Mardi Gras in New Orleans

I've crossed another item off my Bucket List! I spent Mardi Gras IN Louisiana!! This picture shows me standing in front of the apartments that my friends, Judy, Ruth, Sabrina, and I stayed in on our first night in Louisiana. Ruth's friends, Kent and Tookie, let us use their apartments right IN the French Quarter!
The first thing we did the next morning was head directly over to the famous Cafe du Monde and have their world-famous beignets. Ohhhhh, they were heavenly. They are a square donut-type pastry, but even better tasting, sprinkled liberally with powdered sugar, and served warm straight from the fryer. Amazing!

That meal sort of set the stage for the rest of our week-long trip which turned out NOT to be all about Mardi Gras, but all about Cajun food! Check out all the stuff they serve at the restaurant/market in the photo below!Truly, the food is the reason to go to Louisiana, if you ask me, the food and the incredibly friendly people. I'm the sort that wants to try local cuisine, especially if there's something I've never had, and I had ample opportunity for it on this trip. More on that later!This is a picture of (allegedly) Brad Pitt's house. I don't remember exactly what parish or little town this house is in, and I say allegedly because although we drove by this house a number of times we never did see anyone outside, let alone Brad, Angelina, or their kids. Isn't it a beauty, though? And totally surrounded by very old, very stately and gorgeous oak trees hung with moss. I knew Brad lived somewhere near New Orleans from hearing about his Make it Right Foundation on the Ellen Degeneris show. The foundation is raising money for post-Katrina re-building and Ellen (who was born in New Orleans) spent most of January helping raise money for the foundation.

Speaking of Katrina damage, I'll be posting some photos of the damage I saw when Larry drove Ruth and I through the 9th Ward, which was hard hit. I'm still going through the nearly 1,000 photos I came home with, weeding out the bad ones (way more than I like to admit!) and I'll also be receiving copies of the pictures taken by my friends, so I may post some of those as well.

Also speaking of Katrina damage, let it be known that Louisiana, and New Orleans in particular, is NO LONGER underwater!! The people there are very anxious for tourism to return to its pre-Katrina level because so many people make their living from tourist dollars. I HIGHLY recommend a visit there; you will love it. From the lovely old plantations, to the fascinating Bayou, to the FOOD, and the crazy Cajun patois, you'll love it!!

I'll be posting more photos and info about my trip there in future posts so I hope you'll check back soon! (Better yet, go to http://www.bloglines.com/ and register to recieve automatic notification whenever I update my blogs!) You won't be sorry!!