It’s Not Florida, Arizona or Texas – It’s Better!
It all started when Harry came down to ride in the Endymion parade… Continue reading →
My favorite snowbird, Harry (Cookie) Cooke, found us online before his first ride in Endymion. He was fired up – ready to join his buddies on the float – and thought maybe he’d just stay the whole month of February.
Turns out, all I had were three month minimum condos available, so he decided… yeah, why not? Three months in the warm south, get out of New York for a while. And he did.
Thirteen years later… he’s part of the family, and a regular occupant of our condo at the Cotton Mill.
Let’s just say that his three month stay led to a four month stay the next year… then five the year after… now he’s here six months of the year and officially “Snowbirding” in New Orleans.
And he’s not the only one. Although Florida, Texas, Arizona get most of the Snowbird chatter; some folks enjoy city life over the beach. Our folks enjoy “small town” city life, which is exactly what New Orleans is.
The weather alone is a great argument in our favor. We are sometimes in shorts for Christmas, but not always. We seldom have snow; in fact, we set a record in 2025 with an astounding ten inches throughout the city, which shut everything down for four days! We don’t have snow tires and plows and salt for the roads. We just hunkered down and drank hot chocolate and rejoiced in that that white splendor, not even trying to navigate our way out of the house.
But that was a hundred year record. An ordinary February “cold spell” will dip into high thirties at night and we will shiver and bundle up the next day to fend off the fifty degree high. Our snowbirds laugh at us – but we’re used to sixty or so degrees as our cold winter weather.
We have blooming flowers throughout Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years… We start Carnival season as if spring has arrived, and we definitely enjoy being outside for all the parades for weeks on end – then there’s Easter, crawfish boils, another season of outdoor music festivals. Then Jazz Fest.
Then our Snowbirds head home.
Southern hospitality is not just a slogan – it’s our literal DNA.
If you’re thinking of a different way to head south for the winter… I have a feeling New Orleans may scratch your itch, and we know you’ll settle right in to being a part-time local. And you’ll be loved, welcomed and adopted – this I know for sure. We love to “train” new New Orleanians.
Give us a call for all the details. We have your home away from home ready, and we’d love to have you stay a while!
Anne Beck 504-812-4702