Mardi Gras

Have you ever been to Mardi Gras...I know what you are thinking, and some of that is true...but all of Mardi Gras is not on Bourbon Street. I still don't understand all the Catholic stuff that this is all about, but it is fun and a little, well, alot, raunchy....
This was my fourth Mardi Gras. This one was a little different...in the past I have always gone to New Orleans....but because my best friend and her husband divorced, and he got the apartment on Saint Charles used just for Mardi Gras, I spent this year in Baton Rouge watching the Spanish Town Parade. It is all about political satire and boy did they go after the "Stimulus Bill" in a big way.
What outsiders don't understand about Mardi Gras is how serious it is to the Catholic population in Louisiana....today, Fat Tuesday which is Mardi Gras Day is a holiday....LSU even cancels classes!
In New Orleans, on Saint Charles, opposite side of town from Bourbon Street is what I call the family side of Mardi Gras. You've never seen anything like it....it's a big huge tailgatge all the way down Saint Charles with every age from newborns to one foot in the grave folks. The young families all roll their ladders...yes, they put wheels on the end and they build little wooden seats on top and they roll these down to the street, set them up and when the parade starts the little kids sit in the little wooden boxes on top of the ladders....they yell at the people on the floats and they catch beads and toys and stuff. It's noisy and fun and you really get into going after those cheap little beads! I didn't care too much about the beads this year, I went for quality instead of quantity....I mainly took pictures because the satire was hilarious! I will try to post some of the pictures in a way that you can understand.
The most important part about my 2009 Mardi Gras adventure was the time I spent with my dear friend Candy....we've been friends for 23 years...she is my best friend....I love her dearly....she's had a rough few years but she is doing great! We celebrated Mardi Gras, Friendship and Life together.....I am blessed to have her as a friend and I thank GOD for her!