But when her old college roommate, Ethel, comes to visit, Barbara realizes she may not have all the answers. Ethel is on a mission to convince her friend to make the hundred-mile trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, when the city becomes one vast playground and a half million people throw their cares and inhibitions to the wind. Ethel insists that Barbara experience the carnival of love before settling down to life on the farm. But when Barbara finally arrives in the City That Care Forgot, the beautiful young virgin will discover that her desires are deeper and more passionate than she ever thought possible.