So New Orleans is probably most famous for Mardi Gras. Its a celebration of Fat Tuesday and basically Catholics believe you can commit any sin on Fat Tuesday and be forgiven for it. Ash Wednesday immediately follows and then they go into Lent. So as you can Imagine Fat Tuesday is REALLY bad down here.
Mardi Gras isn't all bad, there are a lot of family friendly activities. Every weekend for 3/4 weeks before Fat Tuesday there are parades that are family friendly. There are a bunch of "Crews" that are in charge of the parades, Zeus, and Caesar are just two I can remember from last year. Each crew throws their own Parade the weeks before, they have royalty (people in there 40's, 50's) and balls and big huge parties centered around their crews theme. Then on Fat Tuesday there are 4 parades at are back to back.
These are not like the parades back home where you sit in your camp chair and wait for the random candy to be tossed. These are CRAZY!!! People go all out here there is no sitting and no boundaries. Each Float is completely decked out with lights and decorations and music and crazy people that actually pay to be on them. As each float goes by people watching literally run up as close as they possibly can to get whatever junk might be thrown from the float. At one parade our loot consisted of: your typical beads in a variety of colors but we got at least 25 strands, 2 toy footballs, a stuffed animal giraffe, a Frisbee, plastic cups and any other random cheap toy you can think of. They are so much fun! I LOVE them. My kids didn't like them nearly as much as I do. There are bands and dancers and cheerleaders but its all about the loot from the floats.
Now back to the beads at the family parades there is no inappropriate behavior however on Fat Tuesday on Bourbon street anything and everything goes. Bourbon Street is PURE EVIL and not just during Mardi Gras its all day every day of the year. I refuse to step foot on that street. That is where the really bad stuff goes down and a lot of people come for that one day on Bourbon.
Mardi Gras also brings the King Cake. They are basically like giant cinnamon roll cakes covered in frosting. However there is a surprise hidden in each one. A little baby Jesus. Who ever gets the baby in their slice is the one that has to bring the cake to the next party. These cakes are really popular but the one I tasted was nasty. I'm being honest and they look nasty with silly Purple, Green and Gold frosting. I guess there are two bakeries that you have to get them from and they are supposed to be the best but I don't really believe it.
So anyways Mardi Gras isn't just for the dirty people it has a lot of fun and culture behind it. Just always steer clear of Bourbon.
I had pictures but we had our computer updated and wiped clean and I can't find where they are hidden so here are just a few I found.
Notice the people on the very top and in the middle they are the loot throwers.
These are just a few of the beads we got from one parade
The King Cake
Image source
2 comments:
gee whiz, that place sounds like an Emily's paradise! But really, if I were to pick one place in the US that I thought you would NEVER live it would be New Orleans! So funny that you're there and making the absolute best of it! You guys rock my world
Sweet! It's fun to learn about a place you hear mentioned but don't really know much about.
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