"The freaks come out at night." - Whodini.
To be fair, during Halloween season in New Orleans, they were out during daylight hours as well.
This city is delightfully strange in all the best ways. We arrived in time to catch the Halloween parade and OMG! There were so many people crowding the sidewalks by the time it reached us it was insane. Here, they do not let you move to close to the participants as they have in other places we've been. There is a do not cross this line mentality that for the most part was obeyed and enforced when necessary.
We were at the end of the parade route so by the time the floats reached us they were dumping beads right and left to get rid of them. It was slightly dangerous to the point of being hilarious.
We're not generally big party people but when the time and place align, you gotta listen to the call of the nightlife. We paid the extra money for VIP tickets to the parade after party which was so worth it. As we approached the entrance, there was one of those getting into the hot club of the moment lines with people stretch to the end of the block.
We walked right in.
We watched people try to beg or con their way past the bouncers to join those of us in the VIP lounge where the drinks were free and looking down on those below was the entertainment.
It was fabulous.
While feeling special was fun, I have to admit the two different areas had their attractions and we moved through both.
First night in town done!
The following weekend, on our way to the other big party we were attending, we stopped to enjoy a candlelight concert.
Nothing sets the mood for hanging out with vampires like a four piece ensemble playing classic Halloween themes and spooky music.
This was an interesting experience.
There were two vampire balls to choose from, a more formal Anne Rice ball, and this one whose theme was the Dark Goddess.
I opted to dress as a flapper vampire (limited wardrobe space in the RV prevents a full on Victorian dress) while Dave was slightly more formal, and very handsome.
While not everyone dressed up, most did and some of the outfits where spectacular. There was mingling in the more traditional bar area.
A live concert in the stage area and assorted entertainment throughout.
It was such a fun and different experience.
Walk into the French Quarter on any evening (we did this often for the entertainment value) to be surrounded by random levels of costuming. Everything from Thing 1 and Thing 2 t-shirts to fully outfitted witches and more.
Halloween night was a little cool so we chose to be silly in our Persian wear.
We started off wandering the Quarter looking for food but places to eat were packed so we finally used our normal tactic of eating at a restaurants' bar.
The Apothecary was beautiful and the bar staff were not only engaging but amusing to watch as well.
We've had absinthe before but never with fire. We'll be trying this at home sometime.
Well, we started there and decided to try for nibbles from different places as we meandered around.
We left the raucous din of Bourbon St in the Quarter behind to stroll toward a more locals holiday hangout. Along the way we found a single group of adults handing out candy. Yes, we took the offerings from strangers. Yes, we ate our treats. And yes, they were tasty.
Frenchman Street was loaded with restaurants and strange creatures milling about. We obtained a table in The Maison, enjoyed more nibbles and stayed so long we were able to keep our seats when the band played.
Something not everyone could say. When the live music started it was standing room only.
We ended our night tipsy, happy, and tired.
Finally, on the next evening, we enjoyed a Day of the Dead parade. It was my first one but hopefully not the last.
As a note, we dressed up on almost all of the nights we went out, which included more than the above. I'd like to say I was surprised we had so many costumes but...I'm not.
NOLA offers so variety after the sun sets, you need not do the same thing twice.
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