Both parades followed the same route, from the garden district and through uptown. We decided to plonk ourselves on St. Charles avenue, but were having trouble deciding exactly where. Then we came across a bar selling buckets of beer, which also had banned ladders from being placed in front of it. Perfect! No viewing obstructions and a continual supply of beer from behind us. And thanks to the BFG driving, we were able to drink heavily.
The first parade paid off with lots of beads, and best of all a soft football. So the Aussies did what any true Aussies would do in the break between parades - with beer in hand we ran into the street and kicked the football for half an hour.
Major score from the Pegasus parade was a package containing 5 soft Pegasuses (Pegasi?), which the puppy was especially happy to find. Again we were slack and didn't take any photos, we were busy watching the parade. But there are lots coming later in the post, I promise. After the parade we headed down to the quarter and found a hole in the wall bar that was able to serve us Muffelatas and beer, so ended the night well.
The next week passed mostly uneventfully, with only Friday afternoon spent doing the Mardi Gras thing (drinking and eating seafood). On the Saturday before Fat Tuesday we again went down to NO to see a parade. This was Endymion, which is one of the most famous parades of the festival. We got our now favourite position in front of the bar with no ladders and again scored big on beads and freebies.
We were just about over parades by this stage, so again didn't take any photos and actually left a bit early after the floats broke down around the corner.
The question remains, what do you do with all these beads that you catch?
Gator Girl stressing over another bagfull of beads.
Yeah they look good, but what to do?
You could torment the dog.........And then we come to the final day of Mardi Gras - Fat Tuesday. This is a public holiday in the state of Louisiana, and people take it very seriously. Gator Girl was off working in some god forsaken state (possibly one of the Carolinas) for the day, and so missed the best day of Mardi Gras. Don't tell her that though.
As you've probably guessed by now, taking photos is not our strong point. So pretty much all the photos shown today were taken by Beachy - thanks for letting me use them!
I hooked up with Beachy, the BFG and some locals and headed down to the quarter about 7am.
We started the day in traditional fashion with coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde in the corner of Jackson square. While we were there we started to see the sights of the day we would later get used to.
First the lame duck president orchestra strolled past.
Then we ran into a very well dressed man.
Do you get it? Do you get it? Pigs in a blanket and a chick magnet.We wandered up the road at about 8am for the other traditional way to start the day in New Orleans - Bloody Mary's at Pat O'Briens. Very tasty way to wash down the beignets.
I should probably point out that I had invites to two functions on this day. One was at the Acme oyster house on a side-street from Bourbon St, the other was a balcony at the Royal Sonesta hotel overlooking Bourbon St. The second one is apparently a prize position that most people don't get the chance to attend. I just thought it was fun and didn't realise how lucky I apparently was. More on that later.
So we went to the first function at the oyster house and found everything was free. All the food you could eat, all the alcohol including spirits you could drink was free. And it all came in go-cups so that you could take it out walking on the streets. I was just starting to realise how much fun this day could be :-). So I washed down the Bloody Mary with some gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp and beer while standing on the balcony.
After a couple more heart starters we then headed out on the streets to look at some of the great costumes that were appearing.
A reveller on Royal Street.
Now I'm normally not a mime fan, but this guy walking his dog very slowly was cool. Check the signs in the background as well - these are not special for the occasion, you see them all the time in Nawlins.
You would quite frequently come across extra unannounced parades going through the streets. These guys were just strolling around with a band behind them, handing out beads.
And here's the band.
By this stage I was feeling underdressed, so dived into a tourist shop and bought myself a mask. Here's how I looked, standing behind Beachy and a couple of other locals.
Nice codpiece.
I wish I could say the same for this guy......but there's something missing.
The party on the streets was beginning to fire up about 11am.
And people started to wear less and less.....
But the best way to get in the spirit was to meet the locals - as the BFG discovered.
It's hard to tell who the king and queen of Mardi Gras was, but these guys gave both titles a shot.
The costumes ranged from the simple and inventive.....
....to the elaborate and impressive.....
......to the downright odd.
Oh, hang on, time for another parade.
No comment.
These guys were probably the winner for most visually stunning costume, they looked great.
I've been trying to figure out what kind of superpower the guy on the right must have.
Time for another brass band randomly walking the streets.
These guys were lowering beads to people from their third floor apartment via fishing rod - very inventive.After walking the streets for a while we went back to the oyster house for some beers and another round of deep fried goodness. I then decided to use my other freebie and headed to the balcony above Bourbon Street. By this time the street was getting packed and the party was well and truly started.
And now I can answer the question - what do you do with all those beads? I don't know what the locals do, but I took a huge bag of beads that we'd caught previously up to the balcony and threw them out to someone else. I'll probably get them back again someday.
Here's the view from the balcony looking north down Bourbon Street. You can see the beads being thrown to some lucky punter. And a bit of my finger, as I'm bad at photography.
This is the usual sight from the balcony. 5 or 6 people shouting for beads, and a bunch of people too drunk to look upwards.
And here's the view looking south down Bourbon Street (and a bit more of my finger). This is now getting later in the afternoon, and it continued to get more and more packed on the street from then onwards. We left about 5pm, but the party continues until exactly 12pm. At that time the party stops completely, and the police clear the streets of rubbish and revellers with fire hoses.
Why 12 exactly? Don't forget the first part of this post - it's a religious ceremony and Lent begins on the Wednesday, technically at 1 minute past 12. So the party's over.
Not many people made it into work early on the Wednesday though........
Mardi Gras was a great experience, and I'm really looking forward to it again next year. It wasn't what I expected, but it was lots of fun and had a much more family friendly atmosphere than I had expected. Even on the streets on Fat Tuesday the feeling was more 'fun' than 'drunken party'. Anyone want to come visit for next year?
