We spent last weekend in New Orleans visiting a college friend of Joshua's. Neither of us had ever been and we had an outstanding time. On top of being there for Joshua's birthday weekend we also had the happy accident of being there the week before Mardi Gras. That meant there were mostly still only locals around but there were still parades happening every day. All the houses were decked out with beads, flags, and masks. The sun was out and my skin was actually warm. The biking was so simple and all the routes were FLAT! Our friends had a porch that we frequented to sip beer, play guitar, chat with their neighbors. So many small things on that trip added up to a really amazing time.
We went to two parades, the first was Titrex which are mini floats where all the people pulling them were dressed in tuxedos. We then followed the brass band down the street dancing to the next parade! That parade was Chewbaccus- a sci-fi themed parade that went on for over an hour. There is a whole lot of parade terminology I won't go into except for throws- these are things each Krewe makes themed to their outfit/group identity. They hand/throw these out as they go. The more you yell & jump up and down the more they hand out. Also if you yell out what they are dressed as it also helps. The throws we got included stickers, tattoos, mini liquor bottles, pepperoni, painted Jenga tiles, a key, a moon rock, doubloons, and so so much more. It was nothing you truly wanted but in that moment you wanted to get it all! My pockets were so full of random little things. Our voices were also very hoarse the next day.
I've never been to New Orleans either! It's so cool that you were there for Mardi Gras!
ReplyDelete