Nope. Not the “Special Man.” I’m talking about days that we in New Orleans hold near and dear and some that we need to add into our celebratory calendar.
What constitutes as a special moment in New Orleans? Whatever you want, TBH.
We wanted to choose moments that will make people smile, reminisce, and say “oh, that is so New Orleans!”
Here are the ones Be New Orleans chose as notable moments in our history.
- September 25, 2006 – Steve Gleason Blocked Punt New Orleans was recovering from Hurricane Katrina (god, I hate even bringing that up). Life was really weird then. It’s hard to describe if you weren’t here at that time. Peculiar is the best adjective I have for it at this moment. Tom Benson had threatened to move the Saints after the storm and we didn’t know what we were still doing in New Orleans. Then the Saints returned. And when I say returned, they came back with a force as big as the hurricane that hurt the Superdome in the first place. We were playing our rivals, the dirty birds (aka Atlanta Falcons), and we were hyped. Steve Gleason would be forever a New Orleans legend after a blocked punt only 90 seconds into the game. The rest is history.
- July 27, 2012 – Hubig’s Pies burned down Y’all. I’m still mad about this. I was a huge Hubig’s Pie fanatic. I even gave them as favors at my second wedding! For people who aren’t hip to this “delicacy” – Hubig’s Pies were delicious fried pies with different fillings. The ones you could find year-round were apple, lemon, chocolate, and maybe cherry. They also had seasonal flavors like strawberry, blueberry, sweet potato, coconut, and I’m sure some others that my memory is not recollecting. Allegedly they are coming back, but I’ve heard this song and dance for years. It’s just a beautiful and hazy memory now.
- May 17, 1718 – New Orleans was founded. Well, not exactly. It was sometime in the spring of 1718 and a date was made up so you can light some candles and wish our old girl a happy birthday.
- March 1965 – Iko Iko was released. Sorry, I don’t have an exact date, so let’s celebrate all March long by playing Iko Iko by the Dixie Cups once a day.
- January 6th, Every Damn Year – Twelfth Night. This is the official kick-off to Carnival season. This is also when it’s socially acceptable to begin eating king cake. Don’t be one of those people who eats king cake in December.