Today is Mardi Gras. Don’t live in New Orleans? Never celebrated Mardi Gras? No worries. My philosophy is Never let a good holiday go to waste. So, just for you, dear readers… Mardi Gras 101. What is Mardi Gras? The Romans’ Lupercalia festival was held in mid-February to honor the god of fertility and agriculture, Lupercus. The party had definite Mardi Gras-like qualities, including drinking, feasting and “pleasures of the flesh”. During the Crusades, the carnival-like Lupercalia became adopted as a “last fling” of indulgence before the 40-day Lenten period of penitence. ~Mardi Gras on the Net How did New Orleans become the Mardi Gras capital here in the U.S.? Some think the French explorer Sieur d’Ibervilled introduced Mardi Gras when he landed in what is today Louisiana in 1699. Others say that early French settlers … Read entire article »