|
| 10:21am |
Apparently, we were really sleepy
in the boys' room... the first sound of the day we heard was Rachel
knocking, repeatedly, at the door to wake us up. |
| 11:05am |
We head out the door. Robin and Rachel determined there were four
parades, with one starting now, or imminently soon. The decision to
work backwards from Jackson Square was made, and we could avoid at
least one or two of the insane crowd-fests, er, parades. |
| 11:06am |
I had to point out to the silly humans
that they're all wearing Frank shirts; Robin and Tubby are in the
comrades (staff) shirts, and Rachel in a Frank's Chicks variety. I,
of course, am far too cool to need a shirt to announce my Frank-ness. |
| 11:12am |
Using the cup we got at Wendy's (see the 7:12pm
update, below), I figure when walked through the Rex parade that
began uptown, at 10am, bumping into floats
like this. Neat. We got here by taking a side street to get to
the big streets whose name I don't know, but it took us through some
scenic
neighborhoods. |
| 11:33am |
After crossing through the parade
route, we got into the French Quarter and walked up Royal Street for
a while, passing a parade. But only after we passed a Louisiana State
Police car, which is equipped with an official state
siren? |
| 11:40am |
A couple of pictures of the
parade. (A separate page as I found I had more than ten pictures,
and counting.) |
| 11:49am |
If nature calls, look to the end
of the rainbow. |
| 11:54am |
Once we passed the end of the parade, the folks in costume didn't
end. We bumped into the Wizard
of Oz folks, complete with their own yellow brick road. Rachel
also had her picture taken with
David, whose birthday is today. |
| 12:12pm |
We walked by Jackson
Square on the way to other wanderings. Mmmm, pointy. |
| 12:23pm |
Near Cafe du Monde was Dale, from San Jose, CA, who made me a cool
balloon animal of -- you guessed it -- a
duck! Thanks, Dale! |
| 12:51pm |
Have you remembered to repent today?
If not, here's
your reminder. |
| 12:58pm |
See? Just to prove we're into equal opportunity, there's some guys
on the
balcony as well as this cheeky
fellow. |
| 1:06pm |
Mamas, don't let your babies grow
up to be bead-throwers... help stop the madness. |
| 1:08pm |
We pass two women handing out miniature sports balls (tennis balls,
footballs, baseballs, golf balls, etc.), who chose to refer to themselves
quite simply as
this. |
| 1:41pm |
We end up at a place that sells Po-Boys
for the girls and myself; Tubby is quite stubborn, and we had to get
him a Subway sandwich. (And much to the Subway employees dismay, yes,
just a plain, very boring foot-long cheese sandwich.) |
| 2:09pm |
The journey of 1,000 steps [back to the hotel] begins. Fortunately
for me, I don't have to walk it -- having an official Duck
Carrier is the way I prefer to travel. |
| 2:30pm |
Our return to the hotel is delayed
by a moment by yet another
parade. Fortunately, it was the tail end of it, and only a momentary
delay was suffered by myself and my travel companions. |
| 2:33pm |
We're back in the rooms. And despite it only being a 3 1/2 hour
journey around the French Quarter, it feels like sooo much more. Ready
for a nap, I am. |
| 3:05pm |
Much to my surprise, a nap was begun.
|
| 6:10pm |
... marked the end of the nap, and the beginning of updating today's
doings and goings. |
| 6:17pm |
The command decision was to just to
have a page of all the new people I met separately, so here's the
newest additions to my FrankPals.
|
| 6:32pm |
Tubby figures that while he may not be hungry, his tummy is, so
we headed out for food... |
| 6:38pm |
I was quite impressed with how
messy the place gets with the parades and all the stuff being
thrown to the crowds. I was even more impressed with how quickly a
crew of maybe six guys and two street sweepers could clean
up the place. |
| 7:12pm |
We ate at Wendy's, which should come as no surprise, since Wendy's
and Pizza Hut seem to be the two commonly visited eateries on road
trips. (This was the Wendy's on the 500 block of Canal Street, if
you're following our footsteps on a map.) |
| 7:21pm |
With Tubby's Biggie Dr. Pepper came
a schedule of parades. Too bad the last parade of Mardi Gras started
five hours ago and is now over (or at least that's what the cop claims). |
| 7:53pm |
We began a slow walk back to the hotel. Along the way, we passed
where Bourbon
Street meets Canal Street, and the New Orleans Police mounted
patrol cops. |
| 8:32pm |
Back in the room, I task Tubby with
getting some of our stuff together as I update the day's activities
(which you're reading now). |
| 10:04pm |
Manda (my latest, and most favorite Frank's Chick east of the Mississippi)
even reads and comments
on my blog. It's a good thing
she lives so far from me, or I'd give that lucky ol' boyfriend of
hers a run for the money. |
| 11:38pm |
Well, yes, dial-up internet connections
are slow. But at long last (emphasis on LONG), everything from today
-- so far -- is now posted. Yea! |
| 1:18am |
Just for grins, we headed down to Bourbon Street one last time.
As promised, we knocked on the door down the hall to see if the girl
types wanted to go with, but there was no response... I guess some
people actually do sleep at night. Onward. |
| 1:33am |
Between the state police cars driving
down Bourbon Street with their 200 watt sirens blaring, the fact that
people probably started drinking early and are now passed out, and
that many of the shops and all of the balconies appear to be closed,
the street is reasonably empty. (As opposed to wall-to-wall people,
the scene is now more like this
and this.) |
| 1:51am |
We were passed by a huge water truck spraying down the streets.
So, it seems the format is to have the guys sweep the center trash
down into the street, then the water truck applies the finishing touches,
then the street sweepers (there were two about a block behind the
water truck) do their thing and sweep up all the trash into the street.
(There was also guys with air blowers blowing the trash from the sidewalks
into the street, as to not leave any path unswept.) |
| 1:58am |
Back in the room, it seems that this
party is officially over. And so is my day. (I also found out, after
the fact, that the ceremonial end of Mardi Gras is at midnight, with
the cops on horseback clearing Bourbon Street. Which makes since,
given at 12:00am on Wednesday with the Catholic observance of Ash
Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, the 40 days before Easter Sunday.) |
| |
|
