All On A Mardi Gras Day..Part 2
After leaving the Zulu parade we headed for the French Quarter to see if we could hook up with the Krewe Of St. Anne's walking krewe. I was hoping we would bump into them as the they made their way across Royal St towards Canal where they traditionally greet Rex King of carnival. Unlike the crowds at the Zulu parade once we entered the French Quarter pretty much everyone we saw was in costume (Note: I had read that on Mardi Gras day you would feel silly if u were NOT in costume- it is very much a participatory event). We made our way thru the crowds to Royal and as luck would have it we met up with the St. Anne's marchng krewe featuring the Storyville Stompers Brass Band. We marched with the crowd across Royal Street and ended up at Canal Street just in time to see the King of the Rex parade coming across Canal- talk about timing! Now it was time to go back across the Quarter to Frenchmen Street. As we walked people were in costume everywhere you looked. Every so often a brass band leading a secondline would come by with a different marching group -what a blast! As we approached Frenchmen St. another marching group with a band was coming towards us. As the band got closer it turned out to be the Preservation Hall Jazz Band! They passed by as fast as they had appeared-altho I did have time to shake Charlie Gabriel's hand and wish him a Happy Mardi Gras- this was really some kind of day. We kept on walking, checked out folks on Frenchmen Street hanging out in costume -now it was time to hear some music- destination: HiHo Lounge to see the Mardi Gras Indian Orchestra. As we waited for the music to start,unfortunately the early hour, long day, walking, excitement- and the adult beverages- started to take its toll. I managed to rally once the music started and the band was great. At one point a group of drummers came in off the street and joined in with the musicians on the stage-the place was really hopping. The band featured Sunpie Barnes who is also the chief of the Northside Skull and Bones gang- so I had started the day walking the streets with him before dawn and now here I was late in the afternoon ending my day watching him up on stage. Pretty cool. Soon we were in a cab and on our way back to my sister's house. Unfortunately, traffic was a nitemare and the cab ride back to Mid-City took forever- altho, on the plus side, it did give me an opportunity to close my eyes and rest on the way . It was the end to a very long and exciting day.
After leaving the Zulu parade we headed for the French Quarter to see if we could hook up with the Krewe Of St. Anne's walking krewe. I was hoping we would bump into them as the they made their way across Royal St towards Canal where they traditionally greet Rex King of carnival. Unlike the crowds at the Zulu parade once we entered the French Quarter pretty much everyone we saw was in costume (Note: I had read that on Mardi Gras day you would feel silly if u were NOT in costume- it is very much a participatory event). We made our way thru the crowds to Royal and as luck would have it we met up with the St. Anne's marchng krewe featuring the Storyville Stompers Brass Band. We marched with the crowd across Royal Street and ended up at Canal Street just in time to see the King of the Rex parade coming across Canal- talk about timing! Now it was time to go back across the Quarter to Frenchmen Street. As we walked people were in costume everywhere you looked. Every so often a brass band leading a secondline would come by with a different marching group -what a blast! As we approached Frenchmen St. another marching group with a band was coming towards us. As the band got closer it turned out to be the Preservation Hall Jazz Band! They passed by as fast as they had appeared-altho I did have time to shake Charlie Gabriel's hand and wish him a Happy Mardi Gras- this was really some kind of day. We kept on walking, checked out folks on Frenchmen Street hanging out in costume -now it was time to hear some music- destination: HiHo Lounge to see the Mardi Gras Indian Orchestra. As we waited for the music to start,unfortunately the early hour, long day, walking, excitement- and the adult beverages- started to take its toll. I managed to rally once the music started and the band was great. At one point a group of drummers came in off the street and joined in with the musicians on the stage-the place was really hopping. The band featured Sunpie Barnes who is also the chief of the Northside Skull and Bones gang- so I had started the day walking the streets with him before dawn and now here I was late in the afternoon ending my day watching him up on stage. Pretty cool. Soon we were in a cab and on our way back to my sister's house. Unfortunately, traffic was a nitemare and the cab ride back to Mid-City took forever- altho, on the plus side, it did give me an opportunity to close my eyes and rest on the way . It was the end to a very long and exciting day.
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