We knew parking was going to be an issue, so we decided to park in the Walmart parking lot about a half mile away, have dinner at a nearby restaurant and then walk over to the parade route. We had about a half hour to kill before the 7:00 p.m. start of the parade, so we walked up and down the neighborhood checking out all the house parties. We had some beads left over from the parades in Galveston, so we gave them way as we went along.
We found what we thought would be a good corner to witness the mayhem. What we didn't realize was that hundreds of others would think it was a good corner, too. As night began to fall, the crowd and the excitement level began to build. We struck up a conversation with a very nice local couple with three boys - 8, 7 & 6. The oldest boy had been to one Mardi Gras parade before, but for the younger two, this would be their first parade. We just looked at each other and knew right away where all our beads would end up. As the parade approached, different vendors passed, selling everything from glow sticks to Sponge Bob Balloons.
Not being from an area that celebrates Mardi Gras, we were surprised to see all the kids walking around with bags, similar to what you would see Trick-or-Treaters carry. We never noticed any booty bags in Galveston. However, in Baton Rouge, it is customary for the kids to bring bags to collect their booty. Just as we were getting into position for the approach of the first float, a very drunk and obnoxious "Dad" pushed "his five kids" through the crowd and tried to stand in front of us. Kathy did her best to body block him to make sure "our three boys" got a front row view of the parade. Despite Drunk Dad's annoying behavior throughout the parade, cutting in front of us and rushing the floats begging for beds for his kids, we still managed to score loads of goodies for our wee guys.
In keeping with the family-friendly themes, here comes a big yellow school bus. Well, I guess that tongue is G-rated.
How about a troop of Boy Scouts in full-sized pine box derby cars all strung together with Christmas lights?
The Krewe of Potter had a magical float.
The spell they cast on the Vikings was impressive. Instead of taking booty, the pirates were tossing it out of their longship by the bucket load.
Despite the fact that we covered "our three boys" from head to toe with the beads we caught, Kathy still managed to score a few special throws. As the parade wrapped up, we wished our adopted family well and headed back toward our truck. All of that begging and groveling for goodies made us hungry. However, no ordinary snack would do. We needed something special; after all it is Mardi Gras. Nothing says Mardi Gras like beads and beignets. THE place to enjoy beignets in Baton Rouge is the Coffee Call. What a coincidence: the Walmart where we parked is right next door! Here is Kathy chowing down on her favorite delicacy at Coffee Call:
The beads have now found a home behind the couch.
All this Mardi Gras celebrating and we haven't even hit Fat Tuesday yet! Can't wait to see what Mobile is cooking up for us.
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