South Florida is the American mainland tropics and a festival based on a return of the sun – winter solstice/Christmas – seems lost when the sun shines for only a couple hours less during this season. Yet of course Christmas is beyond climate and all areas of the globe have their own expressions.
Christmas boat parade, St. Pete, FL
Lighted boat parades are a Florida tradition and why not considering the enormous number of privately owned sea craft in the state. Both towns and yacht clubs put on numerous floating displays during December.
Especially for children, St. Petersburg turned North Straub Park into Snowfest 2015 the first December weekend. Complete with 65 tons of snow that created a sledding area under the Banyan trees, the festival boasted an artificial ice skating platform, karaoke Christmas carol singing, crafts and, of course, sno-cones.
Snowfest 2015, St. Petersburg, FLSnowfest 2015, St. Petersburg, FLSnowfest 2015, St. Petersburg, FLSnowfest 2015, St. Petersburg, FLSnowfest 2015, St. Petersburg, FL
Traditional decorations on houses and the streets are popping up as if the tropic in all its natural glory does dress up for the holidays.
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Among Florida’s Roaring Twenties grand hotels it seems Al Capone slept in many, including Casa Marina. The mid-1920s Prohibition era was profitable for Florida including Jacksonville Beach. The beachfront Mediterranean Revival club-like Casa Marina, complete with a sprinkler system, opened in 1925 to a high living bi-coastal clientele.
Casa Marina Hotel Penthouse Lounge, Jacksonville Beach, FL
Ninety years later on the deck of the Penthouse Lounge & Martini Bar overlooking the Atlantic’s pounding surf Casa Marina serves a premium Tequila Margareta – without the slushy ice – that I’m confident infamous Al would approve.
Read what intrigued even the big Al to Jacksonville Beach…
Blessed with Florida’s agricultural and ocean abundance at their doorstep, restaurants in St. Petersburg don’t have to search far for quality ingredients.
Smoked Fish Sandwich, Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish, St. Petersburg, FL
A relaxed Gulf of Mexico life style and plenty of Florida sunshine draw residents and tourists to a plethora of cafes, fine dining, bars and beach side venues serving traditional fried fish platters to truffled wild mushroom risotto. With an emphasis on independent ownership St. Petersburg chefs have the freedom to experiment or just create the best grilled grouper sandwich on the beach. Here’s a dozen to try in the St. Petersburg area…
Rum Fish Grill’s lobster ravioliBone Fish Grill’s ceviche of scallops, shrimp
Lest one think St. Petersburg is an example of the old joke that Florida is ‘God’s little waiting room,’ the attendees at September’s Grand Tasting were well under the age of this seasoned culinary journalist. St. Petersburg is attracting residents from a vibrant cross-section of educated world citizens that thrive on the arts, sun, beach, boating and fine food. An explosion of fascinating venues more than satisfies all of these eclectic tastes.
Sea Salt’s bubbling panna cotta
With a rapidly recovering economy after the 2008 downturn, St. Petersburg, Florida has established itself as an art and restaurant destination on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Fourteen restaurants and eight wineries are featured in…
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL & MFA Cafe
Both the Museum of Fine Arts and the Morean Arts Center are masters at engaging the imagination of visitors whether through first century Roman iridescent glass or discovering the best cupcake artist in St. Petersburg.
Cupcakes as edible art at the Morean Arts Center
Just like fine art, culinary creations can reach artistic heights. The Morean Arts Center has sponsored the Annual Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest for the past five years. It’s an opportunity for the city’s baking artists to be judged by both professionals and the general public. You can read about the region’s burgeoning art scene at…
I’ve not posted on Travel with Pen and Palate since May. After many years in Philadelphia a permanent move to a warm climate was the order from my very intelligent wife. After all why not?
Maximo Seafood Shack, St. Petersburg, FL
As a travel writer my only requirement is an internet connection. I’m not a stranger to living in a warm climate. I spent nine years at the start of my career in Puerto Rico. I love traveling to warm climates, and on the USA mainland Florida is our tropics.
a silver afternoon on Boca de Ciega Bay
No doubt selling a house, packing up three decades of art and antiques and moving to St. Petersburg, FL, does disrupt a writing and traveling schedule. I’ve had to turn down several great press trip invitations including El Salvador and Italy because my wife somehow thinks I should be involved in house hunting…yes, we moved without first knowing where we were going to live. Of course we had no way of knowing our house would sell in 6 days…but that’s all part of adventure.
Adventure for me as a culinary and culture travel writer is focusing on what makes a destination exciting for those who already call it home. A tourist can always find the best beach, the newest luxury hotel or today’s trendy restaurant by simply spending time on social media.
this cricket makes gardeners cringe in FL
But will they discover the best cupcake? Will they think that discovery will be found in an art museum that features the glass work of Dale Chihuly? Or that an effusive city booster will be a Scot immigrant of 20 years who’s your server in a terrific cafe? I’ve discovered that and much more in my first three weeks in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Want to know about the cupcake…and Picasso’s lover…and a city that’s become a cultural mecca…with good beaches?
I travel for a living and am often in and out of hotels. USA hotels in particular offer…let’s be kind…sub par free “continental breakfasts.” Often I’ll grab a yogurt, hard boiled egg & fruit.
Yesterday, looking in a storage container where I keep paper plates/plastic cups etc for picnics, I came across a tightly sealed bag. At some point in the past several years I obviously grabbed a muffin, toast, jam & a pastry “on the go” and totally forgot… and I mean several years ago because I had not opened this bin for that long.
“Petrified” American hotel breakfast food. (2 – 3 years old – blemish free..click pic to expand.)
Lo and behold…on a black plastic plate were perfect stone hard “petrified” American hotel fast food with not a blemish upon them. It’s American genius…and the preservatives will keep me young forever…
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The “super” Krewe of Endymion lived up to its hype. As one of New Orleans largest krewes, founded in 1967, Endymion created new traditions with mega floats using the latest technology of the day and featuring national celebrities from stage, screen and recording studio.
Endymion float Mardi Gras 2015 New OrleansEndymion krewe member, Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
The 30 plus mega float parade, interspersed with as many marching bands and other groups, is one of the season’s most anticipated. Making its way from City Park in Mid-City down Canal Street and through Uptown to the Mercedes Super Dome for Endymion’s Extravaganza, the estimated crowd was put at 35,000+ watching and participating in the three hour parade.
Endymion float Mardi Gras 2015 New OrleansA house on Orleans Ave. getting ready for the Endymion parade Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
The Krewe of Endymion marches on Samedi Gras (Fat Saturday – 2016 date February 6) second only in importance to the season’s ultimate Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). But parades are only part of the spectacle that make the season (January 6 through Fat Tuesday – in 2016 February 9) New Orleans largest block party.
Campers and reviliers setting up for the Endymion parade Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans on the neutral ground of Orleans Ave.A U-Haul truck becomes a movable feast for an Endymion parade party, Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
A full two days ahead intrepid groups of revelers staked out their territory on the wide neutral ground of Orleans Avenue in Mid-City near iconic City Park. One of the city’s wide boulevards, the grass and often tree shaded middle-of-the-road “neutral ground” becomes a focal point for a round-the-clock block party. Camping out and cooking is allowed, porta potties are provided and as Saturday morning arrives every square inch of the long avenue’s neutral ground is a festival in itself. Children toss footballs, parents throw frisbees, barbecues send up aromatic aromas and long tables groan under the weight of such traditional fare as Louisiana crawfish boil and copious amounts of beer. The street and house parties spread throughout the neighborhoods that Endymion snakes through and continue for hours after it passes.
Louisiana crawfish boil
But once the parade rolls the thousands that line the long route have eyes only on the floats and catching the many “throws” from iconic strings of beads to frisbees and creations with flashing lights.
Krewe of Endymion float, Mardi Gras 2015, New Orleans
See a full list of Mardi Gras 2016 krewe and parade information and get ready for Fat Tuesday!
You can read additional articles by Chef Marc d’Entremont at…
Mardi Gras, or Carnival in other lands, is not a spectator sport; it’s participatory street theater for all ages. Babies to grandparents don ornamentation from elaborate costumes to strings of battery powered colored lights. As the countdown to Fat Tuesday approaches – Mardi Gras day – people can be as decorated as a house at Christmas.
Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
Krewe of Babylon, Mardi Gras 2015, New Orleans
To debunk a myth, Mardi Gras is rarely licentious drunken debauchery.
The evening parades are famous yet many daytime parades during the season cater to families with huge floats interspersed by impressive student marching bands.
Krewe of Carrollton, Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
But it’s the evening parades that capture the imagination.
Mardi Gras is more than a carnival. It’s the bond among New Orleanians that even nature couldn’t change.
Krewe of Muses, Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans: the only all-womens krewe!!
The flambeaux carrier originally served as a beacon for parade-goers to better enjoy the spectacle of night festivities. They were usually slaves or free men of color.
Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans flamboux carriers (gas fired torches)
The man in the pink tutu, carrying his yellow plastic Mardi Gras cup – the allowable open-container for drinks – is nonchalant as he talks with the Queen of Hearts and the gentleman dressed as a medieval plague doctor. They and hundreds more wait on the corner of Dauphine and Franklin in Bywater for the Krewe ‘tit Rəx to kick off the evening’s parades. They’re not krewe participants; they’re bystanders which means they’re participants.
Mardi Gras season in New Orleans begins on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, January 6, with the Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc’s parade through the French Quarter celebrating the birthday of the city’s patron saint, Joan of Arc. Winter is not the doldrums in this city justifiably known as the Big Easy. To debunk another myth, Mardi Gras is rarely licentious drunken debauchery.
There are 68 krewes (social clubs) in New Orleans. The granddaddy of Mardi Gras, the Krewe of Rex, invented the modern carnival in 1872. They took centuries old European pre-Lenten traditions and fused them with the polyglot cultural mix of America’s most unique city. From the first parade in honor of a Russian prince to today’s multi-week carnival of and for the people, all tastes are catered to – Krewe de Barkus featuring your pet dog to the unabashedly irreverent adult-themed Krewe de Vieux.
A post-Katrina influx of young professionals to fill New Orleans new burgeoning high-tech and medical sector has invigorated Mardi Gras with imaginative new krewes that stray from the mega floats of the more traditional and exclusive super krewes. The Krewe ‘tit Rəx, founded only seven years ago, is unique as New Orleans only micro krewe – their members create shoeboxes into full themed tiny floats. The krewe’s name comes from the Cajun abbreviation of petite (small).
The Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus followed ‘tit Rəx. They are a new krewe with a Sci-Fi themed Mardi Gras parade – a spoof on the seriousness of Comic-com and Star Trex conventions. For over 90 minutes many dozens of fanciful floats in odd shapes, marching bands and brigades of aliens were pushed, pedaled or pulled through the streets. The krewe members make most of their throws and prized catches this year were purple painted penne pasta necklaces and bottle caps with arrangements of red beans and rice.
The 90 year-old Krewe of Carrollton, one of the many daytime parades during the season, is a family favorite of huge floats interspersed with impressive student marching bands. Running down elegant St. Charles Avenue there’s lots of opportunity to catch the iconic and colorful bead necklaces thrown by traditionally masked float riders.
From the generations that have called New Orleans home for nearly 300 years to the overheard comment of a young professional proclaiming, “Why would I live anywhere else?” Mardi Gras is more than a carnival. It’s the bond among New Orleanians that even nature couldn’t change. It’s a man in a pink tutu embracing the present.
Sargon king of the Krewe of Babylon Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
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The opening parade January 31 for the 2015 New Orleans Mardi Gras season by the Krewe du Vieux maintained the traditional small scale donkey or man-power drawn floats but was LARGER THAN LIFE in political satire mixed with “adult themes.”
New Orleans: Krewe du Vieux, Mardi Gras 2015
The Krewe du Vieux is the ONLY major parade that actually can go through the French Quarter.
traditional Donkey drawn floats, Krewe du Vieux, Mardi Gras 2015Krewe du Vieux, Mardi Gras 2015
As you’ll see over the next 2 weeks, the parades are “monumental.” BTW: some of pics in costume are just people viewing the parade, not participants – but in New Orleans, everyone’s a “participants”
Mardi Gras World is a living museum for an international festival as celebrated as it’s misunderstood. Daily public tours showcase a wide range of Mardi Gras themes from the ribald to down home family friendly. And while a guest is snapping photos and listening to the guide, Kern Studio artists are busy in the real work of creating Mardi Gras 2015.
painting a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras decoration on a French Quarter house mid-January 2015
Fat Tuesday falls on February 17th this year (2015) but in New Orleans, Mardi Gras season begins on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, January 6, which also happens to be the birthday of the city’s patron saint, Joan of Arc. History, legend and real life often create everyday activities in culturally diverse New Orleans. At Mardi Gras World that legacy keeps 50 artists busy year round.
a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleansa prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
painting a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras expresses the uniqueness of a region that’s been home and country to Native Americans, Europeans, Africans, the Americas and displaced populations (Cajuns, slaves). There are Mardi Gras parades from Mobile, Alabama to Galveston, Texas and in every parish in southern Louisiana. But New Orleans is the cultural center of Mardi Gras in North America.
a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras is the gumbo of festivals, a melange of cultural and social influences. It has traditions set by krewes – dozens of them – but it’s the individual themes chosen each year by the krewes that make Mardi Gras parades unpredictable fun. Yet the evolution of Mardi Gras as we know it today is an 1870s invention of New Orleans businessmen to honor the visit of a Russian prince on Fat Tuesday. They created the Krewe of Rex and the good times have been rolling since.
the immense Smokey Mary train float, Krewe of Orpheus, Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras World is a family owned juggernaut of monumental float designs. Founded in the 1930s by New Orleans artist Blaine Kern (Kern Studios ) what started as painting random props for parade floats quickly blossomed into contracts with over a dozen of Mardi Gras most influential and historic krewes including Rex. Beyond parades, Kern Studios is the leader in creating “themed environments” for conventions, resorts and the media.
prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
The krewes own the massive float infrastructures – the actual moving machines – but the decorations, the props, are usually rented from Kern Studios since themes change annually. Many props today start with a base of styrofoam.
carving the styrofoam base of a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Often props are repurposed several times and Kern Studio artists make magic with such standard mediums as paper mache to create features.
adding paper mache to a prop before painting at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
The larger than life demensions of most props dictate spray painting as an efficient method, although meticulous brush painting may still be necessary with elaborate detail.
spray painting a prop at Mardi Gras World
brush painting a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Appropriate to the city’s nickname, the Big Easy, after the tour guests are free to wander the massive warehouse admiring, photographing and watching the artists at work. One would never guess that the parades begin in a couple short weeks. By the end of January, Mardi Gras season will be in full swing with over two weeks of parades, many showcasing the grandeur and fun of Kern Studio’s Mardi Gras World artistry.
Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras World, located on the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans, is open for tours seven days a week. Parking is available but a free shuttle runs from several hotels and tourist locations in the city.
United States Marine Corps Band New Orleans at St. Louis Cathedral
Marine Corps Band New Orleans
Both the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France(c. 1793 & 1850) and the Marines are intimately tied to that seminal day in New Orleans history, January 8, 1815. It was an apt setting 200 years to the day for the United States Marine Corps Band to perform a concert in honor of the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans.
Fireworks lit the night sky following the concert, illuminating Jackson Square and trying to shed some light on the the little understood War of 1812.
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