Mardi Gras Postscript

Some letters to the editor have been written to the Houma Courier complaining about krewe members throwing bags of beads off the floats. I couldn't agree more. Every year one of us gets hits by a bag we didn't see coming. Bernadette got hit this year. It was an accident and the krewe member expressed remorse, but it needs to stop. Everybody I talk to tells me the same thing. Stop the madness. Stop throwing bags of beads. The parish councils need to get involved and pass some kind of resolution.

Mardi Gras

We celebrated Mardi Gras here in Houma. We set up on Main Street, near Hollywood Road. Lauren's parents, Allen and Colette joined us. The crowd was mostly families, as opposed to Endymion, which was a lot of college aged people. The Krewe of Houmas parade was first. We got a lot of beads and stuffed animals. My 5 year old godson, Joey, who was staying with us for a few days, even got a skateboard. I took turns holding my daughters Colette and Bernadette to help them get some beads. Bridget didn't want to be held. Frederick fell asleep. Uncle Steve was on one of the floats and even though we were yelling at the top of our lungs, he didn't see us. I was happy to see the Budweiser Clydesdales. They remind me of home. Although, I must admit, I was happy to be in the warm, breezy 80 degree weather as opposed to the snow they experienced during their "Mardi Gras" parade in Soulard, St. Louis, which was actually held on Samedi Gras (Saturday). The Krewe of Kajuns, aka "the truck parade" was next and went pretty quickly. Little Colette was excited to see her friend on one of the floats. None of the floats in the Houma parades play Mardi Gras music though, its all hard rock or hip hop. I'm not quite sure what Boston's "More Than A Feeling" has to do with traditional Louisiana culture, but, c'est la vie--it's carnival time!

La Vita

After the Endymion parade we went to my in-laws second home on Esplanade where we were staying for the night. We put the kids to bed, and my in-laws were kind enough to suggest that me and Lauren go out for awhile. We walked to a nearby restaurant, La Vita. We had hoped my high school mate, Todd, could meet us. His wife was out of town for a few days and thought he might enjoy the company, but unfortunately, he had an obligation to attend to, so had to take a rain check.
La Vita is a small restaurant, but was quite busy, and seemed to be understaffed. Then again, it's carnival season, so maybe it's to be expected. long story short, we were slow to get our food, but the waiter and manager were quite apologetic, and provided us with an extra appetizer and extra drinks free of charge for the inconvenience. The wait for the main course was worth it. I had a chicken parmesan and I must say it was quite tasty. I hope we have a chance to eat there again soon. It was good to go on a date with Lauren. Life is good.

Endymion

Went to the Endymion Parade on Fat Saturday in New Orleans. My sister in law Amy and her boyfriend Chris had a spot staked out on Orleans Avenue near Hennessey. A lot of college kids were around. Cousin Colin was about a block away with his LSU bandmates. Anyway, Chris and Amy rented a portable outhouse with a combination lock, so we had it all to ourselves. There was an enterprising young lad near us with his outhouse, a stamper and some ink--charging $5 for the day. He had a line going over there, and I'm sure he made plenty of dough. My friend Todd, who I went to high school with in Illinois, lives down here now, on Magazine Street, came and hung out with us. If somebody had told us 29 years ago when we first met that we would be here we wouldn't have believed it. The weather was warm as the parade started a little after 4 pm, but cooled after the sun went down. The parade was long, lasting about 4 hours. Kevin Costner, The Go-Go's, and the Doobie Brothers were the star attractions. Colette, Bernadette, and Bridget caught a lot of beads. Frederick just wanted to run around. I caught 2 footballs with one handed grabs. Me and Lauren smiled at each other a lot. It was a good time, but it kind of wore me out.