Don't Rain on my Parade!

And so Mardi Gras season has begun (for a while now actually). Mardi Gras is something else around here. Official Mardi Gras is not until March 8th, but there are lots of parades that lead up to the big event. We went out Saturday night to the Caesar Krewe Parade in Metairie. This parade was nothing like any of the 4th of July parades we have been to in the past, which only throw out candy. They threw out all sorts of stuff...beads, of course, cups, doubloons (which are fancy names for coins), masks, etc. It was fun trying to catch all the throws from each float. This parade had mostly kids and families because it's part of Family Gras weekend. There weren't too many trashy people, but as to be expected, there definitely were a few intoxicated individuals. It kinda reminded me of a NASCAR game meets 4th of July!

Stephen and I went to Dollar General that morning and bought some camping chairs to be able to stake our spot at the parade. Everyone gets there pretty early so you need to sit while you wait.

And the parade began!!!

Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers!

This year's theme was Hollywood so a lot of the floats were based on movies. Each float had people who walked ahead and people who rode on the floats to toss out the throws.

The Terminator float

The Hydra Float...pretty scary looking!

Stephen got lucky early on in the parade. Someone threw out a whole pack of beads about the size of a small bag of rice. Woo Hoo!

The NASA float...I'm thinking maybe Apollo 13? Not sure, though.

The Saints Float

The Chef float. All the throwers were dressed as floats. That's a giants crawfish, not a lobster, for all my non-New Orleans friends! :)

Bob the Builder...Can he fix it? Bob the Builder...Yes he can!

The USA Olympic float

The Science float headed up by a giant microscope. The riders were dressed up in lab coats and mad scientist Einstein hair!

The Fireman float

The Millionaire Float...It reminded me of Monopoly! They threw out footballs. Stephen caught one. Since this parade was family friendly, this one was definitely a good one to start with!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin', on the River...

Last weekend, my parents made the eight hour trek from Georgia to visit with us in New Orleans. It was really nice to get to see them and catch up for a short weekend visit. While they were here, we planned a riverboat ride on the Mississippi River on The Natchez Steamboat, New Orleans' last real steamboat. We also took them to a few of our favorite places to eat as well as down St. Charles Avenue to see all the pretty old style houses. I think they really enjoyed their visit here, but I definitely think they were ready to head home if for nothing more than the traffic, haha! :)

The view from the riverboat

The twin bridges on the Mississippi River

us on The Natchez

The humongo paddlewheel that powered the boat!

The view of the city of New Orleans

a tugboat!!

Civil War barracks

The Domino Sugar refinary

This boat was hauling sugar from the refinary to the cargo on the boat. I thought it was dirt at first, but then I realized it was sugar!!

The top of The Natchez. The big smoke stack was VERY loud when it blew!

Inside The Natchez is a restaurant. It's decorated in antique style...very interesing! They also have a jazz band that plays during lunch and dinner. We enjoyed going inside just to sit because it was very windy and cold on the deck. Of course, this week, after my parents went home, it's 75 degrees! Go figure!