NOLA: Mardi Gras

Last post, I made it to Friday night (or very early Saturday morning). Continuing with the marathon...

Saturday, February 2: Endymion - Mid City 4:30pm (MG - 2 days)

There were actually more parades on Saturday then just Endymion... but I was a little paraded out and took a break until the afternoon. Endymion is unusual because it does not follow the normal parade route - it parades in mid city. So, Chelsea, Laura, Megan, Alana, Emily and I headed to mid city (in a car... fateful mistake) to watch the parade. When we got close to the parade route, the chaos began. There was NO parking anywhere near the route. We drove farther and farther away from the route until I was thoroughly confused. When we finally found parking in a church lot, we were relieved to find the church was providing a shuttle to the parade route! While we did pay $10 for parking, it was $2 for each of us, the lot was secure, and there was a free shuttle! Below is the picture of us, thrilled to finally find a spot.

When we got to the parade route, we were dismayed to find the parade had already started. However, we walked several blocks more and came to the beginning of it! However, Endymion was not my favorite parade. There were barracades along the streets and the crowd just wasn't as nice as the crowd along St. Charles. While Alana and I did score some beautiful glass beads at the beginning of the parade, the rest of our spoils did not amount to much and the krewe members were not as friendly. The theme was more interesting though: A Tribute to Rudyard Kipling. The Jungle Book, Gunga Din, and Rikki Tikki Tavi featured prominently in the floats.

While the parade was a little downer, Chelsea made up for it with a wonderfully home-cooked meal, complete with king cake. :)

Sunday, February 3: Okeanos, 11am; Babylon, after Okeanos; Thoth, 11:30am; Mid-City, 12:15pm (MG - 1 day)

While these parades were lots of fun, they were not very original. Mid-city was probably the best - their floats were not the traditional looking floats. Instead, they were made of colored foil. Here is an example:

Additionally, Mid City won the most interesting throw: designer potato chips. Yes, I have a bag of Mid City potato chips, and, No, I will never eat them.

Then, as it was also Superbowl Sunday, I biked up to Napoleon and Prytania (Mal and Claudie's apartment) to go to their party, then biked to TJ's to watch the game. What a game! I can't describe to you the utter joy I felt when the Giants beat the Patriots. Our house was jumping with excitement after the last play.

Parade count: 16

Lundi Gras: Monday, February 4: Proteus, 5:15pm; Orpheus, 5:45pm

Thank goodness these parades weren't until the evening! Alana, Laura, Chelsea and I watched Proteus from the familiar surroundings of Jackson and St. Charles, but after getting 5 bags of seahorse beads (cool at first, but not when they become common), we hiked downtown to see the action down there.

Staying lakeside of the parade, we managed to get ourselves completely tangled in the barracaded mess that was St. Charles and Canal. After finally managing to get riverside of St. Charles, we claimed a spot along Canal to watch Orpheus. By this time, we were exhausted, as were the bands, bead throwers and float attendees at the end of Orpheus. The bands had been marching for over 3 miles with instruments in tow. But many of them gave their last hurrah right around where we were standing!

MARDI GRAS DAY

Getting home at 12:30am when you need to get up at 6am is never a good idea, but particularly miserable when that day is Mardi Gras. Luckily, I live close to the parade routes and could take a cat nap in the middle of the day. But, let's start at the beginning.

Zulu marches directly past my house at 8:30am Mardi Gras morning. My neighbors were up at 6am, grilling and playing music. My house woke a bit slower, but people arrived around 6:30am to eat breakfast, drink (coffee and other... stronger types of liquid), and stake out a spot for the parade. I made pancakes (after all, it IS Fat Tuesday). Zulu, as I mentioned earlier, gives coconuts as their prized throw and I'll be darned if I wasn't going to get one. Luckily, my house has a first floor roof with window access that the krewe members liked to target. From Zulu, I got a coconut (picture below), medallion, fun beads, and key chain. While Zulu did have great throws, it still didn't beat Muses. But, it was tons of fun to have a parade go down my street! Here are some pics:

my neighbors + Holly & Michelle

my house, before the parade

the beginning of Zulu

the king

understand the chaos yet?

the public health people, from the roof :)

Alana and Karissa

After Zulu (and after chasing all the people out of my house), we headed to Rex, the King of Parades. While I did make out very well throw-wise, I learned the cardinal rule of Mardi Gras parades: Use your feet to claim throws; DON'T use your hands. When picking up a stuffed Rex crown, I had my fingers slashed when I kid stepped on my hand. I missed much of Rex to fix my hand. Luckily, no tetanus though!

When I came back out, Rex was just finishing and the truck parade was beginning. I rushed to get there, hoping I didn't miss it... however, there was probably no conceivable way I could have missed the truck parade. It started around 1pm and 76 floats/trucks later, we called it quits to take naps and relax. I really think every 18-wheeler in the state of LA was in this parade. Here's a picture of the trucks, to give you a general idea of how boring this soon became:

I took a nap, ate a quick dinner and headed to the French Quarter to experience Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street. Interesting experience but one you'll have to discover yourself! However, I did get Bourbon Street beads and an all-in-one .