Friday morning, I hitched up and headed across the Causeway toward the French Quarter RV Resort. They were waiting for me when I got there, opened the gate to greet me and I was directed where to park.
I had a nice, billboard-shaded site.
It’s urban camping at its finest.
The expansion joints on the Causeway set up quite a vibration in the trailer. I had to spend a few minutes setting thing aright, but then I was ready to head out and explore.
The first thing I discovered was a caravan of floats being moved into position for the evening’s parades.
I love coming across those unexpected treats!
I was heading toward the French Quarter. The folks in the office had given me a map of a parade I did have on my Mardi Gras Parade Tracker App.
I was having a little trouble figuring out the map. I thought I was where it was going to be arriving, but this woman looked like the parade had already passed by.
So, I asked her where the parade was.
She told me that they would be back this way soon. I complimented her on her glasses, and she told me that they had given them to her. She told me that I might be able to get some, too.
Ooh! Free stuff! I love it!
Soon, I heard the marching band, and then it was there in front of me!
https://www.facebook.com/kalamazookim/videos/10153396305791989/
This was the Krewe of Cork, and the marching groups had themes based on wine. It was a walking parade. There weren’t any motorized floats, just groups of people walking along having a great time.
And, rather than throwing stuff, they walk right up and hand it to you. It was so friendly!
People sometimes ask me if I get lonely, traveling by myself. I make friends all the time. Sometimes we’re friends for ten minutes, like the woman with the wine glasses or the man I met with a small instrument case in his hand
I smiled and said, “I’ll bet you don’t play the tuba, do you?” I was thinking that maybe it was a flute or a clarinet. It turns out that he plays harmonica, and the case held all his harmonicas. He told me that he had bought a thirty day Amtrak pass. He started in Chicago, and was ending in New Orleans.
Now, this young man didn’t have any beads at all, having just walked up to the parade route. So, I tapped one of the marchers on the shoulder and told her of his sad plight. She obliged by draping a few strands around his neck.
And then the parade had passed. Everyone had a great time.
It was time for me to wend my way out of the French Quarter to the Uptown area for the evening’s parades. These parades were listed on my tracker and I just went where my phone told me.
I got to the viewing area I had picked and then looked around for a bite to eat.
Okay, who drinks coffee at a Mardi Gras parade? I guess I do!
There was still a while to wait for the parade to start. These vendors were happy to fill in the time by selling stuff.
These little girls were so cute to watch. Here they are checking the parade’s progress on the app on their father’s phone.
And then the parade reached us! This was the Krewe of Oshun.
And the beads started flying!
It was kind of hard to catch photos, and I only picked up one string of beads in this location.
This parade finally got to the end, and I switched spots for the second parade, which was the Krewe of Cleopatra.
This parade was lead by the Shriners.
By the way, does anyone else remember when Shriners used to ride tiny cars in parades?
These guys were riding really big bikes! They waved and revved their engines and then lead the floats and marching bands along the parade route.
Here comes the marching bands.
This was the Krewe of Cleopatra.
I happened to stand in a spot where the floats slowed down. Sometimes they stopped. The beads were just a-raining down!
The beads are starting to add up!
The floats were elaborate and they just kept coming.
Now, I am not quite sure how Santa Clause relates to the Cleopatra theme, but there he was. And the beads kept raining down. At one point, I put up both hands to catch beads, and the krewe members threw them on my arms! I felt like a human ring toss game!
I was getting kind of tired, and the beads were getting heavy. I asked my new friend on the left of me to take a photo of me with my new friend on the right – and got photo-bombed by some of New Orleans’ finest.
And a good time was had by all!