As if New Orleans didn’t have enough reason to party during this year’s Carnival season, the Saints have made it to the Super Bowl for the first time ever. It’s the feel-good sports story of the year: I don’t care what team is normally your favorite, you can’t help rooting for the team from the City that George W. Bush Forgot on Sunday – especially in a year that marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

The Facebook entries this season from my NOLA friends (I worked at the Times-Picayune for six years) have been amusing, to say the least. In New Orleans, any casual gathering easily morphs upped into a full-blown party, and the Sunday status updates have been rife with descriptions of elaborate spreads of jambalaya, red beans and rice, gumbo and other touchstones of Louisiana cuisine. I’m already drooling over the kind of spreads that will be listed this weekend.

The event has upped the momentum on Mardi Gras, I’ve heard. As one friend put it, “If they win, it’s just going to be crazy. I can’t even imagine.” The wackiness has already started; last weekend, throngs of men in drag walked from the Louisiana Superdome to the French Quarter for the Buddy D Dress Parade, held in honor of the late sports announcer Buddy Diliberto, who famously vowed to wear a dress if the Saints ever made it to the Super Bowl  (Read and watch stories, video and slideshows from the event on the TP’s website here).

And here’s something that should make any CVB jealous: People are actually coming to New Orleans to watch Sunday’s game – even though it’s being played in Miami. A Times-Picayune story from Monday said that hotel occupancy for Saturday and Sunday is up 10 percent and 28 percent, respectively from the same time last year. What’s phenomenal is the pace of booking - up 374.2 percent for Feb. 6 and 457.6 percent for Feb. 7, compared to last year - and many hotels quickly sold out this week (read the full story here).

The Minnesota Vikings may always be my home team, but I do know what it means to miss New Orleans. And this Sunday, my husband and I will be temporary members of a Who Dat Nation that encompasses plenty of travelers and dreamers, musicians and writers, who at one point or another, fell under New Orleans’ spell. Geaux Saints!

We’ll be making jambalaya and drinking Abita here in Virginia as we root for Drew Brees…how are the rest of you celebrating the Saints Super Bowl?