ITS ALL ABOUT THE BEADS AND DRINK

Mardi Gras Parade number two, for us, was a different animal. Fast moving, giddy excitement, people screaming for beads and plastic junk, including me. The whole street was alive, moving, cheering, smiling, having crazy fun. The New Orleans Police Department is very laid back and helpful. If a cop saw an errant football, cup or moonpie that missed its mark and ended up in the street, he would helpfully push it to the curb or hand it into the crowd.

The theme of this parade seemed to be drink. There was a nod to Valentines day in a couple floats, also Thoth Krewe with Egyptian God floats, but drink after drink and places to drink rolled down the street. I didn't count but over 20 floats were named for individual drinks, grasshopper, mimosas, brass monkeys, champagne, singapore sling and so on.

Did I say this was a serious drinking town? This is a SERIOUS drinking town. Jello shots made with 190 proof booze.

Why bother with a single drink when you can get everything you don't need in one. I watched a bartender pour 8 shots into a single drink. They sell them in 32 oz. size to 70 oz. size. And, you can bring them out into the street.

All of the elements for a parade were present. The horseman above threw artificial roses. And, along with horses, you have bands, and music and noise. The bands didn' t simply play music, most of them danced and jived down the street.

We noticed the band escorts picking up beads from the street and giving them to the hard playing marchers. But for us it was the beads. You couldn't help but want to catch them as they flew through the air. Everyone competed for hands full of plastic beads.

And at the end of the day, most people wore their booty home.

Its all about the beads. We did like many others and put our beads in a bag. I couldn't believe when we got home to find our booty weighed 18 pounds. Whattam I gonna do with all these beads? Its insanity. And we'll go back and do it again.

We took the ferry back to our side of the river and watched the sun set over the Big Easy. A perfect name for a laid back fun city.

MARDI GRAS STREET PARTY

There are parades every day during Mardi Gras. I attended my first one yesterday in the National Historic District of Algiers. During the long wait for the parade to come by our chosen spot, I learned that the parade, especially a daytime one like this, is really about family, a neighborhood party. The locals set up their barbeque pits, tables, ice chests and were serving friends and neighbors who happened by. Everyone was enjoying the potato salad, hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs and chicken. Good food, happy greetings, meeting old friends, cousins and neighbors; showing off the grand babies. The kids are out of school.

This veteran parade attendee brought his special ladder. I thought maybe it was for camera gear, but Jim recalled attending a parade where practically everyone had ladders. Later, this fellow perched his two little kids on the seat so they could see above the crowd.

The young girls walked by, hoping to catch the eye of a young man. The gentleman sitting next to me told me his wife told him to quit ogling the girls. He was setting a bad example for his grandson. But he and I agreed this was a great ritual for the young. Some shy girls and boys, some bold and confident want to be seen. We saw one girl dressed in tattered jeans and mink; others with colorful shoes, fancy clothes, pants hung low, dreds and mohawks, or their best hairdos. It was fun to watch the interplay.

Vendors passed by with their trinkets; young boys tossed footballs and ran skirmishes around the adults. Young girls showed off their best dresses and giggled a lot. The cute little dog drew a lot of attention, only 11 months old.

The long awaited floats began to arrive. This parade was hosted by the Nomtoc Krewe. Floats lose their appeal a bit in the bright sunshine of day. And, in fact, the welcome sun, and our position, made it hard to get good pictures. The whole purpose of the floats seems to be throwing trinkets. They fly everywhere. I caught quite a few and it was a lot of fun. One "floater" asked Jim: "How many grandchildren do you have?" He told him three and the guy threw him 3 stuffed animals.

It was difficult to discipher the theme of many of the floats.

The paint was drying on this basketball player the day we went through the Mardi Gras Museum.

This one was entitled, The Race Is On.

The bands played. This young man has a glass of water in his horn.

I spoke briefly to this girl's very tired looking mother marching along beside her and asked her, "Did you know when your daughter joined band you'd be marching the parades with her?" She shook her head, no, and smiled.

The band took a rest break in front of us and the horns hit the street. One marcher rested his hat on his horn.

What is a parade without horses? If you look closely you can see beads flying through the air.

This adroit group of riders had several boys who could ride backwards. Quite a feat.

After the parade, we rolled for home and bought fresh trout and shrimp for dinner. What a treat. Each day we pass a stand with several fresh fish vendors on our way back to the park.