Here are a few pics from my visit to New Orleans last week for the Super Bowl. That city just does it for me in ways that no other city in America does. Every time I go there, I feel like people really know how to live, have fun, eat well, and enjoy the company of their neighbors. Not to say that doesn't happen in other places, but the intensity in which it happens there is incomparable.
I've never seen an entire city embrace a sports team the way N.O. has the Saints. They are treated like gods here, and for whatever reason, the hyperbole doesn't seem totally undeserved. Even if you don't appreciate sports (I'm talking to you, my progressive, artist friends) it is pretty undeniable how much it has transformed this city and brought everybody together. For at least a few days, it didn't matter what color you were or how much money you had or whether you were a tourist - everybody was just happy. Together.
Another great thing about N.O is the reverence towards tradition. Now I'm all for new ideas in art and culture, but marching along the streets with brass bands after the game singing When the Saints Go Marching In, it struck me how much other places in America lacked strong, unifying culture. Can you think of a song that all the citizens of a city could sing together in a display of civic pride? Maybe Sinatra's New York New York, but that's it. Miami by Will Smith doesn't count. And that's only one of many songs everyone sings together in N.O.
Delicious breakfast at Butcher, a butcher shop/cafe from the owners of Cochon
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