The last time Greg Newkirk visited New Orleans, one of his favorite local attractions was an actual local.
“I had walked into a shop to ask a few questions and ended up getting a thorough history of New Orleans voodoo by a man who was the nicest self-professed vampire you would ever meet,” says the Cincinnati-based editor of Roadtrippers.com.
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“He gave us weird travel advice, delicious food advice, and psychic life advice. If that doesn’t sum up the French Quarter, I don’t know what does.”
Such full-service eccentricity made New Orleans a natural contender for the nation’s strangest people, based on votes in the offbeat category of T+L’s annual America’s Favorite Cities survey. Readers rank 35 metropolitan areas for features such as live music and food trucks as well as their residents—be they smart, attractive, or, indeed, lovably weird.
Certainly, New Orleans had some tough competition in the offbeat category. Austin, TX, and Portland, OR, have staked their reputations on quirky hipster charm, while Savannah, GA, Santa Fe, NM, and New York have deep traditions of colorful local characters.
And while a little bit of the bizarre always provides great people-watching, travelers may also embrace such destinations because they encourage them to step out of their own shells and relax.
“People feel very uninhibited when they visit,” Fred Perrotta, cofounder of Tortuga Backpacks, says of his hometown of San Francisco. “Why be reserved, trying not to offend the person next to you, when he’s half naked, riding a unicycle, and carrying a pet pig?”
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No. 1 New Orleans
Winning the top slot again, New Orleans waves its freak flag with plenty of civic pride. Given the year-round schedule of festivals—and its ranking at No. 1 for live music and wild weekends—the come-as-you-are attitude is infectious. A prime spot for people-watching is Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood; you can join the dancers at the Spotted Cat, or browse the eccentric crafts and jewelry at the Frenchmen Art Market.
No. 2 Portland, OR
Up two rankings from last year, this Oregon city is home to the Unipiper, a unicycling bagpiper fond of dressing as Darth Vader or Santa—and he’s just another denizen of this earnestly out-there town. The east side has a high concentration of mustachioed, fedora-wearing folk, at spots such as Voodoo Doughnut, the vegan mini-mall on SE 12th, or the nearby food truck pod, at Hawthorne.
No. 3 Austin, TX
Long before Austin became famous for its South by Southwest festival, the biggest annual party was (and to some, still is) Eeyore’s Birthday, celebrated in late April by musicians, college students, hipsters, and politicos in Pease Park. Year round, you can see a monument to the Keep Austin Weird mantra at the Cathedral of Junk, a 60-ton structure that a resident built in his yard using old bicycles, cribs, and hubcaps. Austin also scored highly for ice cream: local chain Amy’s serves kooky flavors like bacon jalapeño popper.
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