What I know about..
1. Parking was insane. They were charging $50.00 per car for 5 hours. WOW!! But thankfully Scott and I were able to find free parking about 5 blocks away. I don't mind walking when it saves us that much money!
2. I can't remember when I have seen such crowds in the streets. There were so many people in such a small area.
3. If you have any doubt that Americans like to party.. just head South for Mardi Gras. Drinking was a sport for most of the people down there.
4. To give you an idea of how big it is.. All the Schools are shut down for 2 weeks for just Mardi Gras.. That alone would make my kids want to move there!
5. Husby prepped me about keeping my purse close because of pick pocketers. So the entire time I was walking around with a death grip on my purse!
6. Beads were insane. They were tossing them from the floats, people were catching them and even some were throwing the beads right back.
7. Speaking of beads, they are very slippery to walk across. Tons of people were falling down from getting caught up on the beads that were on the ground.
8. The parades were nothing like I have EVER saw.. The simple homecoming parade has nothing on the Mardi Gras parades. They huge.. Very elaborate.. and the streets were lined up with thousands of people watching them pass.
9. Restrooms were terrible. I wouldn't use any public restroom except at the Casino. Scott ended up paying $10 to jump to the front of the line at a restroom in a bar. There was a man at the door letting people in one at a time.
10. Speaking of the Casino.. I don't even want to try to guess how much they made over Mardi Gras. There is a big casino in the heart of the city and was packed full when we got there.
11. The cops on horses were just brutal. I got knocked around by a few of them. The cops didn't care. They marched those horses up and down the crowds.. and everyone in their path got hit. You don't even notice the big horse because you just think its the huge crowd pushing at you.. Just thankful I didn't get stepped on by one.
12. I could smell pot all over the place but never saw anyone smoking it. I mean.. if its ok to drink on the streets, I sure don't know why they just don't allow a little weed too. I think many people took it upon themselves to light up. In crowds that big.. it would be hard to be caught.
13. We didn't see that many woman raising their shirts for beads. However we saw a few.. and the police really didn't care much about the women but God help any of the men getting naked.. Straight to jail they go.
14. The balconies above the streets in down town is where its all at. I so wanted to get up on one.. I was also warned to not walk directly under the the balconies because a lot of time people pee from up there getting anyone in their path soaked.. YUCK!
15. New Orleans takes Mardi Gras very serious.. Many houses were decorated up for the big holiday. Beads all over the houses.
16. Some of the full masks that people were wearing down there were a bit scary to me. Pretty.. but scary! Kinda reminded of me of a clown. I am not too fond of anyone when they hide their faces.
17. Trying to get out of Mardi Gras was just about as hard as getting into the city. Traffic was insane because of the parade routes. It took us hours on end driving around trying to find a way out. Every road seemed to be blocked off.
18. I have to say I was surprised at all the beer that was canned in the Mardi Gras colors.. Who would have guessed? But thinking about it now.. tons and tons of beer was sold during that week.
19. One of my fears, was loosing Scott and my mom and Don. I would have panicked being around that many people without my family. Thankfully husby took good care of me and made sure we didn't get separated!
20. The beads we brought home were insane. I have no idea what to do with them all.. so right now they are hanging in our downstairs bathroom!
So over all, I had a really good time down there. I don't know if its something I want to do every year but since Scott has a son down there who is out of school for 2 weeks.. we might be heading down there again next year. Never know..
But it was a nice time getting how they get down in that city.. and boy do they party!
K Jaggers
♥
Post Comment
Post a Comment
Thank you so much for your comment. I love hearing from you! It takes me a minute to moderate the comments so it should show up shortly.