Taste of Home

I typically do not enjoy Mardi Gras parades. I don't like crowds, especially when the majority of the people in the crowds are smoking and drinking. I don't like the traffic during Mardi Gras. I don't like being attacked by Mardi Gras Indians! And I have never understood the excitement of catching plastic beaded necklaces, most of which stink because they were scooped up off the nasty streets the year before to be reused. However, I think my opinion of parades might have been different had Shelby been older when we lived in New Orleans.

After an early morning of touring houses with the realtor, Jeremy, Shelby, and I came home and took some much needed naps. After we got up and took dinner over to a member in the Ward, we made a last minute decision to head down to THE (and I say "THE" because there is only one parade here) Mardi Gras parade downtown. Had we been in New Orleans, there is no way we could have made such a last minute decision. You have to have a plan- leave early, find parking, stake out a spot (and try to hold it), etc. But, we made it downtown, found a parking lot right on the parade route, and had enough time to grab a quick sandwich at Whichwich.

Then it began. If you want beads at a parade, bring a child. We were amazed at the amount of times people on the floats would specifically point to Shelby and throw her beads. Not only that, but anytime someone walked by, they had to stop and give her beads- not just people in the parade, but people watching the parade as well. At one point, two firemen stopped the firetruck they were driving in the parade and threw some beads to Shelby. She thanked them by blowing them kisses, and I guess they thought it was cute, because they then got their cameras out and took her picture.

We were skeptical about how authentic the parade would be. The website boasted "it would feel just like you were in New Orleans". Well, the "floats" were not real Mardi Gras floats, and the parade was a little less than an hour long. So I would say it didn't live up to New Orleans standards. However, we had a great time nonetheless. It was really fun watching Shelby get excited and wave to everyone. I have a new outlook on Mardi Gras parades, and it gave us a little taste of home.





This was Grambling's Band: