Mardi Gras Madness part 4

This is the last Mardi Gras entry. I swear!!!

Mardi Gras Day. This is a daylong event that started at 5:30 in the morning. That’s when I got up. C and I packed the car and got on the road by 6:15 or so.

Our usual parade site on Mardi Gras day is not located in New Orleans proper. In fact, we celebrate Mardi Gras day out in Jefferson Parish, not Orleans parish. For those of you not familiar with New Orleans vernacular, a parish is like a county.

On Mardi Gras day, the Krewe of Argus rolls in Metairie. Following it are two other parades but they are not professionally decorated floats. Instead, it’s comprised mostly of families and friends who get together and decorate a truck float. It’s called a truck float because the floats are pulled along the parade route by 18-wheelers instead of tractors like traditional floats. There are prizes involved and a whole lot of “political” stuff regarding the Krewes, but it’s all good fun. The truck floats consists of at least 70 floats PER PARADE. That means at least 140 floats plus Argus rolled on Tuesday. In actuality, it was more like 160+ in addition to Argus that rolled.

The Grand Marshall’s of Argus were Hoda Kotbe and Al Roker. Mom actually caught a cup that Al Roker threw to her! Well, she tried to catch it but it fell. I saw it fall and grabbed up a folding chair, folded it up and stood on the barricade to “draw” it in so I could pick it up. Mom actually has a cup touched by Al Roker. She can now die a happy person.

I’m totally joking about the reverence in which it sounds like my mom has for that cup. In reality, it was just a passing moment of coolness after which, the cup was promptly lost. It’s probably still on Severn or in some big landfill somewhere.

Anyway, it…again…was a great day. The weather was perfect. A little hot but not too unbearable. Tons of sunscreen was rubbed on tender body parts but I was able to stave off sunburn on both light of my life and myself.

We did have a bit of excitement that morning. C and I were the ones who were going ahead to secure our daylong parade site. When we got to Severn (we always stay in the neutral ground on Severn at Vets), we found a spot that seemed ideal. There were two people sleeping on a blanket but the area to the side was completely free of anything.

Background info: when you save a spot for your friends and family at parade sites, it’s customary to either rope off the area (and pray the cops don’t come to cut it down) or surround the area with fold up chairs or lay a blanket down on the ground. We usually do a combo of all those choices (usually not a rope but it’s been known to happen).

Back to the story: We unloaded EVERYTHING. I left C with the stuff and went and parked the car. When I walked back, I started helping C set up. The a$$hole work up and started complaining because we were setting up in HIS spot. I wanted to deck that mo-fo so bad, I could taste it. I calmly (how on earth I pulled that off, I’ll never understand) explained that I could not see anything that “claimed” the area as his. He countered back that the barricade that he pulled over was his way of claiming the spot. O.k., first things first, those barricades belong to Jefferson Parish and the cops WILL get pissed if you mess with them. Second, because they are police issued barricades, how the hell were we supposed to know at 6 AM and with them sleeping and not awake to shoo off interlopers, that the barricades were not put there by the JPSO but by them. Huh? Can you answer me that, oh Amazing Kreskin?

Long story short, I decided to back off the argument. For two reasons: one, even if I had dug in my heels and forced the issue, it would have made for a miserable day and that’s not the point of the whole day. Who wants to be miserable on Mardi Gras? Two, we found a better spot closer to Vets.

So, we moved. And enjoyed the day. As usual.

That wraps up Mardi Gras 2008. I hope everyone enjoyed the trip.

Later,

Mama Dawg

P.S. I think I've got B and L convinced to join us next year. I think they (and their girls, of course) would have a blast as they've never been before.

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

Mardi Gras Madness part 2

After settling down from all the excitement on Saturday, we all got to sleep relatively early and got to sleep in a bit on Sunday.

We were invited to a party at a house that was one block off the parade route for Thoth. K and mom (and me as well) used to work for the same company and this was one of the attorney’s that also worked for the company. He was having some people over for a pre-parade and after-parade party. We parked in Audubon Park and walked to the house. There was delicious food all set out (which included some Italian sausage meatballs with red pepper jelly). We all chowed down. After eating, we grabbed a couple of beers and some bottles of water and made our way to the parade site. C had to work that day so he could only stay for a while. He managed to stay for almost the entire parade.

The parade started late but that wasn’t an issue since we were right on the street. I loved this parade because it wasn’t too crowded and you could walk right up to the floats if you wanted to. No barricades or anything like that. It was HOT as well. I forgot to bring sunscreen so we all got a bit red but it wasn’t too bad.

We caught a lot more than we had expected to catch (we have never gone to this parade before). We've been given an open invitation to this party from now on, so I know what we'll be doing on the Sunday's before Mardi Gras from here on out.

We got back around 3 or so to K’s house. Bacchus was rolling that night on the Uptown/Downtown route. The tradition is that C, V and I go downtown to catch Bacchus. Mom, K and light of my life stay home while the others go to have some “adult” fun. When I say “adult” fun, I just mean being able to walk down Bourbon Street without having to cover little people’s eyes so they can’t see all the “clubs” and “stores” they have on Bourbon. For C and V, this is a relatively new experience. This is also the area (Bourbon Street) where you’ll see what most people associate Mardi Gras with. The flashing boobies and wee-wees. It’s a trip to watch though.

Mom dropped V & I off at Esplanade and Decatur later that night. We walked down to the parade site. We wanted to get there early enough to get a good spot. No problems there. We were able to get on the neutral ground near Magazine almost right up on the barricades. We had brought a sign that said “Can U Hit This” with a bulls-eye in the center. After we went and bought some drinks (Coke for V and Cherry Coke for me as well as a bottle of water and some sort of Green Apple alcoholic thingie for me. I forget what it was but it was yummy and since I wasn’t driving, I felt it was ok to have one), we went to sit and wait. It was about 8 or so. We knew the parade wouldn’t hit us until about 9 or 9:30 so we just sat there talking. While talking about college and stuff, V all of a sudden said “OMG” and I turned to where she was looking. Some guy was yelling, “Call an ambulance” and we could see some guy on the ground seizing. A couple of cops came running (one of them was trying to hop the barricade like some big-deal TV show cop but couldn’t handle it, he had to settle for climbing over….I know that’s a random thought but it’s what I remember). Anyway, a few minutes later an ambulance shows up. During that time, the guy had quit seizing once and then seized again. By the time the ambulance showed up, you could see him moving around (I breathed a sigh of relief as I thought maybe he had died). It was such a surreal scene because one of the people helping him was dressed in a hot pink wig a la Britney Spears and had 4-inch heels and was just generally dressed up for the celebration. It took about 20 minutes from start to finish, but it was just so strange.

On a side note, you can tell how callous the world is getting these days. While the cops were standing around trying to control the scene while the paramedics worked on the poor guy, idiotic people kept coming up trying to ask the cops how to get to Bourbon Street or how to cross the parade route or whatever the hell they were asking him. A man just seized in public on the street where you can still see his blood all over the place and these people were getting pissed because the cops wouldn't tell them where Bourbon Street and instead was telling them to move away from the scene. Seriously, have a little respect. Even if you don't know exactly what was going on, you can pretty much assume that the ambulance with the swirly lights on it was not there as part of the parade. Especially when people standing around were trying to wipe blood off their hands and a woman was standing there crying. Gimme a break. Heartless, souless people.

Because Bacchus fell on the same night as the Super Bowl, the Marriott and the hotel across the street from the Marriott had the game playing up against the outside of the buildings so the crowd on both sides of Canal could watch the game. I was standing in line at the port-a-potty in front of Arby’s when I saw the Giants win. Man, the sound that came from the crowd was deafening. I’ve never seen so much excitement. I got all caught up in the celebratory crowd. Eli managed to pull it off. Go Eli!!!!!!

Normally, the first float in a parade is either the celebrity float or the king’s float. This year, it was a float in honor of the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish, Harry Lee, who recently died. It was such a sweet honor as he was really into Mardi Gras. In fact, he was so into it that he designs and throws his own magnets. The first sets of magnets were of the fat Harry Lee. He ended up losing lots of weight and after that, the magnets were of the skinny Harry Lee. He managed to get this last one designed before he passed away. I managed to get some Harry Lee magnets and doubloons. They'll probably be collectors items sometime in the future. The float was cool as well. It was shrouded in black tulle and it was rider less float. A couple of tourists near me were wondering why there were no riders and I had to explain to them what was going on.

The parade was fun. We caught more than we had expected to catch (once again). It was Bacchus’s 40th year celebration so the floats were themed after the decades. It was kinda cool. I caught 2 footballs including one of Bacchus's grape footballs that had the 40th anniversary written on it.

After the parade, V and I decided to walk down Bourbon Street on our way to Café du Monde for some beignets and café au lait. Whoa, Bourbon is always an eye opener. V is this cute, little (4’9”) 16 year old wearing a tank top (yes, it was that warm) and tight jeans. She has long dark brown almost black hair and dark brown eyes. She is adorable. Everywhere we went, she was getting hit on.

Some random gay guy that was standing near us at the parade route told her “I’m sure you get this all the time, but you’re adorable!”. Another random guy (not gay) saw her walking down Bourbon and came over and asked her if he could pick her up. I mean, literally pick her up. H was 6’ something so it was a funny picture. V let it happen. I have a pic somewhere and I’ll post it later. V mentioned later that while she was standing in line at the same port-a-potty that another random guy literally picked her up as well. This was after she declined to do "something" to earn some big Spiderman beads the guy was offering. Good girl.

When we got towards the end of the street before we had to turn off to go get our midnight snack, another random guy stepped off the sidewalk and asked if either one of us wanted to thumb wrestle him. He claimed he was from Chicago and asked where we were from. V said “here” and that thrilled him to no end. He said that it would be the ultimate showdown between Chicago and New Orleans. He was drunk off his ass so V easily beat him. I have pics of that as well that I’ll post. He kept asking if we were Hispanic or Latin. V kept trying to tell him that she was Italian but he was too drunk to really listen to anything we had to say. His drunk friend kept telling me he wished he knew me better so he could get me to send him copies of the pics. I chose not to even respond.

After that, we called K and mom and they came and picked us up. We got home a bit after 1 am.

All in all, a blast. I love going to Bacchus.

That’s it for part 2. I’ll write about part 3 and post it on Monday.

Have a good weekend, y’all.

Later,

Mama Dawg

More Pics From Mardi Gras

This is the Sphinx float at Thoth. You can see some beads flying through the air.

Here's light of my life up on the ladder I bought at Home Depot. We had left our ladder at home in the storage unit so I decided to get a new one. I left it at K's house for them to use when it's not Mardi Gras time. She seemed pleased with that arrangement!

Here's the King of Thoth. Underneath that beard and wig, I'm told he's a hottie!

Here's light of my life and myself at Endymion. We were killing time by taking photos of ourselves. I have major hat head going on.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Some Pics From Mardi Gras

This is a picture of some random boy sleeping at the parade. This was in the afternoon when the crowd was getting loud so I'm not sure how he was able to sleep through it, but here you go. This was taken at the Endymion parade.

This is the crowd at the Endymion parade. If you're familiar with New Orleans, this is at the intersection of Canal and Jeff Davis.

This was a vendor selling all that crap you don't really need. Those popper thingies, funny hats, glow in the dark necklaces, silly string, etc... I thought his T-Shirt was hilarious.

This is our gang at Thoth. This was a surprisingly good parade. We had a blast. We got real hot, though.

This is a Jester float at the Thoth parade. I love the vivid colors and you can see the costumed riders to the side.

Later,

Mama Dawg

She Abandoned Her Kids on Canal Street

What can I say? We had a blast. Probably the best Mardi Gras ever. Seriously. I’ve been to a lot of Mardi Gras’s but this was the best.

We arrived in town late Friday night and stayed up a bit catching up with K and the kids. C had to work from like 7a til 2p and V had Winter Guard from 9a to 2p, so Mom got up with me at 5:30 in the freakin’ AM to get a good spot for Endymion. My aunt’s house (before Katrina) was one and a half blocks from the parade site. I got us a good spot right on Canal street. Mom helped me unload and I got all set up. I sat down and ate my McDonald’s sausage and egg McGriddle (yum, yum) and started reading Stephen King’s new book, Duma Key.

Because I wasn’t moving around too much, I got a bit chilled. I put on my jacket, gloves and a hat. I then wrapped light of my life’s Spongebob Squarepants blanket around my legs. I promise you, there is a reason for telling you this….just bear with me.

I had been like this for about 30 minutes or so when out of nowhere, this SUV type car comes to a screeching halt right in front of me. A guy hops out of the car with a big ass camera (professional type) and asked if he could take my picture. Of course, I said yes and then proceeded to show him my good side….joking. I asked him what he wanted me to do and he said to just keep doing what I was doing. So, I went back to reading my book while he took my picture. That was so weird and random. I've been looking on line to see if I can find the pic anywhere, but haven't found it.....yet.

Mom and light of my life showed up about 10 am and were able to park right in front of my aunt’s old house. They joined me and we had about 8 hours to kill before the parade would reach us. We took lots of walks, went to visit some people we knew either on the parade route or at their houses. We got to visit a little kid light of my life and I used to baby-sit for. He had grown so much. It was exciting to see them again.

Around 2:45p or so, K, C & V joined us. I talked some parking lot attendants at a local church to let me pre-pay for K’s parking spot (it was only 2 blocks from our site). I played up K’s handicap (with her permission, of course) to secure the spot. They were a couple of college girls so they fell for it. Not that it was a lie but it wasn’t a dire situation and it made K’s walk to the site shorter.


We all hung out for a while, went to an Endymion party and got some good food. Heard a live band playing at someone’s party and enjoyed it for a while. The parade finally reached us around 6 or so and we had SOOOOO much fun. We caught so much crap and just generally enjoyed ourselves. Kevin Costner was the Grand Marshall and he looked horrible.

Because of all the loot, I had to get C and V to help us take some to mom’s car so we could do it all in one trip. K was to walk to her car and wait for C and V to join her.

A little background before I go any further. K is a protective mama. She keeps in constant contact with her kids wherever they go. C is 21 and V is 16. Now that you know this bit about them, you will understand why the rest of this story is so funny.

C and V help us load up and they leave to go meet K at the car.

Mom, light of my life and I are in the car and are trying to navigate our way through the maze of traffic to get back to K’s house. My cell phone is in the leg pocket of my pants and it starts ringing. I had gotten one of those cell phone charms for Christmas from mom and it was on my phone. I tried to pull the phone out of my pants but the charm got stuck in some loose threads in the pocket. I managed to get the phone partially out and connected the call. Because I was still trying to get the charm unhooked, I'm sitting there yelling at my pants "V, hang on, just hang on, one second". I’m yanking on my phone and my pants are riding up and I’m yelling, “hang on, just hang on a sec”. I finally get the phone free but the call had been disconnected. I tried calling her right back but couldn’t get her on the phone. I kept getting phone calls from her and C for about 15 minutes (still haven’t made it out of the neighborhood at this point). This worries me for a bit because if they were just calling to talk, I wouldn’t have gotten repeat phone calls from them. I’m getting really concerned that maybe K had fallen and they were needing our help or there was a car accident or something. I finally get a text message from V that said “Mom left and we cant get n touch w. Her. We’re at jens house”. This is verbatim what was texted to me. I just looked it up on my phone.

I’m shocked, utterly shocked. I muttered “Shit” and mom ask me what’s wrong (she had been concerned as well). I could not believe that K had actually left her kids in NEW ORLEANS (they live about 20 minutes from the city in the suburbs) after a parade in a still partially abandoned part of town (that is quickly coming back, I must add). I explained it to mom. She was speechless (not a small feat for my mom). We were in a position to turn around and go to the house where we had attended a party earlier. They remembered where the house was and that was where V was when she texted me. Because there were so many people in one area and almost all were (most likely) on their cell phone, the cell service wasn’t working too well. I managed to text them that we were on our way.

We found ‘em all safe and sound and they got in the car. We had to make room because we had a ladder, blankets, chairs, beads, stuffed animals and all kinds of junk in the car. Light of my life was in V’s lap (I know, I know, illegal as hell and dangerous but we had no other choice) and I was sitting on top of the back of the seat (it had been folded down to make room for all the crap). C was in the front and mom was driving. We were getting out of the neighborhood when C received a phone call from K (C was highly PISSED at this time). The call disconnected before he could answer it so she called V to find out how close we were to coming home. Before we had gotten the first phone call from K, we were planning on leaving V, C and light of my life outside their house once we arrived. Mom and I were going to go inside the house and act like we didn’t know anything about V, C and light of my life. We were going to tell her that light of my life decided to ride home with her and the kids. We were working on the details of this before the phone call came in. We quickly decided that V would pretend they were still on Canal Street looking for her and the car. V played it off brilliantly. K then asked to speak to C and he played it off as well. She was panicking at this point. She had misunderstood what our game plan was for leaving and had thought that they were going home with us. They played it off like they were wandering around on Canal Street and didn’t know where they were.

When we finally revealed to her what was really going on, we all died of hysteria. It was the funniest thing. She so deserved it after abandoning her kids on Canal Street after a parade.

In the car on the way home, the night just got funnier. There was this car driving next to us and this 17 or 18 year old kid was in the backseat just digging away in his nose. I saw him a couple of more times as we would pass each other and he was still digging away. It was kinda gross but also kinda impressive. Yes, I know, I’m such a boy.

This other car, going the opposite direction, was stopped in the road and the driver (an older woman) was getting out of the car. I looked to see if she had a flat tire or something but discovered something hilarious. She had run over an orange traffic cone and had been dragging it all the way from wherever she picked it up from. It was so surreal. This lonely car stopped on a normally busy street (she was going towards downtown instead of away from it so the street was not busy at all) with an orange traffic cone caught underneath it. I wish I had gotten a picture.

This is just part 1 of my Mardi Gras series. I’ll bring you part 2 tomorrow or later today.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Mardi Gras Background

I’ll start with a bit of Mardi Gras history so you can understand that it’s not just what you hear about and see on T.V. Where we go to view the parades, there is no flashing of the boobies or wee-wees. It’s a very family oriented atmosphere. I’m not saying that it’s all rainbows and kittens, but the blatant obvious sexualized part of Mardi Gras that people come to associate the holiday with does not occur where we view the parades.

A Mardi Gras type celebration started back in Rome, usually on Feb. 15. They called it Lupercalia.

When Christianity arrived in Rome, the church decided it was easier to incorporate some pagan traditions with the new faith. Who knows what would have happened if those chose not to incorporate these traditions? Anarchy, that’s what!!! LOL!!!!!

Carnival (as it’s also known) became a time of abandonment and celebration. This always precedes Lent. All aspects of merriment and abandonment regarding pleasures are considered “allowable” by the Christian faith during this time. Whoa, baby, that’s like allowing the bull to have free reign in a china shop.

Mardi Gras came to the US around 1699 by French explorer, Sieur d’Iberville. From 1827 to 1833 the New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations became similar to what they are today. The Mardi Gras Ball started that year as well.

In French, Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday. It always falls on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (you can check your calendars to find out when this is). Lundi Gras is the Monday before Ash Wednesday. Fat Tuesday is the last day before Lent. Lent is a 40-day season of prayer and fasting, which is observed by several religions. It ends on Easter Sunday. Because East Sunday can fall anywhere between March 23 and April 25, Mardi Gras can happen either in February or March. This year, it was at the beginning of February, which means that Easter will be early as well.

The beginning of the Carnival season, however, always starts on Twelfth Night (January 6th), which is the Feast of Epiphany.

In 1837, the first Mardi Gras parade was organized. In 1839, the first float appeared in the parades. The float was considered such a success that it turned into what you see on TV these days.

In 1857, the Krewe of Comus was the first organization to use the term “Krewe”. They also started the secret Carnival society, having a parade with a theme and a ball or gathering after the parade. It’s also the first Krewe to name itself after a mythological character.

Trivia:

The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple (symbolic of justice), green (symbolic of faith) and gold (symbolic of power). The Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff of Russia visited New Orleans and is the one who was given the honor of designated the official colors of Mardi Gras.

King Cakes are a tradition of Mardi Gras. Objects such as beans, coins, pecans and peas were hidden inside each cake originally. This switched to a small plastic baby during the mid 1900’s. The New Orleans tradition calls for the recipient of the baby in his/her piece of cake to be crowned the King or Queen of the day and that person has to bring the King Cake at the next year’s party.

Doubloons are thrown in almost every parade. A local artist and inventor, Alvin Sharpe, designed them. The coins are made of aluminum and can be dyed different colors if the Krewe so desires. They are collectors’ items. Light of my life has an eye for them. She can spot ‘em all over the streets during the parades. During a break between floats, she darts out into the streets and seems to pluck them out of thin air.

Mardi Gras did not occur in 1918 and 1919 because of the first World War. To date, these are the only years that have not seen a Mardi Gras celebration. There was even a Mardi Gras after Katrina….which I personally felt the citizens needed.

Parades:

The Krewe of Endymion is the largest parade in Mardi Gras. It’s considered a Super Krewe. It has over 2200 male riders. They usually have a celebrity rider. This year it was Kevin Costner. One year it was Britney Spears (pre-babies, pre-K-Fed, pre-meltdown crazy). It’s not unusual for people to start staking out their spots on the parade route DAYS head of the roll time. Endymion always rolls on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday. If you drive anywhere Orleans and parts of Canal, you can see tents, couches, sleeping bags, blankets, ladders, etc….all lined up on the sidewalk side and the neutral ground.

The Krewe of Bacchus is a wild and crazy parade. This year’s celebrity was Hulk Hogan. It has been Drew Carey and one of the Belushi’s in the past. It’s one of the few parades where the revelers actually throw beads back at some floats. Especially on the Baccha-Gator.

The Krewe of Orpheus was founded in 1993 by Harry Connick Jr. who is a son of New Orleans, his father, Harry Connick, Sr. and Sonny Borey. It’s one of the most popular parades as it accepts all races, both gender and generally anybody who can afford it. It’s also one of the most beautiful.

The Krewe of Muses is an all-female Krewe (most are all-male Krewes). They are known for their satirical floats about politicians and celebrities. I know several women who ride in this parade. Mom wants to do it one year. I’d like to as well, but it’s too expensive for me.

This year, we hit Endymion on Saturday, Thoth and Bacchus on Sunday, Proteus and Orpheus on Monday and Argus and the truck floats on Mardi Gras day.

In the next few posts, I’ll talk about our Mardi Gras this year. I’ll try to include pictures.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Mardi Gras Mambo

Down in New Orleans
Where the blues was born
It takes a cool cat
To blow a horn
On LaSalle and Rampart Street
The combo's there with a mambo beat

The Mardi Gras, mambo, mambo, mambo
Party Gras, pambo, mambo, mambo
Mardi Gras, mambo-ooh
Down in New Orleans
"Mardi Gras Mambo" by the Hawketts (of whom Aaron Neville was a member)

Just hearing these words get me all hyped up.

Yes, gang, it’s that time of year again. MARDI GRAS!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been invited to a couple of Endymion parties for tomorrow.

As soon as I get off work and drive the 50 minutes back to my house, mom, light of my life and I will pack up the car and drive ourselves down to New Orleans. It’ll take a long time to get there, but I took Lundi Gras (Monday) and Mardi Gras (Tuesday) off of work and am allowing light of my life to miss school.

Next to Christmas, this is my favorite holiday. It’s a non-stop party for 2 weeks. However, we’ll only be celebrating for 4 days.

My absolute all time favorite parade is tomorrow. It’s called Endymion and this year, it’s rolling in Mid-City again! Whoo hoo….’bout time.

We do that with a fairly large group of people. On Sunday, C, V and I will head downtown to celebrate Bacchus. On Monday, we will be Uptown at Orpheus and on Mardi Gras day, we will be in Metairie on Severn in the neutral ground.

Sounds like a foreign language doesn’t it?

I don’t have time to get a good post together today, but sometime on Monday (hopefully), I’ll be able to do a post about Mardi Gras history along with some pictures of this year’s celebration.

Have a good weekend and I’ll see y’all on Monday (but not Tuesday).

Thanks B for feeding the animals and keeping an eye on the house. I’ll get you some special beads!

Later,

Mama Dawg