Once we had nursed a cup of coffee (or two) over conversation, we decided to head out and get a lay of the land in daylight hours. First we located our grandstand seats for the Krewe of Endymion parade later in the day. Then we strolled down Bourbon Street to locate our balcony for later in the trip. Since neither of the cousins had arrived in New Orleans yet, we decided to take in our first parade...the Krewe of Iris.
We had front row spots and were fortunate to be next to some well prepared locals. Oh my goodness, what a blast we had. We weren't able to stay through the whole thing but we walked away with some major swag!
Lonnie was the first to make it to the hotel. Not long after, as we were carrying our loot to the room, Rita called to say that she was pulling in to the train station. She had quite a day. Her first train trip. Her first taxi ride. Her first Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was time for the party to begin!
After getting the cousins unpacked, we headed to the grandstands for the next parade. Now, we should have caught a clue when we met the tail end of a parade that was supposed to have started at noon taking the turn on Canal at nearly 5...but, no. Our tickets said five o'clock for the Endymion parade and by golly we were in our seats at five o'clock.
And we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And wondered if we should go get food.
And waited.
And thought again about food, but now the grandstands are getting full.
And waited.
Until the parade finally rounded the corner about 7:15.
I will say the floats were prettier. The krewe was beautifully garbed. But the swag wasn't nearly as plenteous. This was due to a combination of factors including the prominence of tall, older gentlemen standing in front of us and catching just out of our hands, their wives sitting and picking up the swag that hit the stands, and the fact that swag missed (if not scooped up by the wives) would fall through the grandstands just out of reach.
The parade ended around 9:30. We dropped our loot and began looking for a place to eat (finally). After missing the last seating of several places around the hotel, we ended up at Hard Rock on Bourbon Street...devoured a plate of appetizers...gulped down burgers...and then the table grew very quiet. It was after midnight. We were full. And it was time for bed.
Goodnight from The Big Easy!
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Location:Royal St,New Orleans,United States
1 comment:
You forgot to mention how cold it got that night. Not to mention I broke a nail and Lonnie got hit in the face with a bag of beads. All in all it was a fun night. Next time we bring a grabber. ha ha
Rita
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