Globe Corner Blogs

Royal Street -photo by Meghan

On a recent trip to New Orleans for spring break, I found the city of my birth to be as interesting and unique as I had always imagined it. (I left when I was six-months-old).  Part “old-world” European, and part something all its own, traveling to New Orleans is like leaving the country without having to change currency or take your passport.  I spent the first day – inappropriately dressed for the humid spring weather in a sweatshirt and scarf – taking in the massive freighters steaming down the Mississippi and capping off the evening with some crawfish étouffée in the French Quarter: the perfect introduction to the Crescent City.

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French Quarter - photo by Jess

Too broke and too busy to travel abroad, I instead took three small trips around the country this summer.

The subtitle of this post should be “24 hours driving, 24 hours there.” In early August I drove 24 hours, almost straight, to New Orleans, and had about the same amount of time in the city itself. The term “road trip” may suggest a fun, leisurely drive with numerous pit stops to see America’s eccentricities – the world’s largest rubber band ball, the country’s best apple pie, or the largest state fair, for example. But make no mistake, this road trip was strictly business – get to New Orleans! (I did, however, stop off in South Carolina for Chick-fil-A and Atlanta for Chipotle… yum.)

My time in New Orleans was unfairly short and I feel like I only had time to do about seven things… But, of those seven things, some stood out as winners. Here’s what I’d recommend:

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A.D.: New Orleans--by Josh Neufeld

For someone from Ohio, the extent of the damage done by Hurricane Katrina and the misery of the aftermath is hard to fathom. I still cannot imagine the size of the area affected, the terror of being in the storm itself, the frustration and disgust of surviving in the city immediately after, or the magnitude of loss felt upon returning home from evacuation. I am sure that even the constant news coverage did not do justice to the destruction wreaked upon the city and its residents alike.

Josh Neufeld’s new graphic novel, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge , renders the atrocity of the storm’s every aspect in a new light that allowed even a Midwesterner to better understand the enormity of the physical and emotional damage.

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Crawfish Boil--photo by Angie Henderson

After years of visiting our son/chef in New Orleans, we finally were initiated into the ultimate southern Louisiana spring ritual of the backyard Crawfish Boil.

In the rest of the country, the onset of warm weather prompts folks to light their grills and invite friends and family over for a backyard “barbecue” or “cookout” depending on the region.  In New Orleans, early April means its time to fire up a 60 quart pot of water, dump untold mixtures of Cajun spices into it and simmer it until suitably fiery.

While superficially bearing a vague resemblance to a New England Clam Bake (it’s outdoors, messy, and involves copious amounts of beer and shellfish), a Louisiana Crawfish Boil is far more exotic in its ingredients and flavors.

The discussion of a Crawfish Boil’s technique, spices and ingredients invokes passionate debate (and more beer) during the preparations.  When a group of friends assembles around a backyard grill in Boston, the heated talk revolves around sports (professional) and politics.  In New Orleans, folks get animated when talking about what they ate last night, what they are going to eat in a few minutes, and which musicians they’re planning to hear later (much later) that evening.

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