New Orleans Mardi Gras

When Jeff said, hey there is a group trip to New Orleans for some Mardi Gras parades, do you want to go? I said yes immediately. Glad we did because we saw 2 parades right in front of our hotel, had a nice meal, great hop on hop off tour and a pouring rainy day.

Our hotel was downtown near the French quarter so after checking in, we went exploring.

Then we ran into what we think was the Babylon Krewe on their way to their ball.  They were traveling in true Mardi Gras style!  There was a parade of about 6 horse-drawn carriages that took them to a major hotel where they hopped out and were throwing really nice beads and lots of little bouncy balls.  The parade was led by a true New Orleans style jazz band.

From there we explored a little bit, we ended up in a neat little bar located behind a courtyard and had a glass of wine.  We talked with a couple of other patrons who told us about the roasted cauliflower appetizer at the restaurant  we had dinner reservations.  Then we were off to dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. 

Even the restaurant was decorated for Mardi Gras!

While our first parade was scheduled to begin around 6pm, we were told not to expect anything till after 8pm.  The first parade was the Krewe of Druids.  We expected floats and marching bands what we had not expected was all the adult dance teams.  All but one were female groups that had gotten together to walk in the parade, they had a theme and a vehicle following them blasting their music.  

Krewe of Druids floats

 We felt at home when the Clydesdales stopped in front of us.  One of the people on the back of the wagon even had a St Louis Cardinals hat on.  Jeff got him to throw Jeff a bunch of beads when he realized he was yelling "Go Cards" at the top of his lungs.

One of the dance groups

The second parade was the Krewe of Nyx which is a female based group.  The locals in the bar had told me their signature throw was a purse so that was what I should try and get.  Happy to report that I feel like I succeeded. 

I have a couple of beads with "purses" on them and the little pink circle is a round zippered purse with sparkles - it may become my coin purse for our travels this year!

Floats from the Nyx parade

Yes, I really was there!

At dinner, we had asked our waitress for recommendations on where to get the best King Cake nearby. She came back with 2 suggestions, one of which also was a good breakfast sandwich place. So, in light rain the next morning we set out to find it - Breads on Oak.  We ate our muffins/scones and then got our cake and returned to the hotel in heavier rain.

It looks good, yes?  It is.  It is also a "delicious and unique plant-based King Cake from Breads on Oak.  As New Orleans original vegan and organic bakery." We could have gotten a boozy version which in hindsight was the recommendation, but since we were going to share it with others I opted for non-alcoholic.  If/when we go to New Orleans again I think I would try the boozy version too.

Oh important stuff - a pile of our "catch" from the parades

Before heading home we did a hop on hop off tour, we did the hop on part really well and only hopped off when we were done.  It started as a way to hide from the rain and ended up being a really nice tour.  This was one of the few times I have had live tour guides on a hop on hop off bus and even better, they really knew the city and had interesting stories.  Even if it had not been raining it would have been an enjoyable 2 hours!

A fun quick trip to New Orleans Mardi Gras!