Mardi Gras: Day 4

The Monday before Ash Wednesday is known as Lundi Gras around here. On this day the festivities include the arrival of Rex and Zulu where the Mayor of New Orleans turns over symbolic control of the city for the following day. This year Rex was to arrive by train instead of boat...but we saw none of that because we spent Lundi Gras rather low key.

We began our day slowly. After being in the crowds for days, we decided to sleep in a bit and then visit until time for our brunch reservations at The Court of Two Sisters. This was a charming little restaurant that reminded me a lot of Tavern on the Green.

We were seated in the courtyard under the large expanse of what may have been either a willow tree or a wisteria strung with twinkle lights. Though it dropped fuzzy seeds all during our meal, it was a thoroughly pleasant experience. Even though brunch was served buffet style, the staff was very attentive.

As we left, Rita noticed the 'Charmed' gates hanging at the front entrance. Supposedly Queen Isabella had them blessed before they were shipped from Spain so that their charm would pass to anyone who touched them. As Rita said, the people here certainly are quite charming.

After brunch, we decided to spend our day wandering the shops and enjoying
ourselves. We bought souvenirs and keepsakes as we strolled the streets off of Boubon. We stopped at Pat O'Brien's for a Hurricane to go...at The Royal Oyster House for appetizers...and then dropped our packages at the hotel before dinner.

The temperature dropped twenty degrees in the thirty minutes it took us to get to our rooms and freshen up. The rain was moving in so we decided to run into Walgreens for umbrellas and a poncho.

Now let me preface this part of the story by saying that I am just not an umbrella girl anyway...but especially not in a large crowd. That is the real reason why I walked out in a poncho and the other three grandmas were carrying umbrellas when our "You Tube" moment of the trip occurred.

While we were in Walgreens choosing our rain apparatus, one member of our party was advising us all on the proper rain attire...as well as anyone else who would listen. As the doors slid open and the umbrellas popped open, they promptly flipped ALL THE WAY OPEN. The umbrella of the EXPERT ended up on the Walgreens floor like this:


Let's just say a lot of people got a big laugh out of it.

Since the temperature was still dropping and the rain was getting heavier, we decided to totally skip the parades and go to dinner at Mr. B's Bistro across the street from the hotel.

And this is where I'll let Robin take over the story....which she has repeated at least fifty times already. It's time for me to head to bed.

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Location:Royal St,New Orleans,United States