Early Mardi Gras in New Orleans

President’s Day was the same weekend of the start of Mardi Gras this year, so I made a trip out of it to experience the Mardi Gras lite version before I felt like I was too old for partying out till 4 AM.

I’m normally all about traveling alone, but New Orleans is a place you want to go with a group of friends who can eat and be crazy together. A lot of the things to do here are just way, way more fun and cost effective if you are with friends!

Housing tip: Get an airbnb early on with your friends to save money! A lot of people will swarm to the city to enjoy Mardi Gras so it will be difficult to find places even near the area once the date gets near.

Getting around:

Uber in general in New Orleans is not super widely available, and thus more expensive than usual (I hear lyft is better). And uber from the Airport is the same — pretty expensive. Instead, you can easily take the E-2 bus to somewhere in midtown (which is close to the french quarter) for like, a dollar or something super cheap.

Once in the city, the best way to get around is to walk or take the iconic trolley. Each ride is $1.25 and a day pass is $3. No reason to get a 3 day pass because it’s 3-day pass is $9. The trolleys don’t give you change back and also don’t sell the day passes on the trolleys anymore — you have to buy it either at a hotel, convenience store, or some of the payment machines at a larger trolley station in the middle of the French Quarter or elsewhere.

But be careful on relying on public transportation! During Mardi Gras season, a lot of the trolleys and buses don’t run regularly due to road blockages for the parades.

Wards of NoLa:

New Orleans (NoLa for short, or pronounced NAR-leenz by the locals apparently) is divided into a few main districts to visit:

• French Quarter: The cultural and social hub of New Orleans. Packed with bars and clubs, especially in famous Bourbon street, this district is mainly filled with tourists but tourists from all different age groups. The Spanish, French, Creole architecture is worth a visit for sure, and a bunch of the famous restaurants are located here too.
• Downtown/CBD: What you’d expect from the downtown district — lots of traffic, higher end restaurants, and Harrah’s is here, too. Southwest of FQ.
• Garden District: Southwest of Downtown, this area is huge and mostly residential. A notable part is the Audobon Park. It has a manmade pond, a horse park, a zoo and lots of areas to hang out, but nothing super notable or worth the trip.
• Marigny (pronounced mar-nee) north of FQ along the river bend, this area has the Frenchmen street known for live music and jazz and the fun of French Quarter minus the excessive partying and tourists. People say the walk from FQ to here is a bit sketch, but I walked around with two girlfriends with no problems.

Things to do:

Parades: A lot of parades happen during the weekend and most of the parades run through FQ and downtown. FQ streets are too small to fit big parade carts, so the parades here are all on foot but much more cozy and intimate! You will never have a beads shortage, and might win a garter, sunglasses, Check the many maps that they pass around for the yearly updated parade schedule.

Voodoo and Cemetery tours (free): New Orleans was built on a swamp, so people had to continuously come up with new ways to keep the bodies buried in their tombs because when it rained and flooded, the bodies would float away (spooky). So in New Orleans, a lot of the families have built crypts and stone tombs with holes in them to keep their family bodies in place. There are many cemeteries — the most famous and convenient place being St. Louis, which is a walking distance from the French Quarter. Although admission into these cemeteries is free, we’ve seen a lot of people take tours to hear about the spooky myths and stories of NoLa. If you want to knock out two birds with one stone, make a reservation at Commander’s Palace and right across the street is the Lafayette Cemetery №1 which also has the creepy vibes you’re looking for once the sun sets, but has a rather nice vibe during the day.

National World War II Museum ($24): Admission is $24 for adults and $14 for students. I did not go (lol) but a lot of the locals here suggested it as a top must-do sort of a thing for NoLa. I am a pretty against going to museums that isn’t art related on vacation so I skipped it.

Swamp Tours (~$60): An hour or two drive away, Cajun Encounters Tour Company takes you to Honey Island Swamp, where you can see the captain feed wild boars and alligators. Mid February was the earliest time alligators started being active. So we didn’t get to see many larger ones, but did see plenty of pigs and random snakes on the way. The captain is usually very knowledgable, and you get a relaxing hour or two ride in a small boat. If you don’t want to get sunburned, try to avoid being late since their last few boats don’t have a roof for cover. Cajun Encounters will pick you up from your hotel so make sure to organize that before you leave! Bring sunscreen and water. But if you forget, they have a small store before the tour starts with plenty of bathrooms. Similarly, you can go on a plantation tour for around $100 that takes you on a nice stroll around a plantation with a meal and this takes most of the day.

Harrah’s: Downtown, there is a huge casino called Harrah’s. When I was there, the NBA superstar game was then so a bunch of rich basketball players had headed that way, too. There are a few restaurants inside as well as the Acme oyster house (also in FQ but with a long line usually). At any game table, you can request free drinks, but I waited for ~15 minutes and didn’t get one so it might take a while! A trolley runs right outside the door so it’s convenient to get to and from.

THE PARTY: When you’re not doing anything special, the city itself has plenty to keep you entertained. French Quarter Bourbon street has fish tank drinks (super sugary refillable — not worth), huge ass beers (50 oz? or something crazy like that?), mango daiquiris ($10 for an old barely alcoholic smoothie — not worth), a “hurricane” with 5 different types of liquor from 801 Royal, and countless other drinks served in souvenir cups. There is bull riding, test tube shots, free dancing, and lots of people handing out coupons for free drinks. It is unreal. I highly recommend the $5 irish coffee drink from Molly’s Irish Pub.

An alternate to the crazy party vibe is Frenchmen street with the live jazz and bands (you usually have to buy a drink as “cover”). Bacchanal wine, which is a bit far of a walk, is a super well rated wine house that sells some light appetizers and small dishes in a cozy backyard. They have a live band in there with plenty of seating both indoor and outdoor.

When you are done with drinking for the night and want some more unhealthy decisions, head over to Café Du Monde (open 24/7) for some classic sweet beignets, and HERE is a bunch of the restaurants you should try!