Mardi Gras Madness part 3

Monday was a great day. We got to sleep in, which I always like to do. The first parade wasn’t until later that afternoon. Mom and K decided not to go. They wanted to stay home and get ready for the next day.

C, V, light of my life and myself decided to leave the house around 1 pm or so. We were going to catch the parades at Napoleon and Chestnut. A friend of mine lives on Chestnut and my aunt’s old apartment (the one she lived in after Katrina) was right around the corner from my friend. I knew we could probably get parking somewhere around there. They live about 4 blocks from the parade route so it wouldn’t have been too far of a walk.

We got there around 1:45 or so (after stopping at Target to get some new Van like shoes since my boots were killing my heels and to get some lunch). We got to Napoleon and barely anyone was set up. It was wonderful. We parked our butts right there at the corner of Chestnut and Napoleon. We took the ladder and 4 chairs plus stuff to keep us occupied while waiting. We also had a small cooler w/some water, beer and soda in it. We got set up quick and I went to park the car. I actually found a spot about a block and a half away. That’s a miracle but considering we were able to find a good parade site so easily, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

We sat our butts down and ate lunch. I was still reading my Stephen King book. While I sat there and read, C, V and light of my life played football and walked around for a while.

The first parade that night was Proteus (one of the oldest parades) and they lined up about 4:30 or so with a roll time of 5:15. The lined up further from where we set up, so we missed the first couple of floats (we knew that going in). The riders aren’t technically supposed to start throwing until the beginning of the parade route, but they really don’t care. We caught lots of stuff. Light of my life got 4 stuffed Proteus fish, a light up seahorse necklace, some regular seahorse necklaces, some beer cozies, cups, doubloons, etc…..

C had gone down to the corner bar and gotten himself a Crown and Coke and got me a Bloody Mary. Man, it was good and spicy. I think it was actually a Cajun Mary, but no matter. It was GOOD and STRONG. My favorite kind of drink! LOL!!!

One of the riders hollered out at me “Hey, Bloody Mary” and I stupidly asked him “Who me?”. I felt so stupid but I’m blaming it on the heavy-handed bartender who made my drink. ;) He was just trying to get my attention to throw me some beads.

The parade that followed was Orpheus. It is one of the most beautiful parades. The floats are full of details and are just stunning. Their theme this year had something to do with cocktails so all of the floats were designed around drinks. There was a Mint Julep float, a Screaming Banshee float, a Fat Frog float, etc….most of the drinks, C and I were looking at each other and going “What the hell?”. We had never heard of most of them. We came home later that night and looked up the ones we could remember and sure enough, they were legit cocktails.

C was so thrilled. Sean Payton was on one of the floats and C was holding up one of the signs that had a target on it. Sean threw a bag of beads right at the target and C caught them. That was the highlight of the parade for him, having Sean Payton throw him a bag of beads.

Light of my life got a Beanie Baby thrown to her from one of the guys from the Real World. He was trying to specifically get her attention and when she turned to him, he threw it right at her and she caught it, while standing on the ladder! That’s my girl. Of course, she had no clue who he was. Neither did I for that matter! It was still cool, though.

The rest of the parade was uneventful…..except for our beloved klutz, V. She managed to fall off the cooler she was standing on. She fell all of 18 inches. However, she did manage to spill all of the ice that was in there keeping the beer cold. For that, she will never be forgiven!

Just kiddin’, V, you know I love you.

After the parade (we actually managed to find a way out of all the traffic and got home a lot earlier than I expected), we went to La Madeleine’s for tiramisu, French Roast coffee and an éclair and then to Baskin Robbins for ice cream.

A good night was had by all.

Later,

Mama Dawg