New Orleans is a busy place this week

NEW ORLEANS — After the NBA pulled out of Charlotte late last summer because of the North Carolina LGBT laws, the city of New Orleans was a last-minute replacement for the NBA All-Star Game.

The All-Star Game had been in the Crescent City twice in the past decade (2008 and 2014) and as usual, this years All-Star Weekend is taking place during the annual Mardi Gras celebration.

The culmination of Mardi Gras this year is Feb. 28 — Fat Tuesday — the day before Ash Wednesday, but the celebrations have been going on since January and parades are held daily for 11 days prior. There was a parade down St. Charles Street in the middle of the afternoon Friday, and luckily after it rained for much of…