Ash Wednesday

Shop hours near our home

Back to it today. We, like the rest of the city, are getting around rather slowly today. I am off today, and have managed to get the house back in order. Mardi Gras is packed away until next year, but please let me know if you want some throws for your costume boxes, decorations, or party favors.

The Second Line Crawfish flag has been replaced by a mug of beer.


Yes, I know it's lent, but it's too early to fly the Jazzfest flag, and we've got St. Patrick's Day right around the corner...that's a beer drinking holiday, right?

Charlie spent the morning polishing his exam, making final corrections, and handed it out to his committee this afternoon. From now until his presentation on the 18th he'll be busy with school.

Good thing Lent is pushing us back to a life of exercise and high fiber bran.

It's Carnival Time!

We hit the streets early this morning.

First on the agenda was seeing Zulu along Jackson Ave.


We were able to add three new coconuts to our collection.


The notoriously late parade started on time, 8am, but somehow managed to drag on for several hours.

We were able to hear the LSU Tiger band lead Rex down St. Charles Ave. and give a wave to the King of Carnival.


We walked downtown to the French Quarter to take in some sights and eat beignets!


And as we sat along the river we seized the opportunity for a self portrait!


We finished off Mardi Gras with the perfect meal...


Popeye's! It's our last taste of fat and yum of the Mardi Gras season.

So now we are faced with repacking the costume box, cleaning out the cooler, getting the glitter off the furniture, and finding a new home for all of our throws!

Lundi Gras

Monday night was the final ride of the party wagon to Napoleon for the season. Proteus and Orpheus provided the sights and sounds of the evening. The real sights for me are the people along the beginning of the route. I especially love watching the preparations, including the flabeauxs getting lit!


They provided light for the parade before street lights.


Carrying a torch above your head for the entire 5+ miles of the parade looks like hard work, but thankfully the tradition continues.

The fireman standing by with the extinguisher is ready to take care of any mishaps.


I also like watching the bands and drill teams line up and warm up. Warren Easton's band paid tribute to alum, police officer Nicola Cotton, who was killed in the line of duty last week.

The parades got rolling as the sun set.


There were lots of beads to be caught.


And I did my best to catch each and every one that came my way...and ended up with a major headache later that night from taking a hit in the forehead from some extra large pearls! It's hard to see those beads in the dark.

Throw me something mister!

Friday through Sunday: On the parade route

The party wagon made its 2008 debut on Friday...down Magazine...

and then weaving through the streets to Napoleon


until reaching just the right spot on the neutral ground.

This year the news reporter caught sight of Charlie getting us all set up, and had to get an interview. The 4 parades rolled late that night, with us not getting home until nearly midnight, so I am not sure if he made it to the news, but they got some time talking to Charlie and some footage of his cold Abitas making their way from the cooler to the koozie!

Who would have thought this Mardi Gras die hard, wearing his green top hat and purple "vest" wasn't a native New Orleanian.


Essentials from last year were still in his pocket...

$1, bathroom tickets, and Alka Seltzer!

Great night of parades, especially Muses.


The all female, shoe loving krewe really does it right...beautiful floats and lots of creative throws.

Charlie especially loved the disco ball!


Elizabeth looked like she was having fun (bottom row, on the left).

and hooked us up with some treasured Muses' throws.

Saturday morning, after a king cake breakfast, we went out to watch the king of Tucks roll by on his throne...

And we headed out to Midcity to watch the return of Endymion to their traditional route. It was packed, as was to be expected. It amazes me how much more crowded Endymion is in Midcity than any parade rolling Uptown.

The woman in front of us brought Steve Martin with her.


She says he's made it to every parade with her for the past 12 years and ensures her lots of throws. No one even questioned why Steve Martin...it's just another one of those things you walk by and smile at, and think, "I love the people in this city."

You definitely needed something to get the riders attention at this parade if you had any hopes of catching anything.

Charlie didn't like having to compete for beads, but took great pleasure in my "tattoo" that he convinced the woman next to us to apply to my face..."Yeah, she really wants one...go ahead...put it on her cheek."


I was a bit panicked later that night when I couldn't get it off! That tickled Charlie even more.

We took a self portrait...
and then headed home early, in time to get into Casemento's for a yummy dinner before climbing into bed.

And Sunday...well, it was more of the same... Charlie headed out early (7 am) to ensure a good spot for Bacchus later that night.


So we ate, and drank, and waited, and ate, and drank, with a little work while waiting. That exam just won't go away!


The four parades during the afternoon provided music and sights for chatting with Elizabeth as we sipped bloody marys (mine sans vodka).


Chantelle and her family joined us for the evening, and her boys provided lots of entertainment! How fun to be a kid at Mardi Gras.

Bacchus had Hulk Hogan as their grand marshal ...


And even had his likeness on a float remembering the 80s...


Look at the garbage clean up post parade...


Amazing how much is scooped off the streets. Mardi Gras' success is based on how many tons of garbage is collected!

Tonight we have two parades, and we need to make our plan for Fat Tuesday...

Parades and Preparations

Tonight begins parades for us. St Charles and Milan was the spot for the night, as Druids and Pygmalion (rescheduled from last week due to rain) rolled.

Charlie dusted off his trusty hat, slipped an Abita into a koozie, and off we went...


We traveled light tonight, since it wouldn't be too long of an event. The party wagon may have to wait to make it's debut tomorrow.

The crowds were light and the throws plentiful.



The O'Dwyers found us on the neutral ground, after scoring just the right parking spot (ah, Kevin was quite impressed with himself on that one). Ana's got her "throw me something, Mister" cries down,


and Elliot is more of the observer for now, taking it all in.


I didn't take too many photos tonight, but most of what I did take were of the bands.


It really wouldn't be a parade without them.




We were walking home by 8pm, searching for just the perfect spot to park the potty, and now that we're home preparations for the weekend are in motion...a pot of jambalaya on the stove, ice chest loaded with beers and ice, chairs loaded into the truck, and most importantly....


the potty is strapped in and ready for action. Tomorrow morning we're hoping that just the right spot is open on Coliseum and Napoleon, and that we won't be huddled inside waiting out the rain.

Other preparations include making a pot of corn soup, picking up poboys from Dorignacs, and then there is this little issue of a preliminary exam to be finished up before Friday. If we seem a little behind this year, well, we are. But, we're not worried. It's Carnival, after all.

Ain't no place to pee on Mardi Gras Day

Keep singing (Charlie is)...only rick folks get to pee on Mardi Gras Day.... you know the tune (but don't get it confused with the "G.E.D. fight song")

This is up there as one of Charlie's all time favorite "holiday songs." Who doesn't like a good ole yat like Benny Grunch, telling it like it is.

We're four blocks from Napoleon, but too far of a walk for emergency bathroom trips. And all of those $1 bathroom tickets at the chucrch add up, right?

So Charlie decided to even the playing field for us every day folks without big homes and marble thrones on the St. Charles parade route.


It's going in the back of the pick up, and will be parked right off the route near our parade viewing spot. It will be relocated for Endymion since they're making their return to MidCity this year!

Many locals are having private, locked potties dropped off on the neutral ground; quite convenient, but I've got to think that eventually the city will crack down on that (as well as stacks and stacks of ladders saving spots) and remove everything one night when we least expect it. So, we'll have to cross the street, and pull down the step stool to find our way to the commode.

Surely we'll manage 100 uses so we break even, keeping the cash out of the pockets of the greedy church, right? At least we won't have to listen to our favorite high school marching band from the line to the bathroom.

So come on by, let Charlie make you a cocktail, and use our potty!