Thanksgiving Weekend in New Orleans

I spent Thanksgiving in New Orleans one year, with my family. It was the best Thanksgiving we've ever had. It was cold; ice cold and raining. There were icicles above shop windows, hanging from balconies. Water dripped from everything. I didn't bring a jacket because I didn't think the south could get that cold. Hardly anyone walked down Bourbon Street. It was overcast the whole time, but overcast isn't the right word. It was downright dark. It was wet and dark and sloppy and cold and empty. And yet it is one of my fondest memories.

For starters, I've never had better food. And what is more important to Thanksgiving than food? They did it Cajun-style, Creole recipes. They do things like eggnog, fancy pastries, sweetbreads, meringues, stuff dripping with wine and rum. They serve traditional Thanksgiving meals, too, but with the sides and spices that make New Orleans cooking what it is: red beans and rice and jambalaya and gumbo and etouffee. They served turkey gumbo, or turkey po' boys. Some of the restaurants didn't even change their menus for the holiday, and that was fine, too. It was all great.

Café du Monde, the Original French Market Coffee Stand, is a perfect place to sit on a Thanksgiving afternoon, or morning or night, eat a beignet and drink hot chocolate or coffee, listen to music, relax, enjoy life, be thankful. Jean Lafitte's Pirate Bar, after the beignets, has a warm fire and live piano music. It is dark and quiet and intimate with candlelight and cocktails, and one just feels that life is very good there, simple, easy, interesting time is spent in that bar, time that makes you feel good about being alive-thankfulness. (It didn't matter that my family were the only people in the bar, the staff were happy and celebrated with us. We felt welcome, like we always do in New Orleans.)

The restaurants and bars were wonderful, but so was the sky. There were clouds, dark clouds, lots of them, no sun, just the clouds and rain. It was grey and black, no blue in it, no yellow, no stars, no moon, just grey. But that isn't to say there wasn't any color in the air. There was the neon-neon from Bourbon Street, neon from the tall hotels; neon from everything. It set the mood, out walking in the rain, cold, dripping, and trails of neon, an artificial rainbow, and we felt like pure gold-never have I felt more alive. It felt so good to come into a warm bar or café and have a hot drink. Then the fire and drinks inside would get to be hot, and it felt so good to be back out in the cold again. We couldn't lose.

It takes a lot to be depressed in New Orleans with the food and music, the friendly people, the neon, the history, the trees, so as dreary as the weather was, it didn't hinder us, it didn't stop us, we never thought about staying in the hotel room, about changing our plans. It was all beautiful just as it was-that's New Orleans. I was very thankful to be there, to be alive, to be eating that food, to be sitting by the fire, to be rained on, to be one of the only people on the streets, to be with my family, to talk with the townsfolk. And that's what Thanksgiving is for, right? To be thankful, to celebrate life. Is there a better place to do so than New Orleans? It's nearly impossible not to do so, that's how they live there, that's how they are year round, and that's why you go at Thanksgiving.

This year will undoubtedly be different. There was the hurricane. It changed things. A lot of the restaurants aren't open. Many of the musicians left. The streets are emptier now, regardless of rain. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go. The French Quarter is still the French Quarter. And remember, it wasn't the abundance of exciting things I experienced that made my Thanksgiving so great, it was the atmosphere, the place itself, the neon, the history, the trees, the fireplaces, the drinks. There is still plenty of music there. The townsfolk talk to you even more now and are even more appreciative of your company and business. Some of the best restaurants have reopened. There is plenty to celebrate, and plenty of celebrating will be going on.

If you go, and I highly recommend that you do, the following are some things to look for Thanksgiving weekend. And remember, New Orleans needs you now more than ever. If there was ever a year to go to New Orleans for Thanksgiving, to be thankful and to help them be thankful, this is it.

1. Magazine Street is back. The shops are open, the restaurants are open, people are back on the street. It is a fantastic place to do your Christmas shopping, to stroll on a sidewalk under a southern sky, to smell the flowers and Cajun food, to hear music, to walk through a park, to see a cypress tree. Papillion will be entertaining kids at the Magic Box on Magazine Street on November 26. Tipitina's is open and isn't far from Magazine Street. And there is plenty of live music to chase down that comes from open doors and windows on Magazine.

2. Audubon Zoo reopens on Thanksgiving weekend. It's free to the public on November 26 and 27.

3. The Steamboat Natchez starts cruising again on November 25. Take a ride on the Mississippi, the muddiest river in America.

4. Woldenberg Riverfront Park is having a free concert on November 26, which features performances by Kermit Ruffins, Jon Cleary and more, authentic New Orleans music, an authentic celebration in the park!

5. And most importantly: the French Quarter! The food and music there is enough in itself. Restaurants open for business and great Thanksgiving meals include Irene's, Mother's, and The Court of Two Sisters.

Rain or shine, bustling or not, New Orleans is a fantastic place to spend Thanksgiving and the holidays.