New Orleans businesses brace for Mardi Gras shutdown
Chloe Atkins
Some bars in New Orleans have replaced the festive Mardi Gras flags that hang from their businesses at this time of year with white ones.
Beaux Church, director of Café Lafitte in Exile, Good Friends Bar and Rawhide 2010, said the white flags indicate the businesses have surrendered to the citywide crackdown during New Orleans' most famous celebration.
"We had already purchased all of our food and drink supplies ... and we had the rug pulled out from under us at the last minute," Church said. "All of the bar owners would have been much better off with at least two weeks' notice."