|
The Bartender,
Back On Bourbon Street!
There's a Party Once Again
in New Orleans
For The Bardender,
Life in New Orleans remains just a tire swing.
Bourbon Street is back!
That means the bands – playing mainly rock covers – rockin'
the bars. The 3-for-1 Happy Hours. The beads and the balconies. The
hurricanes, hand grenades and colorful slushy drinks. The Big Ass Beers.
And, with a gasp of relief, the crowds.
I
have to admit, I was a bit skeptical. In the days leading up to
Jazz Fest 07 I found the American icon of free-for-all
partying almost as tame as Main Street at Disneyland. It had all the
elements of its famous debauchery, to be sure, but it was missing the
key ingredient to its behavior – people.
After all, Hurricane Katrina ripped through this city less than two
years earlier and the U.S. government's relief efforts to The Big Easy
have not been exactly big. A local friend had told me just before departing
to "go spend lots of money down on Bourbon Street. Some of those
businesses are barely hanging on these days."
 The
health and wealth of Bourbon Street is very dear to me, and not just
because I like 3-for-1s and Big Ass Beers. Being originally from the
South, there's a part of New Orleans in my soul. It happens at birth.
I'm convinced that the doctor, before giving babies over to mom and
eventually dad for inspection, first injects them with a dose of Big
Easy spirit. For everybody in the South just loves Nawlens.
So when the PubClub party group turned onto the fabled street after
the opening day of Jazz Fest on a Friday night, it was with much anticipation.
Judging from the difficulty in getting affordable airfare, full hotel
rooms and the huge Friday turnout at the annual music festival, the
signs seemed to be positive. But I could not forget the quiet nights
beforehand. That was, I had hoped, simply the clam before the storm
if you pardon the pun.
And then Bourbon Street opened its big arms. Not only to us, but to
thousands of others. It's back!
In fact, with Bourbon Street in full swing, little has changed from
my last visit, pre-Katrina. On this weekend, Bourbon Street was crowded.
Pleasantly crowded, not like New
Year's Eve when it's just sooo crazy and there are lines
to get into some of the bars, but alive like a hibernating bear having
sprung to life.
For Jazz Fest, there was energy on the street.
Cars were backed up on cross streets and cabbies were impatiently trying
to make their way around the Quarter.
People were on balconies (though a lack of breasts-for-beads exchange
could not go no unnoticed),
The Famous Door was jammin' with a hard rock band. The patio
at Pat O'Brien's was electric with the piano bar being especially
lively. Bachlorette parties were everywhere.
So what, then, is different today about Bourbon Street and New Orleans
since Katrina?
Frankly, from a tourist's perspective, practically nothing. The French
Quarter, hardly touched during the hurricane and affected only briefly
by a lack of electricity, minor water and wind damage and, sadly, looting,
is in full operation.
The relief workers (which explains the virtual explosion of strip clubs,
some of the high-end caliber, at least by Bourbon Street standards)
are gone.
There's fun on Bourbon
Street, but there's room for a lot more visitors.
New Orleans' biggest external problem, it seems, is perception.
(I'll define its internal problems as housing and gang issues in the
Lower 9th Ward, something that fortunately is not anything any visitor
would likely ever encounter.) The Convention and Visitor's Bureau spends
much of its time attempting to convince people that the city is not
under water (hasn't been since October of '05, by the way). It has even
launched a national advertising campaign to address the issue.
I cannot count the number of times people have asked me since I returned
home if it's okay to visit New Orleans. "Absolutely," I respond.
A long-time Big Easy veteran, who even went to Jazz Fest the year after
Katrina, commented, "Walking through the French Quarter, you would
never know a hurricane was here. Other than the lack of people."
Ahh, the lack of people. That's the key. Aside from that glorious weekend
of Jazz Fest –
Luau Larry reports a similar situation the second weekend
– the only thing missing is the people. On "normal" –
that is, non-event – nights, things are relatively tame. Heck,
one could stagger from one side of the street to the other without bumping
into some other staggering soul (with fewer folks lining up at the bars,
it's quicker to get those 3-for-1s and signature New Orleans colored
cocktails). Other parts of the French Quarter have become really quiet
– Margaritaville Cafe now regularly closes by 11. Hey, this
isn't Peoria.
Bourbon Street and New Orleans are coming alive on a more regular basis.
Jazz Fest is evidence of that, to be certain. Mardi Gras attracted 800,000
people in '07 (near it's peak of 1 million). The lively Quarter Fest,
a precursor to Jazz Fest with bands on stages throughout the Quarter,
had 425,000. The 2008 BCS National Championship will take place here.
And New Orleans remains PubClub's #1 worldwide destination for
New Year's Eve.
So come on people, get back to New Orleans! It – and its many
cocktails – are waiting for you.
PubClub.com's
New Orleans City & Entertainment Guide:
• New Orleans after Katrina. Update
Story.
• Get ready for New Orleans
with our Pre
Party Orientation Guide.
• Get a first-person perspective from The
Bartender; our man about town.
• Our bar guide – on and off Bourbon Street –is called
PubClubbing.
• New Orleans Bonus: Take a
City Tour aboard the St. Charles Street Car.
• There is a lot more to do in New Orleans than drink. Here's what
to do when not slamming drinks in Post
Party.
• Learn about and enjoy New Orleans' distinctive cuisine
in our dining
and restaurant guide.
• Soak up the sites of New Orleans with our
Photo
Journal.
• Special Events! Mardi
Gras,
Jazz Fest and New
Year's Eve.
 New
Orleans Visitor's Guide!
|