Tuesday Travels: Lament for Scrumptious Turtles

My husband, Dan, and I will soon be embarking on our seasonal move from New Orleans to northern Michigan, and while we're both eager to dwell again amid the tall trees, clean air, and peaceful waters of our home near Big Bear Lake, there are many aspects of the Big Easy we'll be missing during the summer – namely, the music, the architecture, and, of course, the food. In particular, I'll surely find myself longing for raw oysters, boiled crabs and crawfish, shrimp po-boys, muffulettas, fried green tomatoes, oyster artichoke soup, and, yes, turtles – not the animated kind, mind you, but the dessert cookies that consist of shortbread, dark chocolate, and pecans, and can be found in most local grocery stores.

Just consider the photo below – wouldn't you miss them, too?

Thoughtful Thursday: Gratitude for Film Fest Volunteers

March has been a busy month for me and Dan. Besides finishing up the photos, maps, and text for my Moon New Orleans guide, I've spent much of my time planning ways to distribute our new audio ghost tour of the French Quarter, preparing for and running our Big Easy International Film and Music Festival, and doing the same for our Beverly Hills Shorts Festival (which took place this past weekend in Los Angeles). While I'm not quite able to take a vacation yet, I do want to take a minute to thank all of the wonderful volunteers who helped to make both festivals possible.

Although we appreciate each and every person who helped us this year, we're especially grateful for Angel and Jen (pictured above), who have helped us year after year with the Beverly Hills event, and Susan and Dan (pictured on the right), who always make our Big Easy festival a little brighter. So, thanks, everyone – we truly couldn't have done it without you!

Whimsical Wednesday: The Vibrancy and Revelry of Mardi Gras

As I finish up the last two chapters of the third edition of Moon New Orleans, I can't help but delight in the fact that the boisterous Mardi Gras season has descended upon the Big Easy. Despite long hours of research and writing, it's hard not to emerge from my writer's cave every now and again, if only to appreciate this joyous time in the city, marked as it is by colorful purple-gold-and-green decorations, vibrant parades, and delicious king cakes.

Although, as a native New Orleanian, I've seen my share of Carnival seasons over the years, it's been a long time since I've been in town for Mardi Gras itself, so I'm especially grateful to be here this year. Of course, the Mardi Gras season is rather lengthy. For instance, king cakes – the official delicacy of Mardi Gras – are technically available just after New Year's, while daily and/or nightly parades occur for nearly three weeks prior to Fat Tuesday. Even if you don't like crowds, though, it's truly an ebullient time to be in New Orleans, and the revelry can be downright contagious.

Of course, there's one thing that I've never experienced during Mardi Gras – that's the free-flowing, outrageously kaleidoscopic, musically-oriented procession of Mardi Gras Indian tribes through various neighborhoods – made even more popular by HBO's New Orleans-based show Treme. Maybe, this year, though, I'll finally get my chance to experience this one-of-a-kind Mardi Gras tradition. Well, a girl can dream, can't she?

Weekend Mishmash: Happy End-of-the-Year!

Despite the fact that my husband, Dan, and I are lifelong atheists, we admit to being fond of the Christmas season – if only because it gives us a reason to shower each other with gifts and eat yummy food. While the commercialistic aspects of the season can be disheartening at times – not to mention having to brave traffic jams and frenzied shoppers at the mall – I've always found other aspects, like Christmas carols and holiday lights, to be downright uplifting. Even in the French Quarter – where snow is a rarity – it's hard not to embrace the spirit of the season.

There's also something indescribably joyous and magical about the holiday. After all, as a child, I fully believed that Santa Claus would visit my house on Christmas Eve, eat his ration of homemade cookies, and, in exchange, leave behind a present or two. Anticipation of the next morning's surprises always made it tough for me to fall asleep – in fact, writing my wish list for Santa and imagining all the possibilities was almost more exciting than opening the gifts themselves. Now that I'm an adult, I can't believe the crazy things for which I sometimes asked – from ponies to sorceress outfits. Needless to say, I didn't get everything I wanted, but just the act of asking was a lot of fun.

Imagine, though, if Santa Claus wasn't age-limited. Imagine if, as an adult, you could get anything you desired from Santa. If that were the case, what would you want? Feel free to answer here or on the Come In Character site, where I posed the same question to authors and characters alike.

In the meantime, I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season, no matter what you choose to celebrate, and if my end-of-the-line work on Moon New Orleans, my current travel guide project, keeps me away longer than I'd like, then I wish you all a happy New Year, too. See you in 2012!

Monday Munchies: Dunces and Lucky Dogs

Although you might already know this about me, I was born and raised in New Orleans, a city celebrated around the world for its cuisine, among other attributes. While working on the third edition of Moon New Orleans, a guidebook published by Avalon Travel, I've had the privilege of reliving a lot of my fondest memories about this one-of-a-kind place – many of which, not surprisingly, revolve around food. Here's just one example, a callout from my as-yet-unpublished guide:

As a child of New Orleans, I found it hard to avoid reading John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Posthumously published by LSU Press more than a decade after the author's tragic suicide, this zany depiction of life in the Big Easy during the early 1960s (not to mention a skillful exploration of the city's unique dialects) has since become a cult classic – and a canonical work of modern Southern literature. This picaresque novel centers on Ignatius J. Reilly – a lazy, overweight, quixotic, yet well-educated 30-year-old man who, while living with his mother and searching for gainful employment, meets a host of colorful French Quarter denizens, from kind-hearted strippers to belligerent lesbians.

Though some of the New Orleans landmarks referenced in this madcap novel, such as the old D. H. Holmes department store on Canal Street, no longer exist, some, like the Prytania Theatre, still do. Perhaps the most famous references, though, are the “Paradise Hot Dogs” vending carts that figure prominently into Reilly's angst-filled search for a permanent job. Clearly, Toole was influenced by the ubiquitous, red-and-yellow, wiener-shaped Lucky Dogs vending carts that have prowled the streets of New Orleans, particularly the French Quarter, for more than five decades. Especially popular among late-night partygoers, these street-corner hot dogs may just be mouth-watering to some, but for me, they'll always be a reminder of the first time I read – and fell in love with – A Confederacy of Dunces, a book that, as many writers and scholars believe, aptly captures the indomitable spirit of New Orleans.

True, hot dogs aren't exactly a New Orleans staple on par with gumbo and jambalaya, but for those, like me, who live in the French Quarter, the Lucky Dogs carts can be a welcoming sight, especially after a long night of partying on Bourbon Street.

So, are there any novels that make you think of specific foods?

Weekend Mishmash: Music for Traveling

It's hard to believe that I'm still working on the third edition of Moon New Orleans. After all, it's been over a year since the process began, and I've never taken so long to complete a travel guide. For a combination of reasons – including the fact that, as a native of the Big Easy, I'm even more concerned about this book than I've been about my other ones – it just hasn't been the smoothest of projects. Whenever I feel like running for the hills, however, three things stop me: pride in my work, the possibility of disappointing my editors as well as my hubby, and my lifelong passion for this one-of-a-kind city. Taking a stroll through my beloved French Quarter – where Dan and I live for much of the year – certainly helps, too, as does listening to one of my favorite New Orleans albums, from Dr. John's Goin' Back to New Orleans (1992) to Tab Benoit's Best of the Bayou Blues (2006) to Lucky Devil (2010), the debut album of local favorite Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (pictured above). These and seven other albums always have the power to transport me to New Orleans (if, of course, I'm not already here) and inspire me to share a few stories about this amazing town. If you're curious about my other album picks, check out the latest entry on my American Nomad blog.

In the meantime, though, I have two questions: How do you deal with troublesome writing projects, and what kind of music has the power to transport you to other places?

Thoughtful Thursday: Holiday for Foodies

Last week, one of my editors asked me to post a Thanksgiving-related article on my American Nomad travel blog. So, after a little thought, I decided to offer a few last-minute suggestions for Thanksgiving weekend getaways – from exploring the theme parks of Southern California to experiencing the shops and attractions of the Windy City. While traveling during the holiday season can be loads of fun, though, I must admit that holiday food is the biggest attraction for me – and for my hubby. It's no wonder then that I find myself excited about today's plan: In lieu of venturing somewhere exotic, Dan and I are headed across Lake Pontchartrain to my dad's house, where there will be plenty of yummy vittles, from the traditional turkey to my hubby's not-so-traditional pumpkin bread pudding. How thankful I feel to be a well-fed American – especially since not everyone in the world (or even in my own country) can claim as such.

So, how are you spending the holiday?

Of course, no matter what your plans are, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!