Monday, March 06, 2006

Guest Blogger: Inside Mardi Gras

My friend Eric is a native New Orleanian. Fortunately, his family was OK after Katrina, and his home and business survived the hurricane with minimal damage. For the past 6 months, Eric has been providing me with an insider's perspective of what's happening in New Orleans as the city recovers and starts to rebuild (which is very helpful & not necessarily the same thing you see/hear on CNN). See below for Eric's account of the recent Mardi Gras celebrations:

I rode in Krewe of Babylon on Thursday prior to Fat Tuesday. Lots of fun. Thursday night is traditionally smaller crowds compared to the scenes you see on TV for Mardi Gras weekend. The wave of tourists don't arrive until Friday so our parade route was lined with mainly locals. Even then, we still had a healthy crowd of New Orleanians. Sort of tugged at your heart a little seeing people who you know experienced major devastation in their lives but can still put on a smile.

Weather was horrible on Saturday which is a day of one of the "super krewes." Sunday is the other big day. Both super krewes ended up rolling on Sunday. And what a day. Weather was incredible. Perfect. Crowds were one for the record books.

All in all, Mardi Gras was a success. Media were everywhere. When I rode, every two blocks we had a news reporter and/or photographer tracking the action. From what we saw, the media did a good job reporting the events and overall situation.

True, there is a lot of destruction. But the things that make New Orleans unique survived fortunately. From a tourist perspective, you can come to the city and not experience any tragedy. We don't want that of our visitors, but it's possible. New Orleans has a long road ahead but we're making progress.

Please remember much of New Orleans' economy was based upon tourism and conventions. Therefore visitors (and visitors spending $$) are critical right now to help the city get back on track. Upcoming French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest are excellent excuses for going to NO in the next 2 months.

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