Two Many Adventures: There is nothing quite like NOLA during Mardi Gras!

OK, this is one to check off the bucket lists! I have never been a fan of New Orleans, other than the awesome food! (Oh and a little hurricane or two at Pat O'Brien Piano Bar)!

Eric booked us 5 nights in New Orleans and ordered grandstand tickets for 5 of the parades during Mardi Gras while I was out of town in December. Since it was all arranged and paid for, we had to go. After the relaxation of Biloxi and Bay Saint Louis we felt we were ready to tackle the Big Easy!

We stayed at the New Orleans West KOA. This was an OK place to park with concrete pads and a little grassy area between sites. They lead you to your site and direct you in even though you really don't need it. It is a straight line on two sides with nice wide spots. They offer a shuttle to the French Quarter leaving daily at 9 am and picking you up at 5:45 and one of the ladies will walk your doggie if you desire. Our Mowgli wouldn't come out for a stranger and would probably jet out the door never to be caught, so we don't take advantage of that service. All in all it was a nice friendly park with the only downside the trains that blow their horns all night.

Bead Dogs

The first order of business is a King Cake from Haydel's. Eric got the baby first thing!

The first parades we attended were all day affairs. The Krewes of Iris run first at 11, Tucks follows at around 2 and Endymion runs on Saturday night. Iris is an all woman krewe that formed 1917 with the tradition of full masks and full white gloves. Tucks began in 1969 as a rag tag group of Loyola University students, known for its irreverence and political satire. Endymion was formed in 1967 and is an all male crew with over 3,000 riders, with an amazing after parade gala held at the Superdome with over 18,000 attendants. The floats were beautiful and the matching costumes of the riders were amazing. The riders throw beads and assorted flowers. Some are fancy while some are the plain shiny beads. The Endymion parade on Saturday night was beautiful with flashy floats & costumed riders to match the float theme. One of the floats was almost 400 feet long and had 300 riders throwing beads. These guys really threw and just about knocked you out with their strength. I would recommend a helmet for this one. The crowds were a little raucous, but nothing like I expected. No one flashed body parts and yet we ended up with two bags of beads. I am not sure what we will do with them, other than have a Mardi Gras party next year!

Bourbon Street at 9 am is still iffy. See all the beads hanging on the wire from the night before?

This is how your kids watch the parades-from little seats built onto ladders

The Lazy boys. Very clever

What are we going to do with all these?

Bagpipe guys!

Endymion

We took a day off from the chaos in New Orleans on Sunday and rested up. We enjoyed the peace and quiet at the RV Park and watched a few movies. After such a long day we wanted to chill out for a bit and rest up for the next round.

On Monday we took the shuttle to town for Zulu Lundy Gras. All along the water front they had stages of entertainment and awesome food. We had planned on Beignets at Cafe Du Monde, but the line was around the block for both the sit down and take out sections. We found another cafe and enjoyed our beignets and Cafe a'lait with some peace. Delicious! Eric had a snack of crawfish and said they were really good.

Jackson Square before the crazy comes around

Nothing is safe from the beads!

The line for Cafe DuMonde

These guys were begging for beads

The Navy Brass band.

One of the things I loved about New Orleans was the food. We took a cooking class at New Orleans School of Cooking on St. Louis. I had done one years ago and remembered the yummy food fresh prepared right before you. This time was no exception. A little bit of history, a little humor and what great food! We had Gumbo, Jambalaya, fresh craft beer and pecan pralines. I would recommend this as you get fresh good food in a quiet comfortable atmosphere.

My kind of cooking

Fat Tuesday parades had us up and out early by 6 am to grab that good parking spot in the convenient One Shell Plaza garage. It was a very cold morning with temps in the low 30's, cloudy and windy. Surprisingly there were no coffee shops open in the area of Canal, Poydras or St. Charles. Silly folks, they could have made a killing. Fat Tuesday is a holiday like Christmas with everything closed. Eric found a grocery store with a coffee counter and we enjoyed that while trying to stay warm.

Zulu started at a little after 8 am. This krewe is named after the fiercest of African Tribes, formed in 1916, the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club's most famous king was Louis Armstrong. The costumes were crazy colorful and full of sparkles. The floats were not as nice as the Endymion floats. The Zulu parade is known for the decorated coconuts. Somehow we ended up with 7 and gave all but two away to folks around us. We have limited room you know.

Zulu King

Zulu Queen

Following Zulu was Rex. The Krewe of Rex is the oldest parading carnival organization and is credited with forming the day parades, the official Mardi Gras flag and colors-green for faith, gold for power and purple for justice. These floats are rebuilt each year on wooden wagons with wood wheels. Each float had unique medallion bead necklaces and cups representing the wars that shaped early America. For not even trying to get throws we ended up with tons of beads. Rex was a fun parade with lots of bands, and colorful floats.

King Rex on the King's float

the Boeuf Gras float

After Rex, came the New Orleans Elks Krewe Truck Parade. Wagons are pulled by semi trucks while different organizations throw beads, toys, stuffed animals etc. One threw us two Jello shots. Those were of course left behind for someone more daring than me. After a short while, the crowd got a little wild, and the police presence was no longer there. Time to go! We hustled back to the parking garage and headed out of town before the crowds. Back to the Beast and the pups to get ready for the next days trip West.

Truck after truck came rolling by.

Time to go!

All in all, the Mardi Gras experience was fun and definitely a one time thing. We were amazed at the excess and the waste. The streets were full of trash and beads. Literally tons of trash is hauled off at the end. This could only happen here and it was a bit crazy even in the calmer grandstands. The police presence could use some training as we watched them watching the parades, gathering throws and not watching the crowds. They certainly have a carefree attitude and it's anything goes.