Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras in The Big Easy

When last we left our heroes, they were on the way to Mr. Po-Boy for some late lunch. Having observed during my previous visit that one can combine two types of po-boy into one multi-delight sandwich, I added shrimp to the mix, resulting in a shrimp and catfish po-boy that I did not regret one iota.

That is, until we had an early dinner. Then I was regretting the 2:30 po-boy. But what are ya gonna do.

We got ourselves a nice spot for Orpheus. M's friend knew of a parking lot that's right on the parade route, towards the end, so we parked there. As luck would have it, all three cars in our little group managed to park next to each other at the end of the parking lot that touched the sidewalk. Everything we needed as far as food and drink was right at our fingertips without moving out of bead-catching range. Pretty sweet.

Harry Connick Jr. is the usual head of the Orpheus parade (that is to say, he is Orpheus), being as he's the one that founded it, but he just started a show on Broadway (The Pillow Game, I believe), so he wasn't there this year. It was a bit disappointing. I don't know if there was even an Orpheus in the Orpheus parade (does Harry Connick Jr. have exclusivity in being Orpheus?). Steven Seagal, Josh Harnett and supposedly Scarlett Johannsen (though we never saw her) were all on the lead floats, but none of them were dressed up the way Michael Keaton was as Bacchus, so I guess they were the Orpheus Reserves.

We were near the buses for a couple of the high school bands that were in the parade that preceded Orpheus (that parade was shorter and thus did not go by us). The two bands started doing a Battle of The Bands right there in the parking lot. I thought the red-and-white school got served by the blue-and-gold school, but most everyone else thought that red-white won the battle.

There were a couple of cops near us during the parade, and they were doing a great job - of talking to the young ladies that were flirting with them. There could have been mayhem in the streets, and all the cops would have noticed was the chests on their new friends.

Mardi Gras itself was a nice sunny day - the only day we had to break out the sunscreen. We watched Zulu with some friends on the big stand they always set up. Well, I didn't see much of it because the 11-year-old wasn't all that interested in the parades, so we fired trivia questions back and forth instead. I totally blanked on the name of the Steward of Gondor.

The final parade, Rex, was spent with M's cousins a few blocks down. They were all there, kids and all. It was very crowded and very fun.

Then, I had to fly outta town. For a change, I didn't have to walk all over the airports to get to my gates. The gate out of New Orleans was right by the security checkpoint, which, in turn, was right by the check-in desk. When I switched planes in Houston, my flight in and my flight out were only two gates apart. It was all very convenient.

M is staying down in New Orleans for another week to see everyone she didn't get to see during Mardi Gras Weekend and to volunteer a little. She has the time to do so, being as she's unemployed until March 13 (that's a story for another day). I'm missing her something terrible, but at least I can leave my dirty clothes on the floor without having to worry about them for a while.