Meet Jessica Fender and Kerry Maloney, local gals who joined forces to “scam their way into travel opportunities” (their words) as the "Traveler Broads" some years ago.
Their mission in life: exploring new places. Their motto: "Sorry world, here we come!"
But starting in March, they faced a conundrum. How to amuse themselves on lockdown?
Maybe feeling a little stir-crazy, the writer-and-photographer duo have embarked on a series of “ridiculous videos” to explore New Orleans’ past.
Called “Quarantine History,” a new episode of the series will be released every Sunday on the
Traveler Broads' YouTube channel.
Fender and Maloney enlisted the help of a licensed tour guide – Christine Miller of
Two Chicks Walking Tours - to serve as researcher, narrator, and emcee while the Traveler Broads impersonate historical characters in goofy makeup and Mardi Gras-style costumes.
This is not how Fender and Maloney had planned to spend their spring. They were totally booked covering events for travel magazines and making public appearances. There was a visit to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to emcee the "World's Smallest St. Patrick's Day parade" on Instagram. There was a research trip to Memphis.
But about mid-March, cities began shutting down. The women got on a plane and headed back to New Orleans.
"We knew we wanted to do a special project, probably involving video, but what?” Fender recalled.
Late one night, Fender got a text from Maloney, who had been brooding over the question as well. It was brief.
“'Historical re-enactments,' that’s what the text said,” Fender said.
A one-time journalist who had worked at the Baton Rouge Advocate, Fender knew that the pair needed someone who was “legit” (as she put it) so that the episodes from New Orleans past that they presented would be factual.
They brought in Miller, a licensed tour guide who not only knows obscure local history, but also knows how to research any offbeat idea that might arise.
Since it's New Orleans, those ideas abound.
