Mardi Gras Memories

I think the my recent Mardi Gras adventure puts my Meme list to shame.  I've been home over 24 hours and the likelihood of me completing the journaling and scrapbooking I always intend to do is already diminishing significantly.  I admit it. I am too disorganized and distractable to create anything very appealing. There are so many stories I want to remember and tell for many many years to come.  I feel like my trip could be a jeopardy game.  Choose a category and a price and I'll give you a story.  The categories would be: Travel  Parades  Food  Parties  Ball  Music  Costumes Friends  Crime  French Quarter ....

Here are a few Mardi Gras firsts for me:

1. Marched (which really means danced) in a parade call Jewlu from the Bridge Lounge to the Marigny 

2. Rode a bike around New Orleans on Fat Tuesday dressed like Little Bo Peep...and it felt perfectly normal thing to do

3. Jammed with Rex and Zulu brass bands on Lundi Gras

4. Ate raw oysters from a backyard cooler, and grilled ones too!

5. Mingled with Cajun coon asses on the airplane and during backyard crawfish boiling...and the Coonass kids washing the poop and mud off (can you call kids that?)

6. Watched Thothe and Bacchus roll down St. Charles Ave. as actors from Reno 911 partied next to us

7. Caught beads on the French Quarter on Fat Tuesday...by holding up my Little Bo Peep staff and tempting tossers to try to ring it (no one did, but I got a lot of beads and did NOT flash)

8. Attended a Mardi Gras Day party at the Royal Lunesta on Bienville & Bourban in the French Quarter.

9. Threw beads off a Bourbon balcony at sweet looking old couples who were NOT flashing

10.  Ignored the fact that an NBA star (Chris Paul aka CP3) was standing within 5 feet from me because I was too awe-struck by the sight of a million tourists on Bourban Street. (and I didn't know the guy was so darn famous in the basketball world!) 

11. Drank coffee tequila

12. Drank moonshine

13. Had king cake and Abita Amber for breakfast

14.  Witnessed the NOLA police catching cold blooded murderers

15. Dragged my luggage down St. Charles during the Friday night parade

16. Danced on Doug's shoulders to Kidd Rock signing Sweet Home Alabama during Endymion

17. Caught beads from float riders

18. Was hit in the face with beads- OWWIEEE!

19. Hung out with friends at an uptown New Orleans mansion

2o. Saw a crew of skeletons marching down the street on Fat Tuesday around 9am....and didn't find it the least bit odd

21. Attended MOM's ball

22. Chased down a float with a sign to help a friend with professional networking.  Getting recognized and pelted with dozens of bags of beads.

23. Stayed up well past my usual 11pm bedtime

24. Met and befriended scores of New Orleanians who knew Kevin and/or Doug

25. Wore a wig 3 out of 5 days

26. Taxi cab adventure arriving in New Orleans during the Friday night parade 

27. Realized the power of adrenaline to propel one through a 5 day party...without even a twinge of hunger, fatigue, hangover, pain, or stress.  

28. Walked two miles to cross the street

29. Wore red fish net stockings

30. Always found a (relatively) clean place to pee, even on Mardi Gras Day