Angel Crowley, Manager of the Duck Inn in Evansville, Indiana, is pairing corn with a pound of freshly steamed crawfish for a New Orleans-style meal. It’s a delectable offering for the sell-out crowd queuing up outside. The crowd and the meal are the result of her advanced preparations—six months ago she pre-ordered 1,500 pounds of crawfish and 400 pounds of shrimp from a merchant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, just for the occasion.
Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, takes place next week on February 9.
The very next day is Ash Wednesday, when the Lenten Season that leads up to Eastertide begins.
New Orleans is already partying at full tilt boogie as you read this.
Beads are once again being tossed around as about two hundred parades wind up and down the streets during this frantic final week.
At the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter, Pat O'Brien's is serving its potent Hurricane cocktail.
At Tropical Isle, you can get an equally strong and possible lethal Hand Grenade served up in a plastic traveler.
Mardi Gras has also descended upon Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), where the seasonal surge in traffic is a welcome return.
Traffic has been building and will continue until this weekend, with Wednesday, February 3, 2016, being the busiest travel day.
Record Airport Year in 2015
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport hit an all-time record high in total passenger numbers with a barrage of new airlines and non-stop destinations that include four international cities. Based on year-end 2015 airport passenger data, “the Louis” served a total of 10,673,301 passengers, an increase of 9.1 percent as compared to 2014.
Prior to 2015, the Airport’s best year on record was in 2000 with 9,874,257 total passengers.
Two Hundred Thousand Beignets
Although cargo numbers are yet to be released, some other numbers make one wonder if extra time should be allotted to follow the gravy train channeled through MSY.
Armstrong International Airport food service is unique and quite wonderful, as the restaurants served 58,011 cups of gumbo, 228,253 beignets, 64,542 plates of jambalaya, 136,886 po’ boys, 393,671 regular cups of coffee, and who knows what else?
What other airport even has gumbo and beignets metrics? Which is not to mention 1,040 live New Orleans jazz performances all year long?
Beignets Like Heavenly Drones S/H
The easiest and simplest way to describe a beignet is a cross between a rich and dense egg-based French pastry (such as a profiterole) and a classic American yeast donut.
The beignet dough is fried to a light golden brown and then blanketed with powdered sugar.
Be sure to wear a light color if you go beignet crawling, as dark colors serve as a roadmap of your gastronomic adventures.
We just love it.
Flying High
MSY has 14 airlines currently providing service to 52 non-stop destinations, including four international destinations. These numbers mark another significant milestone in MSY history with the highest number of non-stop destinations ever served among the largest amount of airlines.
Geoffrey |
