Experience New Orleans Like Never Before

I think we would all be hard-pressed to identify the era in which we are living as a Joyous Time. We should appreciate what we have and make the best of our conditions but Joyous may be an over-achieving reference. 

However, to be fair, there are many great situations for which we can be grateful. And one of them is upon us right now. This essay is being written one week out from the Greatest Free Show on Earth - Mardi Gras in New Orleans. 

Several of the more than 70 parades held annually this time of year through the streets of this historic city, founded 1699 on Mardi Gras Day, have taken place but the grandest processions are yet to come. 

Going out on a limb here there can be no happier city throughout this great land that is America. 

New Orleans, over the entire time of her more than 250 year existence, has never strayed from the commitment to be a joyous place. The entire culture of New Orleans  - the art, the music, the architecture, the pace of life, the culinary traditions, and much more- has been historically authentic. This City did not have to create false narratives or steal from the experiences of other places. New Orleans was and always is true to herself. 

That counts in an era when so much is not authentic. Some places make up a narrative or play out remembrances of events that never actually happened in their histories or create buildings and experiences that are new. Nothing wrong with that,if those are the only choices available. Yet, nothing compares to authentic, being in the middle of a place where actual events, actual history, actual people lived lives and created structures and stories where it all took place. 

New Orleans is such a place. You can still stroll the streets of the original village and learn what happened to the population that came before.  That has value. The current population is committed to progress alongside preservation. 

The entire season of Carnival with the crescendo of the build-up on Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) reminds us of Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, Central Europe, Caribbean Islands in the celebration of other cultures and their customs, their history, their art done in their honor on the streets of New Orleans.

What needs to be factored in here is that the manner in which it is all celebrated, Carnival, the season, and Mardi Gras, the day, are unique to New Orleans. There is a very large industry which New Orleans has grown on its own, for its own satisfaction. The singular structure of celebrating in this manner during the time before the Lenten season happened in New Orleans and came from New Orleanians. 

The uniqueness of the annual celebration is sometimes lost in the revelry but this whole structure and the resulting festivities goes on like this nowhere else. There are obviously other celebrations but none have this structure nor this history. Importantly, the festivities have real reasoning behind their staging. Carnival in New Orleans is not just about attracting people to a mid-winter citywide event. There are organizations with members, commercial activities, social activities which have been staged and celebrated by the entire community for years. 

Importantly, these activities are open to all who wish to join in. You should be here. You can stay in the lap of luxury at the Windsor Court Hotel in the geographic center of this historic place and you can participate to your heart’s content. Go as big or as little as you wish. Do you want to join others, or to have others join you? No issue with either approach. 

New Orleans and the Windsor Court Hotel bid you Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez - Let the Good Times Roll. Around Carnival Time, or whenever you choose.