After a long morning of stewing and fretting about the weather, about the size and disposition of the crowds, about the number of marching bands, about the possibility of
nightmares come to life I spent a chilly, damp Saturday afternoon watching something very much like Mardi Gras. The parades were indeed noticeably downsized. The consecutive processions of
Ponthchartrain,
Shangri-La, Pygmalion,
Pegasus, and
Sparta sped by in the time it usually takes one parade to pass. But, taken as one parade, the five we saw Saturday looked and felt like a decent first-weekend event. Sunday brought much of the same… with a bit larger crowd.
Carrollton and
King Arthur actually managed to put on nice parades. If this year’s remaining krewes can put together as many bands as Carrollton did, then I think things will be just fine. That combined with the fact that crowd was comfortable, spirited, and nearly all local leaves us looking toward Carnival with a slightly healthier cautious optimism. This plus the news that the just concluded special session has left us with a better levee board, and the seeds of a workable buyout/rebuild plan for homeowners has me wondering if we haven’t perhaps turned the first corner on the way to getting back on our feet in New Orleans. Maybe I’m being too hopeful. At any rate here are the pictures.
This was the first appearance of the much anticipated MAX school marching band. They got a big hand from the crowd. They also inspired two days of incessant banter between the cops assigned to our corner based around X Prep vs St. Mary’s boosterism.
Carrollton’s theme: “Blue Roof Blues” Expect every krewe to get their licks in somehow this year. In what I took to be a wink, one of the King Arthur floats carried a sign that said “insert satire here”.
Carrollton officers leading the parade.
Throw me something!
Said it before. Dogs love Mardi Gras.Carnival food update: Alas Fortissimo is gone. No more $5 Jambalaya. No more crawfish bread. Also, I haven’t managed to track down the funnel cake guy just yet. Sunday I blew three bucks on a no frills hot sausage on bun from The Grocery on St Charles. I thought about trying their gumbo but it looked a little too red.
Indians comin' Don't miss this week's Gambit
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