the French Quarter.
For many years, French and Spanish settlers stayed exclusively in the French Quarter, and Canal Street was the dividing line between the European settlers and their American neighbors. Many of the buildings in the French Quarter have accents of both French and Spanish architecture, with inner courtyards, metal gates and other charming, old-world details.
As a U.S. city, New Orleans grew as a major shipping port in the slave trade, with thousands of African and Haitian slaves passing through its docks each year. After the civil war, with the slave trade gone, New Orleans was left in bankruptcy. The few businesses that succeeded were gambling and prostitution.
To help raise cash, Louisiana founded the first state lottery, but instead of going toward reconstruction, much of the money raised was taken by corrupt politicians. It is here that the city’s wink and nod philosophy toward law and politics was born.
Like Savannah, Georgia, New Orleans’ economy was built by shipping but salvaged by tourism. In the early part of the 20th century, the city prospered because of its location as an inland port for ships coming from the Gulf of Mexico up the Mississippi River.
Because of its proximity to the oil industry in Texas, New Orleans became a major oil shipping port. This also caused the city to fall onto economic hardships during the 1980s, when the oil crisis forced companies to cut redundant facilities in New Orleans and move operations to Texas.
To help restore the downtown area, the city hosted the 1984 World’s Fair, which resulted in a massive redevelopment along the city’s riverfront. Marketing of Mardi Gras has fueled economic recovery to the point where New Orleans remains a popular tourist destination.
 City Of Extremes
In addition to the French Quarter, New Orleans offers three different city segments, each with its own distinct personality, and each well worth exploring during your stay.
New Orleans’ downtown district is its second most popular tourist destination. The downtown area sits most adjacent to the French Quarter, on the opposite side of Canal Street which once served as the dividing line between the American residents and Europeans. The downtown district is home to the city’s convention center, the Aquarium of the Americas, a casino and the Riverwalk Marketplace, a half-mile stretch of riverfront that is home to more than 140 shops, boutiques and restaurants.
Ironically, a third New Orleans district was formed in 1816, when a break in the levee holding back the Mississippi River flooded the uptown area of New Orleans with rich silt from the riverbed. The land was ideal for planting gardens popular with the aristocracy of the time.
Because prosperous Americans flocking to the city after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 were unwelcome in the French Quarter, they built their stately mansions and gardens between Magazine Street and St. Charles Avenue, creating what is today called the Garden District.
The fourth region of New Orleans, the area around City Park, which is one of the highest points of the city. This 1,500-acre park is the fifth largest municipal park in the United States, and boasts four, 18-hole golf courses. There are also miles of hiking and bicycling trails, open fields for sports, tennis courts, and even a lake for fishing.
 Cajun, Creole, And Fine New Orleans Dining
New Orleans dining is famous for its cajun and creole cuisine. And while those terms today describe food, they were originally coined to define groups of people who lived in the region.
A creole was originally any person of the old world (France or Spain) who was born in the new world (New Orleans). A Cajun was a member of a small group of French colonists from the Arcadian region of France who migrated to Nova Scotia and then to southern Louisiana. The term “cajun” has been alternately defined as a permutation of Arcadian or Canadian, depending on who you ask.
When it comes to food, the terms cajun and creole reflect these different ethnic cultures. Creole cooking is defined less by the French and more by the ingredients of the new world. It is simpler fair, traditionally made in cast iron pots, with regional ingredients like rice, seafood, peppers onions and celery. Cajun cooking is typified by “gumbos,” which are rich, spicy soups with seafood and okra, and “jambalaya,” which is a stew based on shellfish, meats and rice cooked in broth. Jambalaya reflects the regions Spanish influence with foods like paella.
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Creole cooking is defined more by traditional French recipes made with American ingredients. Typical creole dishes include the simple okra beignets, or fritters, and the complex Chicken Rochambeau, which is a sauteed chicken breast covered with tarragon hollandaise sauce served on a toast that has been layered with ham and smothered with a rich mushroom sauce.
For the best places to stay, avoid the larger chain hotels and visit the eclectic, architecturally exciting local hotels that dot the city. Many of the best places are located in historically-significant buildings, with New Orlean’s trademark balconies and wrought-iron railwork that is ideal for parade-watching and bead catching.
Do That VooDoo That You Do
In stark contrast to Mardi Gras’ connection with Christianity is New Orleans’ active VooDoo community. VooDoo is a religious practice that was brought to New Orleans by African and Haitian slaves. The term VooDoo means great spirit, and in true VooDoo, there is nothing in the true practice of VooDoo about blood sacrifices, vampires or devil worship.
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Because the slaves were unable to practice religion in the New World, many adopted Christian names and parallels for their VooDoo beliefs, keeping the spirit alive as a parallel, underground religion. Yet another group of practitioners, called HooDoos, has adopted elements of European witchcraft and the occult as part of their religion. Today, an estimated 15 percent of New Orleans’ population believes in VooDoo.
The Big Easy
Although Mardi Gras is the busiest time of year for the city, you’ll find its citizens relaxed and unhurried by the frenzy going on around them.
Perhaps it is because of the city’s multi-cultural history. Or perhaps it is because its growth was fueled by political corruption. Or perhaps it is because it has become accustomed to playing host for one of the biggest parties in the world. Whatever the reason, you’ll find New Orleans to be a welcoming city which has worked hard over the years to earn the name, “The Big Easy.”
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New Orleans
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