Parade Pt 2: The Route,,,,,

Ok, I know I have to get to describing the ride..however, thinking it might be helpful for folks who are not familiar with the whole carnival, mardi gras parade scene to be given a little background and context first. So, as I mentioned in earlier posts, carnival season goes for about 2 weeks in New Orleans and ends on Mardi Gras day. During carnival season there are multiple parades going on almost every day or nite in New Orleans proper as well as the surrounding suburbs (Metarie, Algiers on the West Bank for instance). Most of the New Orleans parades roll on what is known as the "uptown" route -one after another. For evening parades, this might mean the first parade is at 5:45pm, second one at 7 and maybe a third at 7:30 pm meaning that for all 3 parades to roll start to finish might mean 6 or 7 hours of parade (like I said, this is serious business down there). This is is the route my parade followed. There are some small variations but for most part the parades on this route start in the Uptown and/or Garden district neigborhoods of New Orleans , make their way to St. Charles Avenue and follow this avenue into the Central Business District (CBD), thru the CBD and over to Canal St which borders the French Quarter, ending roughly in the Warehouse District near the Mississippi River. There are roughly 3 main portions of the route. The first part -uptown and on St Charles Avenue- is roughly 1/2 to 2/3 of the route. The beginning of the parades starts in an all residential neighborhood, and then as it turns on to St. Charles it is a mix of residences and businesses. St. Charles is a wide 2 lane avenue with a grass median (aka "neutral ground') running down the middle. Normally, the streetcars run down the tracks on the neutral ground, but during parade season these are shut down during much of the time allowing folks to "camp out' and watch the parades. (Most parade watchers have either a "sidewalk side" or "neutral ground" prefence and watch all their parades from that location). The St. Charles Av lane that takes traffic uptown (away from the CBD) is open during the parade, but the lane going into the CBD is closed- this is where the parades roll with folks watching either from the sidewalk or the neutral ground. (It turns out my wife and I are "sidewalk side" people- we hooked up with my krewe buddy and his family who have for several years been watching the parades on St. Charles from a specific sidewalk side spot).This section of the parade is the favorite place for locals, families and other folks who want to see the parade in a more open, relaxed environment- altho, for the bigger parades even this part of the route can get pretty crowded and a bit crazy (altho still much less so than the CBD and Canal St portion of the route).  Uptown and St. Charles is also the portion of the route where folks tend to "stake out a spot" (sometimes literally with actual stakes,tents, chairs, ladders, bbq grills,etc) year after year to watch the parades. Some of these spots are semi-permanent encampments and are left up for days at a time- empty -or maybe "guarded' by one or two members of the group when there is no parade (people seem to respect the empty chairs, blankets, etc left out along the route, knowing that foks are planning to come back). Another advantage of watching the parade on this portion of the route is that there are for the most part no barricades separating the parade watchers from the parade. This is especially important for folks who like to go from the sidewalk or neutral ground out into the street and right up to the floats to ask for beads and throws. It's also cool to watch in this area bc sometimes you feel like you are inside the parade with the marching bands, floats and other marching groups passing so close you can reach out and touch them -or in the case of the bands, feel the music in your bones. The next section of the parade route begins when the parade travels under the I-10 overpass, moves around Lee Circle (Google it) and into the CBD. Here it is primarily open sidewalks and businesses along the route-altho there are also some apartment buildings and hotels as well. Many of the establishments along this portion of the route erect bleachers or viewing stands along here ( and individuals put up lots and lots of ladders) so at this point, the parade watchers are almost literally eye to eye with the riders on the float. Folks also watch from apartment balconies even higher up so it is a lot different than the St Charles portion where floats are up high and the crowds are down low. It is during this CBD section that the parade also passes by Gallier Hall which is where the official viewing stands for city officials (including the Mayor) , other VIPs (each parade krewe usually has krewe officers and family and friends who sit in these mostly ticketed seats) and ticketed bleachers are located. During each parade, the King's float stops in front of Gallier Hall to do a formal champagne toast with the Mayor (or his representative) as well as toasting with the VIPs for their krewe. After leaving the CBD portion of the route, the parades continue across until they hit Canal St. On Canal, most of the parades turn up Canal for several blocks before doing a u-turn and coming back down Canal St as they head to the finish. The CBD and Canal St portions of the routes tend to get all the folks from the French Quarter and surrounding hotels. These portions are also barricaded for crowd control purposes and tend to be pretty rowdy and much less family friendly. Ok..so now you have a feel for the route...next post will be about the ride itself..Stay tuned!...

Yes..Amazon.com has tuxedos..

..and I'm going to need one because it's not just about the parade. Altho the parade is the "main event" most krewes have multiple activities and other events in the months, weeks and days leading up to their parades each year. The logistics and planning to coordinate and put on a parade for one krewe- let alone the 60+ who parade during carnival season- is mind boggling. Mid City's krewe has I think maybe 14 floats and around 200 riders; some of the "super krewes" have 3x the number of floats (and the floats are as long as 2 tractor trailers!) and maybe 1000 to 1500 riders..so, lets do the math: we are talking about dozens of floats to prepare and get to the parade route (typically pulled by trucks or in the case of Mid-City by tractors), organizing and transporting maybe 10-25 marching bands to the start of each parade, wrangling thousands of riders to the start and get them on their floats and before any of this literally tons of beads have to be loaded onto the floats! Pre-parade activities held by each krewe typically include den parties (den= the warehouse where the floats are stored), special breakfasts, brunches, cigar strolls, balcony parties, bead loadings, and formal balls. In addition, there is usually a whole set of "special" get togethers and events exclusively for members of the krewe's "royal court"-king, queen, dukes and duchesses-of that year's parade. On parade day, there may be a pre-parade mass (New Orleans has a very Catholic history) and breakfast (which for Mid-City by the way is BYOB), -and then there is the task of getting the riders dressed into costume and transported from their hotels to the start of the parade which usually means arranging for buses and other mass transportation. After the parade, there is typically a post-parade party-which for at least one of the super krewes ends with their floats rolling right INSIDE the New Orleans Superdome where the riders re-join their families,friends and other members of the larger krewe for a huge party. So, there is a lot going on in-especially in the few days running up to each krewe's parade. I will be going to the Krewe of Mid-City den party this weekend down in New Orleans where I will get to go to the krewe den, see the newly decorated floats, meet some of the other riders-including my float "captain"- and also hopefully get to see which float and where on the float ("sidewalk" or "neutral ground" side) I will be assigned to ride and throw. Then, when my wife and I go back to New Orleans together a few days before the parade, there will be a "bead load" get together on the Thursday before the parade-where literally all the beads and other throws get loaded onto the floats for the riders- and then on that Friday night is the krewe's formal ball and supper dance at a hotel in downtown New Orleans. These balls are very formal affairs- tuxedos for the men and gowns (not dresses) for the ladies are required. So back to the tuxedo.....Since I shop for just about everything these days on Amazon.com, for the heck of it I thought-since I had earned Amazon "points"-maybe I could buy vs rent a tuxedo at a good price. And, sure enough, I found a tuxedo that after applying my points ended up costing me about $17 which included having it shipped to my sister's house in New Orleans. In the meantime, my wife found a very nice burgundy full length gown at a great price at a local department store which- along with our dress shoes- is also in the mail on the way to my sister's. The ball starts at 7pm and goes until 3am (!). The court is formally presented to the King and Queen, there is dinner and dancing, and most importantly, an open bar until 2am. Should be quite a party. This is really gonna be something.