Mardi Gras and.. Exploring! (New Orleans, Metairie: eat, things to do, cars)

[frank90]

So I'm turning 21 and my friend and I want to go to New Orleans on my birthday March 8th.

We are traveling by car from NC and would like to explore and be open minded on some cool things to do and eat.

Mardi Gras is one thing we love to do however if anything else worthwhile comes up then we would love to try it.

I hear you guys have some delicious food. I understand the commercialized Popeyes and Bojangles does not have anything on you guy's cooking...

[Pook77]

Big question is: have you secured accommodations yet? If not, you're going to have a very difficult time. If you do find them, be prepared to pay top dollar (or stay outside of the city). Rooms for Mardi Gras sell out months ahead of time.

[frank90]

Good point. No we haven't looked into any rooms yet. I was thinking a commute to an outside town would do.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

If you are trying to drive somewhere on Mardi Gras day, you need to be aware of parade routes and where the traffic will be. Maybe come in to town around 6:30 a.m.

[Drouzin]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

If you are trying to drive somewhere on Mardi Gras day, you need to be aware of parade routes and where the traffic will be. Maybe come in to town around 6:30 a.m.

Yes, 6:30 AM, (she's not kidding), if you want a fairly okay spot on the parade route. People here set up on the neutralground, (y'all call it a median), as early as days in advance and sleep in tents just in order to keep the family's traditional spot. Now if you are coming in from the west, you want to leave that early because you are going to have to navigate through a few parade routes, or be in traffic with all the other people on the interstate who are trying to make it into town, and perhaps even stuck in with some of the floats trying to make it to their staging areas. If you are coming in from the east you can give yourself a little longer to sleep in because it won't be so bad because between Slidell and N.O. there aren't a whole lot of parade routes to avoid.

Either way MG activities start around 8AM, the big parades like Rex, Zulu, Argus (Metairie) are going to start about that time give or take. In the Quarter you've got the costume contest, the Half Fast Marching Band, and the St. Anne, (my fave) starting early as well.

You can take you time and get where you are going later on, but finding a place to park, and just plain old getting around is going to be really difficult for someone not familiar with the city and the various parade routes. If that is the case, I highly suggest that you look into taking a cab or you may find yourself pulling your hair out after the first hour or so of trying to find a place to park. I could also get into the whole parking ticket thing, but I'll just stick to don't park on the neutralground, (especially on Claiborne), no matter how tempting and how many cars you see sitting there. By the end of the day, you will pass by and see that every one of them has a ticket on the windshield.

I'm going to send you some suggestions via DM so keep an eye out for it.

[thepointykitty]

I know the rules are weird on here regarding links, but if you go to the French Market Facebook page they have a link to the parking company which just started a pay in advance ticket system. You reserve your spot for a particular day and time, and print out your parking pass to take with you. I haven't used it but we probably will in the future sometime. We'll be taking the streetcar on Mardi Gras.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Ummm, I meant BE IN N.O. by 6:30 a.m., especially if you are coming in from Slidell or LaPlace.