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New Orleans, Rebounding & Recovering, Holds Third Mardi Gras Since Katrina |
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by Bruce-Michael Gelbert, with Joseph R. Saporito
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While some neighborhoods in New Orleans are undeniably still scarred by the devastating and destructive effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, three and a half years ago, other parts of the city have rebounded and recovered and demonstrated the spirit to make Mardi Gras, the biggest party the city throws for itself, on February 5 this year, a sensational event, attracting crowds of local and visiting revelers that, though they did not match pre-Katrina numbers, far exceeded those that attended the first post-hurricane event, in 2006. Celebrating Carnival season, your correspondents spent January 25 through February 7 in fairly exclusive accommodations at the Bear Trap, centrally located, just off Bourbon Street, in the French Quarter, across from the bar Lafitte in Exile and the Clover Grill diner, thanks to hosts Marc Anthoni and Cowboy Dave, and made the most of the city and the festivities. |
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We attended six of the dozens of big, colorful Uptown parades, which come down St. Charles Avenue and finish at Canal Street, just outside the Quarter, and caught a massive accumulation of 'throws,' Mardi Gras beads, doubloons, cups and other souvenirs, tossed from the floats. On January 26 were the Krewes, or Mardi Gras organizations, of Pontchartrain and Shangri-La's parades, with themes, respectively, of "Throw Me Something, Mister!" a salute to all the krewes and their parades, and "The Many Travels of Shangri-La," with floats representing destinations from foreign lands to the circus.
more photos ...
visit the gallery by Bruce-Michael Gelbert, Joe Saporito, & Friends
On January 30, the Krewe of Ancient Druids celebrated its 10th anniversary with a theme of "Druid X's," like "x-rated," "x-crement (our levees)," and "x-terminate," and the Krewe of Pygmalion honored "Heroes of Fact & Fiction." On February 3, Lundi Gras, Proteus, the second oldest krewe still parading, founded in the 1880s-Rex, its senior, dates from the 1870s-explored "Realms of Enchantment" and Orpheus, founded by singer and musician Harry Connick, Jr., served up "Cocktail Concoctions." Two more informal parades came through the Quarter. On January 27, we stepped out our front door to see the Barkus parade, involving hundreds of dogs and dog owners, sometimes in matching costume, with a theme of "Indiana Bones & the Raiders of the Lost Bark," and on Shrove Tuesday itself, proceeded down the block for the Society of St. Anne parade, a rambling affair, with much of the couture homemade.
The last two are very, though not exclusively, gay events. We also went to several specifically LGBT, leather and bear Mardi Gras celebrations. On chilly February 1, we caught the Night of Black Mask, the leather block party outside the leather bar, the Phoenix--our 'home bar' here on Elysian Fields, in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, across the street from newer watering hole, John Paul's--to which the Lords of Leather, the New Orleans Bear & Bear Trapper Social Club, and the Louisiana State Gay Rodeo Association contributed. Two nights later, when the weather had taken a much milder turn, we attended the 25th annual Lords of Leather, formal, dress leather and costume, masked ball, thanks to KaCey Roberts, Marc and Dave, across the Mississippi River in Westwego. It was billed as "The Lords of Leather Salute Superheroes" and the elaborate tableaux depicted the likes of Spiderman, X-Men's Archangel (Mr. Louisiana Leather 2004 Tim), Spawn (muscular Gary), and Catwoman (leatherwoman and singer Solitaire), with the new King and Consort costumed as Batman and Robin for their coronation.
The climax of Carnival season occurred on a wonderfully warm, sunny day and events included the Bourbon Street Awards, hosted by Bianca Del Rio, with many contestants wearing costumes created for the balls, and a Mardi Gras bead toss from the balcony of Ambush Magazine. We spent the awards ceremony 'backstage,' that is, on St. Ann off Royal, at the good suggestion of our friend Daddy Don, who works at the Phoenix and had treated us to a terrific home-cooked meal of turducken (chicken stuffed inside duck stuffed inside turkey) three days earlier. We saw the contestants as they approached or left the stage and didn't have to contend with the crowd of spectators outside Oz and the Bourbon Pub. We hung out on Bourbon Street afterwards to see the throngs expressing themselves sporting imaginative attire.
We spent a quiet afternoon, the previous week, visiting two Louisiana State Museums in the Quarter. At Jackson Square, across from the park and flanking St. Louis Cathedral, are the Cabildo and the Presbytère, which were once the seats of the Spanish and French governments, respectively, when those nations ruled this part of the country, and now house museums. We went to the latter, where the permanent exhibit "Mardi Gras: It's Carnival Time in Louisiana," displays historic Carnival costumes, jewelry, souvenirs and photos and takes note of the contributions of women, African-Americans, and gays to the festivities. Situated on two other sides of the park are the historic, three-story Pontalba Apartments, said to be the oldest apartment houses in America, designed by Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba, with stores on the ground floor and residences upstairs. The 1850 House, in the Lower Pontalba Building, is furnished with period artifacts and gives some idea of what antebellum life was like here. One bedroom wall includes a portrait of soprano Jenny Lind, who kept an apartment here when P.T. Barnum presented her on tour in this country in 1851. We devoted another afternoon to scouring such antiquarian and used bookstores as Aracadian Books (714 Orleans Street) and Librairie Books (823 Chartres Street), as well as the Louisiana Music Factory (210 Decatur Street).
Two places Marc Anthoni recommended to us for food, and which we would recommend in turn, were Angeli on Decatur (1141 Decatur Street), where we ordered appetizers, salad and pasta and doggie-bagged about half our dinner order, and the Croissant D'or Patisserie (617 Ursulines Street), where we bought croissants, quiches and baguettes for breakfast. We also ate at Petunia's (817 St Louis Street), long a favorite; La Peniche (1940 Dauphine Street), not far from the Phoenix; Bennachin-"a taste of Africa"-(1212 Royal Street); Déjà Vu (400 Dauphine Street), open 24 hours; Clover Grill (900 Bourbon Street), for late-night fare; seafood restaurant Ralph & Kacoo's (519 Toulouse Street); Eat (900 Dumaine Street), where Quarter Scene Restaurant used to be; and the Magnolia Buffet at Harrah's Casino (512 South Peters Street), after the parades. The 24-hour Quartermaster Deli, AKA "the Nelly Deli" (1100 Bourbon Street); Rowse's Market (at St. Peter's & Royal), where the A&P used to be; CC's Royal (941 Royal), Community Coffee's shop; Southern Candymakers (334 Decatur); and Café Beignet and Café du Monde, for powdered sugar-covered beignets, also figured into our nourishment needs.
We saw old friends while we were in New Orleans, including, besides those mentioned earlier, Rick Caravalho, whose partner, Dan Chavers, passed away since we'd last seen him; Princesse Stephaney; Danny Alford; James and Robert; Dan Armstrong; Kevin Chesnut; Neil and Don from Los Angeles; Paul from Texas; JT from Key West; Bobby "Boots," formerly of Fire Island; and Bear Dave from Las Vegas, and made new ones, including Scott, King of the Krewe of Satyricon, and Jim, owners of a year-old male miniature quarter horse named Rowdy, who is anything but, and gets a lot of attention.
We took a great many photographs and share some of them here.
more photos ...
visit the gallery by Bruce-Michael Gelbert, Joe Saporito, & Friends
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photos by Bruce-Michael Gelbert |
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