Everyone has cities that call to them for one reason or another and for me, New Orleans is one of those cities.  It could be because I have good friends that live in the area.  It could be because of the plantations which I adore taking photographs of.  It could be the relaxed nature of the city… or it just could be that a voodoo mama deemed it so.  😉  Who knows what the reasoning is, but I love to visit New Orleans and I’ve been back quite a few times since my first visit in 2000.

Three years ago, I decided that my soon-to-be husband needed to go down with me so he understood the magic that is New Orleans.  We had SUCH a great time and it was so much fun taking part in the Mardi Gras festivities!  I had been down in 2003 during Mardi Gras but sadly I had broken my ankle prior to the trip and had to have surgery on it (a plate and 7 screws!).  While I was still able to make the trip, going out on crutches was exclusively for daylight hours – going out at night would have been a disaster!  So, I watched parades and the partying from my room.  🙁  Thankfully in 2007 I got to participate a bit more and WHAT FUN!  I LOVED the parades, they are literally just plain ol fun!  I found out that while SEEING Bourbon Street at least once is fun during Mardi Gras, being locked on it kind of sucks.  Our hotel (Bourbon Orleans) was on Bourbon and while it was fun, I don’t think I’d do that again!

Since it’s Mardi Gras today I thought I’d share some pictures from that trip of the fun!  Enjoy!

Recognize Petra?  This is 6 months before our wedding and her first parade.  Let me tell you, she ADORED it and had so much fun with it.  I think having kids along for the ride makes it that much more fun.  However, you have to keep an eye out because people are vicious when it comes to getting beads!

Our first parade was the Tucks parade and it was a lot of fun.  I loved the energy and the colors.  It’s also a lot easier to see the beads during daylight.

That night we watched the Endymion parade which was pretty much awesome!  I loved the glowing floats!  SO awesome.  They also threw out things that blinked and I have a mild obsession with all things that blink.

I know, I’m weird.

See isn’t it pretty?  The bad thing though about the night parades is that it makes it harder to see the beads.  Both Lisa & I ended up getting beamed in the head by them and had some interesting bruises on our foreheads!

 

Sorry for the small pic as I don’t have a full resolution version of this one but this is one of my favorite pics from the trip!  Me & Lisa at the parade, bruises and all!  Lisa’s is really pronounced since she got beamed with really LARGE beads.  Still, it was a good time and lots of laughs!

A few of the beads we had amassed by Mardi Gras.  We ended up buying a duffel bag to bring them all home… and they are still in our basement.  I’m not sure why I couldn’t part with them now!  I’m sure there are garages full of these in New Orleans.  If memory serves, there is a parade (the truck parade?) that throws out old beads.  Beads also aren’t the only thing to catch!  There are balls, cups, coins and more.  We got a lot of cups and I still use them actually.  I also caught some bouncy balls, coins and more.  I almost caught a pair of undies but the guy in front of us nabbed them instead.  Oh the stories I could tell you about that guy!  Let’s just say that not all photographers are on the up-and-up!

On Mardi Gras there were some crazy costumes.  It is like Halloween but even crazier!  This is just one of the getups we saw while waiting for parades to roll through.

 

I didn’t take my SLR out on the town on Mardi Gras so I apologize that this pic isn’t better but it gives you an idea of what Bourbon Street is like on Mardi Gras – CRAZY!

 

I had to take a selfie on Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras!  There is a strip joint behind me… LOL!   I have no clue what my getup was supposed to be but an overabundance of pink!

 

Happy Mardi Gras!!!