My First Mardi Gras

It was such an exciting weekend I barely know where to begin. I will start slow.

I'm fortunate to have sweet in-laws who let me borrow the keys to their condo in New Orleans often. I love New Orleans so much and try to take a girls' trip down there at least once a year. Please read: my IN-LAWS; girls' trip. I haven't been to New Orleans with my husband if there wasn't some sort of family get-together in... well... well, ever. I felt real bad when I told people last week that I was going to New Orleans for my first Mardi Gras, and the most common response was, "Oh, is Tommy going too?"

So here you have it - Tommy came too! Hooray!!!

The condo is on St. Charles Avenue, and here is my cutie pie Papa Tom and Tommy standing outside of forty-O-seven St. Charles:

they put up the chain link at mardi gras time so i guess people don't sneak in and pee-pee in the bushes - the rental chain link was everywhere

Here is the view from the condo door onto the pool:

i seriously feel like i'm in melrose place when i lounge by the pool. the bottom of it is black but you can't tell from this photo - it's a rock star scenario, peeps...

Please, come inside!

i was confused by the plastic on the floor when we first arrived... soon it all made sense... no need to wipe your feet!

Here is the view across the street:

Here is a view down the St. Charles Car line from the condo:

And here are bunches of ladders set up for the parades soon to come by:

at first i was like "ladders? for a parade?" take my word - once you start, you won't stop with the ladder nonsense. it makes for some seriously good parade-viewing. these have wheels so you can drag them easily, and you can strap your kids in the box at the top! handy, no? these new orleans peeps know how to roll when it comes to a street party.

Now, I bet I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Megan. There is no one there. It's as quiet as can be. You must have gone on the wrong weekend." Well, you would be WRONG. I went on the right weekend, but (ahem...) it was so cold and rainy that the parades were all cancelled the first night we were there.

Siiiiggh.

No worries! Let's GET DOWN.

me and papa tom head to the french quarter for a cold one. may i please ask you to note the fabulous poncho i'm sporting? hand-crocheted by one mrs. mary ann venable.

oh looky! found one!

While at this brewhouse we decided we wanted to take a tour but we didn't want to get up off our bar stools.

why look! how very convenient.

me and tommy on the st. charles car ride home

Before I belabor the food we ate there too much, I'm going to cover it all in one blow. For those of you who have ever been to New Orleans, you know what I'm saying: you can't get a bad meal. I dare you to try. Please check out the highlights of what we ate:

roast beef po boy

cheese shop - i ate a grilled gruyere and onion sandwich... i want one right now.

tommy's soft shell crab po boy. i kept shrieking that he was eating tentacles, but he didn't mind so much apparently...

tommy's drink of choice, dixie beer. we have two cases in our fridge right now, btw.

every morning i pulled off four miles in the garden district except one. i ran one, walked back one and demanded to be taken out for greasy spoon breakfast. look how pretty my breakfast i ordered is!! i ate it all. see? no bad food in the city no matter how hard you try!

this is what tommy got - eggs benedict on top of BBQ. welcome to new orleans, homes...

aunt adri's birthday is valentine's day, how fun! look at her pretty cake!

fancy fleur de lis tapenade made my cousin danielle

Since there were no parades to watch that night, we invited ourselves over to Vince and Reagan's and had a nice night in listening to the rain and visiting. More on their cool house later...

I should point out that the reason we went to Mardi Gras in the first place (other than it being awesome) is to see Papa Tom make his debut on one of the floats in the next day, the Endymion parade. Him being a rookie, he was expected to do things like load up the beer and do the heavy lifting. Here he goes for his initiation party!

gonna make it, gonna make it, gonna make it...

While Tommy, Suzy and I go to a museum:

indubitably! it was a disney exhibition, need i say more? very fun!

Then, back home:

yea! tom survives initiation!

Next... it's time for parades. I'm so excited I can't stand it. It was cold cold cold!

maiden voyage to mardi gras parades!! and we're off!

my first acquisition!

this is what you look like from below: suzy, tommy and mickey holler for beads

mickey and tommy having fun

adri and suzy dressed to the nines having fun at the parades

Then, BREAK. Time to go have supper.

nom nom nom nom nom nom

Cousin Scott shows up. Did I mention he loves him some Saints?

proof is in the puddin'. he also wore saints crocs down the aisle at his wedding - THAT'S fan loyalty if ever i've seen it...

BREAK'S OVER. Back in the action:

mike and sister-in-law lexie have fun

cousin danielle is in here somewhere but i have no idea WHERE!!

mmmm-hmmm... looks like cousin vince has some 'splainin' to do...

i am EXCITED about parades!

until i catch poop! kidding. it was pretend.

my first night of mardi gras! family, food, fun... 'nuff said...

The next morning:

alka-seltzer, please...

I rallied and went for a run.

I have spent a lot of time in New Orleans for it not being a city I lived in ever. I trained for two marathons there on various weekends, and not a single visit goes by that I don't spend at least one morning running around the Garden District. All that to say: I've covered a considerable amount of ground in the Garden District. Please imagine my surprise when I found myself in the middle of THIS:

a cemetery! i hate to admit it, but i have inherited my mother's morbid obsession with cemeteries. mama!

tommy strolls between the tombs

the picture doesn't show well, but there were toys lined up on this crypt for destitute boys

If you have been paying attention, you will note that day three is the first day the sun showed up. We weren't freezing cold or huddling under umbrellas! It was so lovely, I made a comment to Tommy about how pleasant it was to be strolling about the Garden District with him. Imagine my surprise on the next block:

why, yes. yes, it is.

Next, time for Tom's parade!

We head over to Reagan and Vince's for the celebration. I thought I'd be wacky and zany and wear my tutu with a normal-person top. The first person I ran into was Cousin Danielle and my immediate reaction was: "Who is that?" Second reaction: "Why didn't someone give me the 'uber-wacky and zany is the norm' memo?" She looked super cute, but then I realized... we were wearing essentially the same outfit; sans tutu her, sans wig for me.

scott shows up and shares a hug with his wife danielle

scott, tommy and vince

sis and bro danielle and vince pre-parade

Then, parade time!!!

danielle and tommy get ready for the action

me making friends - sidebar: i found myself getting pinned in by swarms of people during parades, so i made the conscious decision to talk to more strangers. viola... in case you were unaware, making new friends is always a plus.

reagan and tommy

excited me and danielle

TOM'S PARADE STARTS! TOM'S PARADE STARTS!!!

this is the owner of the saints. i originally thought tom was on drew brees float but i was misinformed - he was the next night... more on that to come...

Then: bad news. We were subsequently misinformed on which float the cousins were on and which float the uncles/tom were on. We were on the wrong side of the street both times. Siiiighhh... Tommy even gave me $5 to give a man to let me on his ladder to see Papa Tom, holding a sign and a camera. The man let me on his ladder for free, but we were still bummed... Papa Tom, we were THERE!!!

We walked back to Vince and Reagan's (they live in a converted, old-timey grocery store! It's awesome) and had fun with family and new friends. After awhile, Vince and Reagan's dog, Ike, got lonely for Vince to come home. He was sad and it made me sad too, see?

poo... where are you, vince?

i'm just going to lie here

cut it out, i'm really glum....

Then we gave up and went to bed:

nite nite!

zzz, zzz, zzz... (megan, you're hogging the pillow...)

Next, the girl cousins smile pretty for the camera:

how do you do?

Then, we go crazy!!

the woolley women recognize

Next day: The Saints had center stage. You couldn't get away from it if you tried. I even went to snuggle on the Paciera's couch and:

da saints

And, Drew Brees, Drew Brees, Drew Brees! That brother was just all over that city. I'm not kidding!

drew brees breaks it down in a parade

drew brees and drew brees

tommy and drew brees watch the endymion parade together

drew brees on st. charles

drew brees

dang, there he is again... brother gets around...

drew brees... did he change jerseys?

drew brees with long blonde hair

Ok, so let me back up and explain what a parade is like. New Orleans finest start each one:

move it or lose it, sistah

Followed by marching bands:

this lady cat came by twice! meow!

And floats:

off the floats they throw all sorts of stuff... i kinda had an idea, but in reality... i had no idea!

You have to be careful:

this was heavy, but i caught it

this i didn't catch. well... i caught it with my face

See?

ouch! i'm seriously surprised i didn't end up with a black eye as well.

Catching beads goes something like this:

You also have to watch out for the natives:

aaahhhhh!!!

But altogether, it's like a tailgate party. On steroids.

a sea of humanity looking to have fun

this just made it feel like home

Where was I? Oh yeah, back to the Smith Mardi Gras:

i wore my tutu day two and felt totes underdressed when danielle and her friend becca arrived

suzy, adri and mickey

me and danielle ham it up. next mardi gras i will not be underdressed. apologies!

Oh wait, didn't I mention Drew Brees?

drew brees

and drew brees

Aunt Adri caught a football he threw! I caught doubloons and beads off his float and am happy with that.

Lastly, sights and sounds:

fema tarp someone was using on the damp ground

me sporting a few of my prize catches: ankle length gold beads, fleur de lis beads and a mardi gras boa

new friend i made - megan! she's mardi gras down to her yellow purple and gold braces!

this photo was in the bathroom of a diner... i loved it.

i got obsessed with old-school 80s mardi gras beads that are clear. i found all of these running but on sunday was thrown a whole bunch of them from the upper deck of a float (not pictured). i realize i sounded like an idiot, but when i saw them i screamed "YELLOW BEADS!!!! YELLOW BEADS!!!!" until he threw them at me out of pity. i can't blame him. i love me some old-school mardi gras beads.

danielle's friend becca gave me lip gloss in a ring. um... i'm addicted. not sure what that says about me....

i go primal

i love this koozie tommy caught at the muses parade - it's pretty!

My favorite catches:

clockwise from the red beads: old school red glass mardi gras beads, mask beads (tommy caught in the interest of full disclosure) inside; my bunch of old school 80s clear mardi gras beads, my shoe from the muses parade (i caught with my face, again in the interest of full disclosure {thanks, vince!}), boa (note: why can't everything weigh that much that comes off of floats?), fleur de lis beads

Whew. Good times. Thanks to all my Woolley/Paciera/Rodriquez peeps for keeping it real! I had a great time!