NEWORLEANS

NEW ORLEANS

FEBRUARY, 1996

On my circuitous trek from Fort Lauderdale to Phoenix I managed to find time to spend a day in the photogenic French Quarter of New Orleans. The Cajun flavor is as thick and pungent as you were led to believe. I arrived a week after Mardi Gras and its mask was still apparent. Bawdiness and class intermingle in this fun and frightening town. Don't linger too far from Bourbon Street alone!

Make sure to visit the French Market Flea Market. You can actually buy Voodoo dolls there! Didn't have enough guts to gag down a crawdad but managed to pound some Jax! The Dixieland Jazz Club is expensive but well worth the talent of the musicians. Also try to find Jean LaFitte's Bar. It is little more than a blockhouse with only openings as windows but it is the oldest bar and supposedly the Pirate Jean LaFitte's favorite haunt.

MARDI GRAS' MANY FACES