After all these years of living in New Orleans, I still love Mardi Gras. And now I know which…read moreparades and which locations are more fun. Bacchus is definitely at the top of my list. All floats are very colorful, throws are generous. You do have to beg for them though. You won't get anything if you are just standing there in a "smile and wave" fashion. Parade rolls through Uptown and stops in Downtown. Depending on what you are looking for, you can choose different locations. I prefer beginning of the route, since it is not so touristy. Lots of families/kids, so nobody will flash you in the face or try to kill you and your child for beads. This parade is definitely worth checking it out!

Y'know I used to love Bacchus with the BacchaGator and the BacchaWhopper and the Kong family (all…read moreare annual floats). But this year the themed floats were LAME. I think Bacchus is showing the age of it's krewe. C'mon "Saluting our WWII Veterans" may be a fine & noble theme, but it doesn't lend itself to exciting floats. Yawn. Props for the Bacchus foam football that looks like grapes.

Bayou St. John is hard to review. It's great for paddling or enjoying by sitting on the side. It's…read morenice to walk along and it's even better to stroll along Moss and look at the houses on the way to City Park. I reallllly need to be there for Bayou Bugaloo.

It's so nice to drive along Bayou Saint John! It's pleasant and also the houses around there are…read morenice. You can bring your crawfish & beer, your grill, or even a nice wine and cheese board and have a little picnic. If you're into water activities, there's always lots of people on their kayaks. There's also Bayou Boogaloo once year and so many restaurants close to it - Parkway Bakery, Bayou Beer Garden, Bayou Wine Garden.

What can you say about Bourbon Street? Answer, it's Party Central for New Orleans…read more Everybody hears all the stories about Bourbon Street. They're all true. Thus, everybody knows what it's like and what to expect. Basically, what you find here are tons and tons of bars, a few restaurants, a hotel or two, and a lot of people partying. The street is lined on both sides with the various bars and nightclubs pouring music out into the environment once the sun goes down. Inside these establishments, some are very full, some are very empty, but what you will be sure to witness are a bunch of people drinking a lot of alcohol. That's basically the whole essence of Bourbon Street. It is Party Central. Personally, I don't go to bars, and I don't like listening to bad cover bands playing very poor versions of vintage and contemporary songs. This being said, I do find Bourbon Street to be in a very interesting environment. What you'll see here is all kinds of cultural cross referencing. You have everybody from the high rollers, to the homeless, walking around, and doing whatever it is they do. It's really a very visual experience, both in terms of people watching, and culture watching, broadcast from these various business locations. So, if you're in New Orleans, Bourbon Street is a must see. You don't have to go into the bars. I don't. But, if you have a little time to kill, take a walk from the beginning of the street up the several blocks to where it becomes a semi quiet residential neighborhood. If nothing else, you'll get to have a very interesting look into New Orleans culture.

This is a long party of a street. Music, bars, eateries, hotels, shops, patios, dancing in the…read morestreet fun. A lot of people walking, cars driving etc. Well lit , national guard on scene. Blocks of excitement. Con: smells of urine and trash . Homeless people laying around and/or begging. Stay alert at all times!!! Overall a fun experience!

This year was not Mardi Gras. I grew up going to the parade and being under the bridge with my…read morefamily. The parade route was completely altered and I know this was not the fault of Zulu. But the traditions and culture were snubbed out. The parade didn't run like it normally does and I could have sworn several floats were missing. The Tramps were missing and it definitely felt like they should have still been able to walk the wind wasn't that bad and the route cut extremely short. Some of the police officers were extremely rude and terrorizing. Threatened to have people removed from the parade for crossing over the barricades to get the coconuts because the floats were so far away and it's illegal to throw coconuts but allowing people right next to them on both sides cross the barricades and not say a word. Mardi Gras was not Mardi Gras. The best was made out of a bad situation.

The Krewe of Zulu's 2020 parade - "Zulu's Book of Love and Cinema"…read more The Krewe of Zulu rolled Fat Tuesday on the Uptown Route, right before Krewe of Rex. This parade started early at 8:00a. We parked at a parking garage and made our way to Canal Street (it was quite a distance, some 5 or 6 blocks). Most of New Orleans streets were closed due to the parades so finding a place to park was challenging (and far). Background: One of the oldest Carnival parades in the city, Zulu dates back to the early 1900s. Louis Armstrong reigned as its King in 1949. Throw me a coconut! This fancy glittery orb is one of the most coveted throws of the Carnival... a Zulu hand-painted, glitzed up coconut. Actually, they are handed into the crowd rather than thrown, to avoid injuries (and probably lawsuits). One was handed to the lady next to me. Lucky! I overheard some people talk about families staking out their parade watching position... and they got there at 7:00a to stake their claim. what? whoa... I learn something new everyday. Yup, they had their lawn chairs, coolers (filled with dranks and food/snacks), and their "yellow" bags. It almost looks like those yellow shopping bags from IKEA. I've seen many people, they must've been "Mardi Gras regulars," carry these bags to store all the beads, trinkets, coconuts and doubloons that they catch from the floats. This Krewe is huge, like 40+ floats plus the participating marching bands in between. It was looooong but fun watching them as they were generous in their throws: Beads, cups, stuffed animals, plastic toys... Review #1737

The BEST TINY Parade EVAR!! I love this tiny parade!…read moreI love the quirky tiny floats, the political jabs and the awesome folks who create them. I even love the new day that they were given to roll this year; less competition with those 'other' BIG krewes. If you are OVER how big some Mardi Gras parades have gotten and want to enjoy a smaller parade with a smaller crowd and the COOLEST tiny hand-made trinkets, this is the parade for YOU!

What is 'tit Rex, you ask? New Orleans' only Micro Krewe! You've heard of the Super Krewes. Now, we…read morehave the opposite: 'tit Rex! With tiny floats, tiny dubloons, and tiny throws, this parade packs a whole lot of awesome. It's true that good things come in small packages. This parade is hysterically witty on so many levels. First of all, an actual parade with floats the size of a breadbox (or smaller) pulled by people with an invisible strand of fishing wire? Amazing. They make teeny, tiny throws like miniature dubloons, some of them are painted pennies, but some are about 1/4 the size of that. No idea where you can get something like that made, but apparently it's possible. Another reason 'tit Rex rocks is because of the name. It's pronounced "Tee Rex" (like T-Rex, get it?) and 'tit is short for the French "petit" (which I'm sure you know means small). So it's nerdy (T-Rex), local (I know someone who grew up here whose grandmother used to call him 'tit Earl, because he's Earl Jr.), and irreverent ('tit Rex is an obvious play on the most super of the super krewes, Rex). How awesome is that? This parade is in its third year, and I happened to work with one of the founders in 2009 when 'tit Rex first took place. Therefore, even though I didn't make the actual parade, I did get a chance to see some of the floats, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a tiny, tiny float. I also got to see the miniature dubloons when they got those made. They're so cool. I was extremely sad when I didn't end up catching one the following year when I attended the actual parade. 'tit Rex is on February 26th this year, and begins at Bacchanal in the Bywater. It ends at Saturn Bar, and it mostly goes down Burgundy. You can see the parade route on their blog. I highly, highly recommend you check this parade out. It's comical. This year, I intend to find a step stool and turn it into a parade ladder. Still haven't decided whether or not it needs a ladder box, though.

Take this from somewhere close to Bourbon to the NOMA from - New Orleans Museum of Art. It's only…read more1.25 each way. Exact change only. But also do it just to do it. Not only will you most likely get to see some interesting "characters" on the ride back and forth but also get to a different view from the main tourist center. PS- it's rarely staying on schedule so just go with the flow! Sometimes your driver will just get out at one of the stops if he has to use the facilities!

All I can say is take a ride on a trolley cuz riding in it is an adventure in itself! It's only…read more1.25 each way. And sometimes, without any warning it's free! We too NOMA and the big city park. It was a terrific way to spend half a day.

This is a nifty area of Kenner that has some good restaurants and some very interesting spaces and…read moreplaces to investigate. There is a lot of potential for this place to develop into a shopping and entertainment district but so far that hasn't happened. I mainly end up in this area when I'm visiting to eat at Gendusa's which has some good food and draws quite a crowd of its own. Overall this area is worth a drive to check out and you can easily tour it quite fast and then enjoy some good food at Gendusa's.

This is a section of Kenner near the river that is several blocks. There is a planetarium, a local…read moretheater, a park, several restaurants, shopping and a pottery place (you can paint your own pottery, or take one of the classes and make your own masterpiece). Anywho, there are several things to do in the area.

The Muses super Krewe is the best. This undoubtedly is the most fun crew of all the floats in the…read moreparade on Saint Charles Street. We have been attending parades for the last 3 nights. And each night that the Muses come through they throw the coolest stuff to the crowds below and never miss a moment of entertaining everyone that came to see them. If you go anywhere in New Orleans on Mardi Gras and hear that this Krewe of Muses is having a parade, make time to go there and I strongly recommend you get there early. Because the crowd is going to be thick. Hint: Look for shoes.

The Krewe of Muses 2020 did not get to roll as planned on 2.20.2020 for our 20th Anniversary due to…read moreinclement weather. However, the Krewe did roll the following day! Although we were missing most of the marching units, we paraded on only as us Muses can ! It was an awesome ride and the crowds were out there cheering us on! "happy is he whom the Muses love"