Snowbirds: 1st Year

So this was our first year as snowbirds and I have to admit we have a bit of room for improvement.  Our mistakes:  we came to the beach on the later side, we left twice and we did not join that many groups/activities.

Unfortunately, we still had things to finish up in St. Louis at the beginning of January so it was middle of the month before we both made it to Gulf Shores.  Then we turned around a week later and went back to St Louis for a few days!  At the end of January, we made it to stay or so we thought only to find ourselves running back to St Louis for a couple of days for a funeral.  We did a much better job of staying put in February.  And we started to get a little active.  We both volunteered to take on keeping up the directory and I joined a group of ladies for golf on a weekly basis.  We also enjoyed spending time with my mom, aunts and a family friend.

When we say we need to do more next year, realize there is an assortment of activities: card games ranging from bridge to poker, board games such as mahjong, outdoor activities such as bocce ball, exercise classes, weekly movies, and trips. I am probably missing things. All of that is just options that are on the Beach Club property. The resort is sort of like summer camp for older adults!  

What is life like as a snowbird?
Monday is movie night and what is even better is that they are recent movies like Harriet Tubman and Overcomer and there is free, freshly made popcorn. Happy Hour is prior to the movie so we would grab our glass of wine from the bar downstairs and then head up to watch the movie. Tuesdays I played in my golf league which is in the afternoon, a nice change from playing in the morning. The group plays at Peninsula which has 3 different 9 hole courses all of which are quite nice.  On any week day, there were group exercise classes such as yoga or pool aerobics classes.  There were multiple activities every day of the week.

Of course one also needs to do things that the typical vacationer comes to the area to do, like walking the beach (too cold for most of us to swim), shopping at the outlet mall and eating lots of good seafood.  I had planned on getting a lot of sewing done and in reality, only got one dress done.  I did put my new, fancy toaster oven to good use and made bread a few times.

Our plans for next year?  Well, we will be back coronavirus willing. We will join in some more activities, be better organized with our "stuff" so we can have friends visit and spend time in our guest bedroom. Lastly, we hope to go on a trip or two and we will again enjoy some Mardi Gras fun!

Mardi Gras Mobile area

Did you know Mobile was the first city in the US to celebrate Mardi Gras?  Bet you thought New Orleans was where it all began. Wrong - Mobile started celebrating Mardi Gras in 1703 which is 15 years before New Orleans was even founded. The celebration while not as well known as New Orleans is none the less a major part of life in the city and surrounding areas. Let me explain a little bit.

The city of Mobile has multiple parade routes - as in at least 8 different ones. From a listing we had, there are at least 40 parades over 18 days. On top of that, I know of 25 parades in the suburbs of the Eastern Shore (including Gulf Shores and Orange Beach). Plus I heard of at least one parade in Pensacola, FL.  Oh, and by the way, it is a school holiday. Many of the parades are the work of an individual krewe, but some are organized by local cities or local organizations and thus you see floats from the vet clinic down the street or a local restaurant. Jeff and I made it to 5 different parades.

We started our season at the Knights of Ecor Rouge in Fairhope. It was a night parade so we drove up to Fairhope with my mom and brother had a nice dinner and then staked out our spot on the main street. We were ready. We had our chairs and our bags to hold our throws. Fairhope has a reputation for being generous with their throws. Since the parade went down our part of the route twice that was definitely true. We had filled up a string backpack with our goodies plus were being weighed down with beads.

So what do they throw? Beads, small stuffed animals, frisbees, plastic cups, frozen decorated donuts, miscellaneous small toys - think little footballs, balls, stress ball type toys and most importantly moon pies. I have heard that some Mobile parades have unique throws - believe I heard one throws ice cream novelties. Below are some pictures from Fairhope

We had a break before our next parade in Mobile. We did some research and heard the Mystics of Time was a really good parade. It was on a Saturday at 5:45 pm so we planned an excursion to Mobile. We found a parking garage early in the parade route parked and walked down. We thought we had less than an hour wait - unfortunately, it was longer. Word on the street was that a float had a flat tire so there was a 45-minute delay. Boy were we tired of standing by the time the parade started.  However, I have to admit some of the fun was before the parade. Across the street, there was a bar with a balcony and people on it who were throwing beads and little footballs and ribbons to the crowd below. Before long there were footballs flying back and forth across the street and all sorts of impromptu fun going on. It was a really good parade as advertised. By chance, we ended up by some friends of a krewe member. They had signs to let him know where they were. The response from that float was a deluge of things - handfuls being dumped in the area which was good because Jeff and I weren't doing too good catching things there! What we had not realized is this krewe is known for their "dragons". Think Chinese style dragon that's been automated. The only people are those tossing throws as it zigs and zags down the street. Some blew smoke out the nostrils. They were impressive.  Oh, the high school marching bands were impressive too. You see they did not just march down the street, oh no everyone had a gimmick or special performance up their sleeves. On cue we had them running to the spectators saying hi and giving beads or suddenly doing some impressive dance moves - especially when it was the tuba line! Pictures from Mystics of Time parade

Since we were now in the very heart of Mardi Gras season, the very next day we went to the local parade. It is only in its 2nd year and still very local. We are out a way out from downtown, so the Fort Morgan parade is heavily golf carts with some floats pulled by pick up trucks. It is low key and fun in a different way then the big parades and this one is open to all.  By chance, pirates was a common theme this year and Jeff enjoyed yelling at them with his best pirate interpretation. 

We skipped the Monday parades and made plans for the Gulf Shores parade on Tuesday which started at 10am.  Gulf Shores is the oldest parade in the area and it was large and popular. We had planned on going to a pancake breakfast, but the line was out the door so a change of plans. We set our chairs up close to the starting point and made a McDonalds run. When the parade started we were not disappointed. It was a good parade.

Our group with our beads after the parade.

We ended our Mardi Gras parade season with the smallest parade of the year for us as least. Lulu's boat parade started at the Wharf and went up the Inter-coastal waterway to Lulu's where they were having a big birthday/Mardi Gras party. We decided to go to the Wharf to see the beginning. While driving there we saw people setting up along the Inter-coastal to watch and since the Wharf tends towards the yacht category of boats we were excited. Well, we had trouble finding it at first. Decided these are boat people, they will all show up at the last minute so we got a drink and wandered around (yes it was perfectly legal). Then we found some boats - not yachts. They were numbered up to 10 but I think it was more like 6 boats, 3 of which were pontoon boats and 3 fishing boats (OK I could not afford a couple of them). Anyway, in true Mardi Gras and boater fashion they were decorated and ready to have a good time! They were all talking with the spectators and throwing beads at us from the dock. Then when they started one boat was going along the shoreline a little and throwing beads to us. It was a lot of fun although it does make one miss our old boat some.

Salty Mardi Gras dog

One last thing.  Thanks to one of the plastic cups I caught.  I can tell you the dates for the next few years Mardi Gras so you too can come to visit Mobile during Mardi Gras!

Feb 16, 2021, is next year then it is March 1, 2022.  

For further planners Feb 21, 2023, and Feb 13, 2024.  

Finally for those really long-range planners:  March 4, 2025.

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!