Every bit as famous as the Mardi Gras and the French Quarter is this area's specialized cooking known as Creole Cuisine. It is an invention of New Orleans from a combination of French, Spanish and African influence based on the availability of certain local food items such as crawfish, turtle and amberjack. Throughout the Quarter, restaurants and eateries pour forth an aromatic cacophony to tantalize the senses. Hot and spicy, the aroma confronted us at every turn of a corner. The competition is so intense that restaurants have resorted to barkers standing outside the individual establishments holding samples of their fare for the passing crowds. Laura would later go on to attend a cooking school in the Quarter and learn the culinary art of preparing such delicacies as Oysters Rockefeller, and Shrimp Creole. We could not pass up the opportunity to order up a big old bowl of "bawled crawfish" so we could pop those heads off and suck their tails out. Yum-yum, but hot, oh ya, they were truly some hot stuff.

There are two heroes of New Orleans which are common names to the area. Andrew Jackson, who defeated the British attack on New Orleans in 1812 and his somewhat unwilling partner who carried the day, the pirate Jean Lafitte. Although the battle was actually fought south of the city it was for possession of New Orleans that the battle ensued. The battle and the relationship of its defenders to each other has been the source of many a great romantic novel.

The French Quarter has for many years been a tourist attraction and the local residents, for which there are many, have developed a method of living which tolerates the traffic and mischief of the partying crowds. They built their apartments so that the back faces the street. There is no lawn in the back. House back leads to sidewalk which leads to street. On the opposite side, or the front of the apartment is a court yard, connected to the outside world by one or more narrow corridors which are completely blocked off from the public by large iron gates. This is the living space for the locals, and affords them some privacy which they guard preciously. The back or outside is often ornamented by the classic French Quarter balcony with its appropriate wrought iron railings and hanging baskets. Elevated high above the street, it affords the resident a safe quiet perch in which to watch the frantic activities on the streets below.

The official Mardi Gras colors are a vibrant royal purple, gold and green. We were told that the official colors are actually copyrighted and as such protected from improper use without the permission of the Mardi Gras commission. You will see this color scheme in every conceivable decoration throughout New Orleans.

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