February 1, 2005, one full day back from our trip to New Orleans. We left Thursday afternoon, and returned Monday afternoon. If you are looking at the calendar, the last entry was done from my mother-in-law's computer down there. My kids were interested in Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday" for those of you without outrageous French accents, the day before Lent begins). The official day is next week, but parades start a couple of weeks before. It's a big deal there. The kids get the day off of school. There are lots of parades with floats, and the costumed occupants throw beads, cups, and toys to the crowds. The first one we went to it has been raining all day, so there was not much of a crowd. All of the parades have different names, such as Ceasar, Rhea, and Bacchus. The big famous one is Rex. Each one is organized by a club, or krewe. The celebration brings in millions of dollars to the city.
I learned all this from a tour of Mardi Gras World, which does a lot of the floats.
There is even a parade featuring dogs in costume. This years theme was Harry Potter. One of April's friends was involved in that one, so we went to see it and her. Her family was there as well, and I smiled as her sister-in-law tried to explain that they were fans of the books and movies, and this was for fun. I was dealing with the kids, or I would have had replied that I've seen this a lot at conventions all over the west.
I don't feel as out of place there as I used to. It's a different culture. I have some fun with the fact there are no laws against open alcohol containers. You can even purchase drinks from a drive through place. Seafood is also a staple. Growing up here, for me, seafood was frozen shrimp and fish sticks. When I was a teen, I found crab legs and lobster, but the cost of these made them a luxury. So when we go there, we get crabs, shrimp, and crawfish. I have found out that you can catch crawfish here in Utah with a general fishing license. You have to kill them when you catch them, since there are laws against transporting live game animals. Not sure if that would be worth the trouble.
Well, I need to jet. I hope to continue with the description tomorrow.
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