More & More & More Mardi Gras

On Monday we continued our Mardi Gras adventure with a trip to New Orleans with Valerie and Richard where we saw three of the sixty parades the city had for this year's festivities. We went to the Garden District where the parades begin and where it is very much a family affair. The streets were lined with families and kids so it did not include the same level of debauchery that is found near the French Quarter but it is still a great and crazy time. Val and Richard have been to many parades in the city over the years and know how to get in and out while avoiding all the traffic. We were back in Abbeville and in bed by 11:30.

We arrived in the city with enough time to stroll around, have lunch and watch the start of the first parade from a sidewalk cafe. Here we are with our "seed" beads that we were able to grow into a huge collection.

The first parade, Krewe of Tucks, was a rescheduled event from Saturday's rain out. The krewe takes its name from Friar Tucks, a local tavern, and its motto is Booze, Beer, Bourbon, Broads. The theme of this year's parade was Tucks Gets Culture and, as you can see by the King's "throne," they take great joy in poking fun at everything.

Two more cultural floats were, Velvis, in honor of velvet paintings of Elvis and Michelangelo's David Vitter, which poked fun at the Louisiana U.S. Senator who was caught with a prostitute who reported he loved to dress up in diapers. The citizens of LA still saw fit to reelect Vitter. The pic includes a couple of Velvis want-a-bes, Nanc and Valerie.

The culture of these paraders was from the play, Little Shop of Horrors. All parades in New Orleans are sponsored by krewes and no corporate floats are allowed. The theme and the floats of each parade is different from year to year and next year's are already under construction.

Here are the floats Pristine Chapel and Expelling the Culture. The Tucks had a couple of unique "throws" that went with their theme and were different than any others we have seen. In addition to beads and wooden doubloons, they threw tiny plungers and toilet paper. This was the first parade that we have seen where the whole purpose was to poke fun and we loved it.

The next parade, Krewe of Proteus, has the theme of Egyptian Mythology. Proteus was founded in 1882 and is the second oldest krewe in the city. Their throws include 60 inch beads, plastic doubloons and tridents.

The Proteus floats are the most elaborate we saw. They are built on old wagons that still have wooden-spoked wheels dating back to when horses were used to pull them.

Another beautiful Proteus float.

The final parade of the day, Krewe of Orpheus, was founded in 1993 and takes its name from the musical son of Apollo and Calliope. The flambeaux, who are a big part of this night parade, carry on the tradition of how the parades were lit before electricity. A couple marching groups included the Organ Grinders and the Muff-A-Lottas who both dance their way along the entire parade route.

This year's Orpheus celebrities included Poison's, Brett Michaels.

And Cyndi Lauper. This parade with its musical roots includes many local high school bands.

This train float was one of the most fantastic in the parade. It has several cars with flashing lights and the smokestack on the locomotive shot confetti into the air. Orpheus is famous for its large medal doubloons that we were lucky to get last year. I could have had one this year but it would have meant pushing a little kid and an elderly lady out of the way so I let them fight over it.

Here are a few post parade spectators. Valerie with her Tucks paper throw, Nanc with her glowing crown and the many beads she got, Jim with beads after only one parade and an unidentified reveler, whose face I blurred to protect his identity, laying in the parade gravy. We had a wonderful time in NOLA and have to recommend Mardi Gras to anyone who loves having a fun, fun time.

On Fat Tuesday this group of international travelers from Betty's, Gervais and Joycelyn from Quebec; Jim from Pennsylvania; Marie and Cal from Nova Scotia and Cookie and Jim from Washington headed to nearby Kaplan for a small town parade.

This parade was similar to the ones in Church Point and Scott with many local businesses sponsoring floats and many participants dressing in Cajun Mardi Gras costumes. While the floats are not as fancy or the beads as big, these local small town parades are every bit as much fun as the ones in New Orleans.

Even with the rain out on Saturday we still managed to see six parades and collect many beads and other throws while having a great time and even after attending two years in a row, there is still NOTHING like Mardi Gras.

Church Point Chicken Run

On the Sunday before Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) it was up at 5AM and on the road to Church Point for the traditional Cajun Courir du Mardi Gras or Chicken Run. This rural event was brought by the Acadians when they were expelled from Maritime Canada in the 1700's. It was meant to mock the royals and to be one last feast before Lent. Revelers are lead by Le Capitaine as they travel from farm to farm begging for money and chickens for a communal gumbo that is cooked at the end of the run. Here is a link to the story of the run held in Eunice that is the same type of event but is on a different day. The first formal organized Church Point run started in 1961 with 400 horsemen and has grown into today's event with many horsemen and revelers and then a traditional parade.

Betty, Nanc, Valerie and Lori dressed for the occasion with their own revelers outfits. The morning was very cold as we waited a couple of hours for the festivities to begin. We were at a different location than last year and we were not allowed to cook so we all just shivered together while we waited.

Here are the chickens (guinea hens) that are awaiting their fate. There were many more here than we saw last year. They were released a couple at a time for the revelers to capture.

The event starts with Le Capitaine coming on to the property to ask the owner's permission for all the revelers to come on to his land. Le Capitaine then waved a white flag as the signal for the chicken chasers to come charging across his yard. Here is a short web album showing the revelers running across the yard that was very wet from all the rain they had on Saturday. If you play the slide show at one second you can get a pretty good idea of what it was like for all the spectators.

Here are a few of the many different costumes. Traditionally they do not dress in the purple, green and gold Mardi Gras colors because they represent the royals, but today just about anything goes. I really liked the want-to-be horseman in the top row. The official revelers wore masks that were made of screens. The pointed hats are called capuchons.

The revelers mingle with the spectators while dancing and begging for money for the communal gumbo. They even had a wagon with a band that played live music.

And then the chasing begins. Not one bird escaped as they were quickly surrounded and captured. Here is another short web album that shows the sequence of the chase and capture.

To say no animals were harmed would be a lie, but for someone who has no problem eating poultry and who loves gumbo it was great fun to watch.

Here we are with Richard and Valerie who came down for Baton Rouge to attend the Chicken Run with us. They lived in Louisiana for 25 years and have been to many, many Mardi Gras events, but this was their first run. They loved it.

Nanc with Le Capitaine. As a reveler tried to "sneak" up on them Le Capitaine had to warn him to stay away. It was all in good fun and the Cajun Mardi Gras should be on every one's to do list.

The run was followed by a traditional Mardi Gras parade with many floats and beads. There were only a few floats during the run because the big parade in Church Point started at 2PM. We were tired, cold and hungry so we did not stay for that event.

As you can see we still did OK at gathering beads.

Here is the whole group from Betty's after the run.

The Chicken Run was on Sunday and we had two more days and four more parades where we partied and collected many, many more beads. More entries on those events to follow.

Good Times Continue to Roll at Betty's

As I write this we have sat through eight severe weather warnings including heavy rain, flooding, thunderstorms and a tornado in the area. We survived those warnings and, except for a lot of water everywhere, all is well but this is the second year in a row that most of the Saturday Mardi Gras activities have been cancelled. Oh well, into every life a little rain must fall and Southern Louisiana does need the rain. It's a good thing it doesn't snow here. After Betty's induction last Saturday we got started with the Mardi Gras events and to just have a general good time.

One way that Betty's is different from other parks is that when someone leaves after being here for a while we all gather to say good-bye. In this case everyone lined up not only to say their good-byes but also to see if Jay could get his big (65' + 7') rig out of his site. After hugs all around he was able to get it out with only one person having to close their slide.
Not every day here is filled with fun and games. One day when he was bored, Marvin decided he would show some Yankees how the Cajuns go crawfishing. He dipped his line down a mudbug hole and, as you can see, he was able to land a big one.

We went to Breaux Bridge to have dinner at the Cafe des Amis with Valerie and Richard. We first met them at RV Boot Camp in 07 and have crossed paths several times in our travels. Richard is finishing up a project he has been working on in Baton Rouge so they will be on the road again soon. We had a great evening getting caught up.

Our first Mardi Gras parade was in Scott and as happened last year they were very generous with the beads. This is a great parade as you can get up close to the floats. Here are Nanc, Bob, Judy and Cookie begging for more beads.

Left to right; Linda, Cookie, Jim G, Lynn, Richard, Vickie, Jay and Lori all had a great time and collected a lot of beads.

Marie showing off her booty.

Let the beading begin.

Another evening 21 people from Betty's went back to Big John's for more mudbugs. As you can see we all got our fill.

This was the first time Joycelyne and Gervias had eaten crawfish and they loved them.

Claudia, Eddie, Joycelyne, Gervais, Nanc and Marie preparing thier dipping sauce while they wait for their bugs.

One thing we really love when we come to Betty's is the music and one of our favorites is when Judy Bailey comes to the park and plays. This year she was accompied by Gerald (left) and Dave. Everyone packed into Betty's Louisiana Room for a great evening of fun, food, great music and dancing.

Joycelyne and Eddie doing the two step.

Judy brought a real smile to Tennessee fan Wendell's face when she played Rocky Top.

Betty's neice Monica joined the band and did a great job with a couple of songs.

After a couple of beverages even I got on the dance floor. It was another wonderful evening of fun at Betty's.

Fat Tuesday and Farewell

The morning after our late night return from NOLA we were up and on the road by 7AM to go to Lafayette for the Fat Tuesday parade. The others at Betty's opted out of this early morning trip so we were on our own. There were three parades scheduled for that day but because of the threat of rain we only did the King's Parade. That was our fifth Mardi Gras event in two weeks. We had also missed a parade in Baton Rouge on Saturday because a big storm front was coming through. Twenty miles away in Rayne a tornado injured several and killed one.

As part of the pre-parade festivities there was a costume contest. Some of them were very creative. Top left to right are Balloon Man driving a balloon car, Le Petite Chaperon Rouge and the Bag Family; Leaf, Garbage, Lady and Paper. Bottom are a few adult contestants and a young mermaid. It was a fun time for the entrants and the crowd.
Top is a real Mardi Gras parade expert who had a net to catch beads over the barrier. Nanc with a couple of revelers. Bottom is our spot at the rail that we claimed with our chairs and a big umbrella. We are learning this parade routine. The mounted police lead the parade and were followed by a pooper scooper.

Some of the parade floats with the King in the center of the bottom row. There were a couple of quick showers, but for the most part the weather was fine.

More floats. The floats were nicer than the smaller parades in Scott and Church Point, but not as elaborate as those in NOLA. There were also several bands.

Nanc with our booty from five parades.

We may have to get the rig weighed. We sent a box of beads to Nanc's sister Judy for her granddaughters and plan to recycle most of the others. We had a great time at Mardi Gras and got to see a good mix of different events from the Chicken Run to the big parades in New Orleans. The Chicken Run was the most fun while NOLA had the neatest beads and trinkets and is something that everyone should see.

A few of the group who had been at Betty's for the entire month. Since most of them were leaving the next day we had a going away party with a chili pot luck and Jim C. making a gallon of his great apple pie cocktail.

Betty's on Wednesday morning after nine rigs pulled out. The only vehicles were Ruth's and Wendell's, Marvin's and ours. But, not to worry, by 3PM all the spots were full and good times at Betty's continue. We did nothing that day as we were trying to take it easy after two weeks of going, going, going. As we usually do when we stay here, we decided to extend our stay until the end of the month. We are caught in Betty's web.

NOLA Mardi Gras

We wanted to go to New Orleans to get a taste of Mardi Gras there so on Monday we met up with Valerie and Richard in Baton Rouge and rode with them into the Crescent City. They have been there many times so they knew exactly where to park so we could see two parades and get out of town before all the traffic. The parade ended at 8PM and we were in bed in Abbeville before midnight. The parades are sponsored by krewes, social clubs that are all about celebrating during Carnival. Each krewe has a different theme and the floats in that parade reflect that theme.

Nanc, Jim, Val and Richard getting ready for the parade. They are experts at claiming a spot to the point that Valerie bought a $2.00 throw away shower curtain to put on the ground to mark our territory.
This year there were 55 parades and 37 balls in New Orleans beginning on February 19 and ending on Fat Tuesday, March 8, so these people know how to parade and party. Top left are ladders with seats and safety belts so kids can get above the crowd to get beads. Top right is a permanent sign about not parking on the street during parades and middle is a car that was decorated because it was not off the street. Bottom right is a float coming out of the warehouse before the parade. Left is a float rider with a dozen bags of beads he will be throwing to the crowd. Each bag weighs 25 pounds so you can figure there must be over a million pounds of beads thrown during the parades that take place in New Orleans during the two and a half weeks of Carnival season.

When in New Orleans do what the New Orleanians do.

Actually I was just putting on my sweatshirt and wanted my Mardi Gras tee on the outside. This was the most vulgar act of near nudity we saw in the neighborhood where we watched the parade. It really is a family affair. The most violent thing that we saw happen was Nanc getting hit in the nose with flying beads. Since the beads here were bigger than the other parades we have seen, she does have a black and blue mark across the bridge of her nose.

We wondered where all the beads come from and discovered they grow them on trees along the parade routes.

The first parade was the Krewe of Proteus which is the second oldest krewe in the city. Proteus was known in Greek mythology as the shepard of the sea so the floats and trinkets they threw had that theme. Nanc got a neat stuffed seahorse that is one of the prized items they throw.

Floats from the Proteus parade.

More Proteus floats.

The second parade was the Krewe of Orpheus, the musical son of Zeus and the Greek muse Calliope. This krewe was started in 1993 with a musical theme and Harry Connick Jr. was one of the founders. The theme of this year's parade was Visions of Other Worlds and, as you can see above, some of the costumes (bottom) were out of this world. Top are the Shriner motorcycles with Nanc and Val who begged a seat. Bottom left are Nanc and Val with two of the Muff-A-Lottas, a dancing group that marched.

This parade was after dark so the pictures are not very good but it was great in person. There were many bands in this parade and the floats were the most beautiful and elaborate we have seen. Bottom center is a flambeau, a person that carries a flaming torch or flare. They are part of the tradition going back to when there was no electricity to light the way. This flambeau has money pinned to his shirt as a reminder that you should give him a donation for the group. We caught some very nice trinkets including a much valued Orpheus metal doubloon. We really had a great time at this parade as it had the best floats, beads and other trinkets of any of the parades we have seen.