Mardi Gras--Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler ~ Saturday, July 10, 2010

Sorry to sit on this post... anyway, back in March my family and I went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

I was pretty under the weather, so my first stop was to a convenient clinic. Sufficiently medicated, I started to feel better. The doctor also advised that I take it easy for a few days... sorry, Doc!

Through family connections, we had an ideally situated hotel room overlooking the action on Canal St.



Said action initially being streetcars, and as carnival week got into full swing, switching to parades.

There were a couple of streetcar-themed floats, too.







One of my favorite parade sights was an actual rolling steam calliope. (Warning: this is loud!)



One evening when Nathan had had enough of Parades for a while, we snuck off and rode the Riverfront line. This is the only streetcar line running when Mardi Gras is in full swing--all the other lines are shut down because Canal, St Charles, and Carrollton are taken over by parades--and it's not like anyone is going to work, anyway!





We all rode again during the day, but the RTA was having some technical difficulties with a switch.



We didn't get a chance to ride the Canal St on this trip, just took one picture:



Mardi Gras is something to experience, but I am also looking forward to a future visit to the Crescent City during a normal, non-insane-citywide-party time of year too!