Our First Bus Trip --- Parades in New Orleans

We got our first view of the city as we began to cross over the Mississippi.  It was cold last night - probably about the freezing mark.  We tried to wear layers and brought scarves & gloves because of the cold winds.

As we got closer we could see two cruise lines anchored in town - I guess people come from all directions!

The tour guide told us about these ladders.  The local residents put a box on top for their kids to sit in - they can see much better from the higher viewpoint.

The first parade was the Krewe of Carrollton and included horses, bands (lots of school bands), dance & majorette groups and of course, the floats.  I probably took 80 pictures today but am just including a few samples on our blog.

The colors of Mardi Gras are green, purple & gold and decorations are seen all over the city with these colors.  Homes have banners, beads and balloons in their yards.

Kind of odd to see an outhouse decorated and in the parade but even they are necessary!

It was great to see all the bands coming down the street.  Most of them played music as they passed us.  Each one usually had a lot of auxiliary units like cheerleaders, dancers & majorettes.

Even the younger kids were in marching groups.  The kids watching the parades always cheered when they saw the younger groups.

Of course, I had to get at least one picture of a horse group in today's blog!

It was cold and Gary was having a hard time keeping his neck and ears warm so we bought an "Angry Birds" hat for him.  It actually served two purposes - keeping him warmer and catching the eye of the float riders who picked him out to throw special beads to!

The second parade today was the King Arthur Parade.  All of their floats were pulled by John Deere tractors so Gary made sure I got some pictures of the tractors!

As the floats go by everyone holds up their hands hoping to get some treasure thrown to them.  Along with the beads some groups threw stuffed animals or frisbees or cups or bags.  Local people who knew the float riders often got the best throws!

Each float itself had a different theme and decorations.  The costumes of the riders varied but were usually quite elaborate.

We will be going to Mardi Gras World on Friday to see where the floats are created.  They will have a film showing the history and how all this celebration evolved.

 

Another place we will tour this week will be the World War II Museum.  I think it will be rather sobering.  We toured the World War I Museum in Kansas City two years ago and walked away feeling very awed by the events in our history.

Well, I finally got a picture in the blog.  Yes, I am on this trip!  Gary added his beads to the ones I got and I felt pretty weighed down.  There are a few special beads that I will bring home and will have plenty to share with our friends and family.
We are back to our RV for the evening and are pretty tired.  It's amazing how tired you can get watching parades - but then I guess we were on our feet a lot begging for "throws".
 Tomorrow we get a bus tour of the city and then a Jazz Brunch at the Court of Two Sisters before we take a walking tour of the French Quarter.  I think I'll go to bed earlier tonight - we board the bus at 8:15 am!!