New Orleans Mardi Gras 2017

The continental United States, to me, has always been sorted into five major groups: the Midwest, the West Coast, the East Coast, the South, and... Florida. Until February 21, the South was the only one I'd left untouched, and it may have stayed that way if it weren't for two things. 1) My love for cultural celebrations (and taking trips in general), and 2) My friends that I met in Chile live in Mississippi and Louisiana! Long before leaving Chile, we agreed that we'd get together for Mardi Gras and we made it happen.

The South is arguably the most culturally unique group of the five mentioned above. The norms, attitudes, and, most importantly, the food play a great role in this statement. From the start, the South was obviously different.

Norms
I flew into Memphis, Tennessee, the closest major airport to Oxford, Mississippi (home of Ole Miss) at one hour. Riley kicked off my week in the South at a pub called Silky O'Sullivan's on Beale Street, or what I've heard described as "The Bourbon Street of Memphis". The attraction here being the famous "Diver Bucket," a large drink served in... an actual bucket. The ingredients were neither disclosed in the menu, nor in person when I asked (I saw her add beer). In addition, O'Sullivan's was home to several "jumping goats" that they kept in an enclosure on the patio.

Riley rushed me to finish my bucket, meanwhile hardly helping, so that we could hurry off the the lavish Peabody Hotel for their famous Duck March. There, a circus ringleader gave a 15 minute spoken intro to the show, before setting this group of ducks on a brief walk from the fountain in the lobby, down a red carpet, and into the elevator. This lasted maybe a full minute, and that concluded the Duck March, which draws hundreds of people to this hotel lobby two times every day. So far, Memphis has shown me that it seems to be a norm to have unusual animals as attractions in both hotels and bars.

Attitudes
After the Duck March, we headed for Oxford, Mississippi, where Riley lives and studies at Ole Miss. Here, I reunited with another study abroad friend, Megan (also an Ole Miss student). I hung around Oxford for a few days, while Riley finished off her school week, before we headed to New Orleans. To pass the time, we spent some time in the bars on the downtown Square and ate at some of the major foodie locations that Oxford is famous for. While the South does have a reputation for some skewed radical views (none of which did I face, as it seems I stayed in the right places... and with the right people), they also have a reputation for this thing called "southern hospitality". While my friends were obviously very hospitable to me, I didn't expect to have most of my food and drinks bought for me, not only by my friends, but also by their friends. This proved the uniqueness in the general attitude.

Food
"I need two chicken-on-a-sticks, one pizza-on-a-stick, and one of everything else," said Megan to the clerk at the Oxford-famous Mobil Gas station, typically referred to as just "Chicken-On-A-Stick". Leading up to this trip, I was told countless times that I needed to try Chicken-On-A-Stick before leaving Oxford. I found it to be delicious, but nothing particularly special. I love chicken tenders of all kinds, and this was nothing short of a giant chicken tender with a stick through the middle of it to keep it from falling apart. What other specialties did I cross in Oxford? Grits, crawfish, (Big Bad) Barbecue, and basically any other fried food that you can think of.

New Orleans, on the other hand, had Po'Boys GALORE, cajun everything, beignets (square pieces of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar. Originally introduced to Louisiana by the Acadians), giant specialty cocktails, and... also lots of fried food. Both cities proved the uniqueness of the South's food. Riley and I made the five-hour excursion down that way on the afternoon of February 24, arriving just in time for the latter half of the day's Mardi Gras parade in Uptown New Orleans.

Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") refers to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday (Wikipedia). Mardi Gras is famously celebrated in the state of Louisiana because of it's historically French influence, with New Orleans holding the largest celebration.

Riley and I met up with Ciarra, yet another study abroad friend, in her home of New Orleans for the Uptown parade that Friday night, each sporting purple, gold, and green clothing and the dozens of beads that we would go on to catch during the parade. Following the parade, we visited a few bars and house parties, nightlife that would remain very alive for the duration of Mardi Gras.

The next day, we picked up two gallons of New Orleans Original Daiquiris (known outside of Louisiana as "Fat Tuesday") and headed for Mid-City. We set-up camp on the parade route at 12pm to grill out and soak up some sun in the refreshing 70° weather until the parade began at 4:15. Once the parade started, we watched for a few hours, relocating for a better view early on, only to find out that a drunk driver had hurled his truck into the crowd of our original spot, hitting 28 people along the way. We collected all the beads our necks could hold, returned to Ciarra's house for dinner, and headed to the famous Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter.

Here, the street was so congested with people (and foul odors) that we could hardly get to our desired destination, but we did end up in a bar with a balcony. We bought some beads, went onto the balcony overlooking Bourbon Street, and did what felt like the cherry on top of my time in New Orleans: threw out beads to those below that went craziest for them.