Riding in the Krewe of Cleopatra!

Retro-post: A look back at Mardi gras 2015! (from Feb.) For three years now, I have had the great pleasure of riding in the New Orleans Mardi gras Krewe of Cleopatra. The first time was when I turned 40 and many of my friends here got together and paid for my membership in the group! How FANTASTIC! Two of my friends also just happened to have a garage full of boxes of beads which they wanted get rid of....so I could actually buy some things like stuffed animals and other items to throw from the float. The krewe was extremely friendly and I got to have a spot next to three of my friends. The ride was AMAZING! I felt like a rock star!

video - I can't find my video, but will keep looking!

I skipped a year and then the Cleopatra parade last year (2014) became an Uptown parade instead of rolling on the West Bank of NOLA. Wow, what a change! This year, we were still an Uptown parade route and it was my third time riding! SO. MUCH. FUN.

Our party at Generations Hall began around noon on Friday, Feb. 6 and we didn't begin to load the floats until 4/4:30. By then, many of us had been eating, dancing, and enjoying refreshing beverages since 12/1:00! :-) Wheeeeeee!

We got to Tchoupitoulas Street and halfway down it when our float, 8-A had a flat tire. The policemen circled our float on their motorcycles (a bit like sharks, LOL). Soon after it wa sfixed, we continued our route down Tchoup, up Jefferson, over Magazine, up Napoleon, and finally to St. Charles. 

This year, it was a bit cold and I didn't see more than a few of my students and friends out, but it was still insanely fun! 

When you're on the ground attending a parade and actually trying to catch some of the "throws", you want to avoid ladders and children, but when you're on the float, there is nothing you can do to lessen the cute attack and you cannot help but give your stuffed animals and spears or hearts or flowers to the kids! It's adorable! I try to look for folks standing off by themselves, perhaps thinking they can't find a spot up at the front or maybe just watching and taking it all in. I try to throw them something that lights up or a cool signature throw.

If you've never done this sort of thing, I highly recommend it - its a TON of fun and the Mardi gras ball the Krewe throws is FANTASTIC! A fancy night of being social, seeing the lieutenants and captains and other "officers" being introduced, excellent food, open bar, and lots of dancing!

"Parade Sunday" at St. Paul's 2015

The Sunday before Mardi gras is known as Bacchus Sunday or "Parade Sunday" in NOLA. Yesterday was Samedi gras and tomorrow is Lundi gras with Tuesday being Mardi gras. I haven't heard anyone calling today Dimanche gras and it just sounds weird so I'm sticking with Parade Sunday and Bacchus Sunday. I had the idea to tell my St. Paul's Episcopal Choir to bring beads and headresses, wigs, throws, and the like to church today. 

During the final hymn, (which was #460 in the Episcopal Hymnal "Alleluia! Sing to Jesus" to get plenty of Alleluias out before Lent), we recessed and threw beads, stuffed animals, toys, and lots of things to the congregation! It seemed like they really liked it. I saw more people smiling than in a long while! Also, I made absolutely sure to do it after Fr. Rob's blessing so the Liturgy itself would be only minimally disturbed (no worse than announcements, I daresay).

I also asked Fr. Rob to wear these gigantic pink beads on the way out. One of our sopranos, Tanya, brought them and it just seemed perfect.

Here is one of our tenors, Ernell, rocking a purple wig

Here is Tory, a soprano, dancing up the aisle!

I also felt that it would be a good idea for our choir tot take a photo out by the St. Paul's Church sign and it turned out GREAT!

A super fun ending to the morning!