Our trip started off on an interesting note. We left Memphis bound for NOLA around lunchtime Friday, quickly making great time. We got a GPS system from my parents for Christmas, and with satellite radio, my Blackberry, and iPod, we felt like pretty saavy travelers. As we descended into NOLA, we knew we needed to stop at the exit before Lake Ponchartrain, since there are no gas stations for a while. After getting back on the road and onto the long, narrow bridge over the lake, we could finally see the lights of the city in front of us. All of the sudden, we came to an abrupt stop on I-10. In the car next to us, a group of frat boys from Texas began getting out of their cars to check it out. We heard them freaking out, so we rolled down the window and asked what they saw. Sure enough, there is a car completely engulfed in flames about 150 yards in front of us. Stuck on this small bridge, we were in quite a predicament. We could only sit and wait for help to arrive. After two hours of entertainment (the frat boys shotgunning beers on the interstate, all the people walking to the scene of the fire just to stare, and the countless number of wierdos hanging out of their cars), we finally got away from the fire and onto Mardi Gras. This is a picture of us hanging out in the car waiting for the flames to die down:
Friday night we spent time catching up with friends. Saturday morning we got up bright and early, and headed to Taylor's parents house off St. Charles. We watched the Tucks parade (where we ran into Robyn and John Michael - crazy!), and then went back to his parents house for lunch (which was delicious!). Then we made our way to Mid City for Endymion. This parade has the nicest and most elaborate floats that we saw and is a night parade. It was really a spectacle. Sunday we went to Van's dad's store on Magazine, where we watched one more parade and drank Bloody Mary's and mimosas. We had lunch back at Taylor and Erin's, and WOW can Erin cook! We had all kinds of New Orleans fare. Brian and I were pretty happy that out of two king cakes this weekend, we got both the babies! After lunch we made our way back to Memphis. I love this picture of the girls with their beads!
What a great weekend. I am hoping we can make it a tradition. It's funny how people stereotype Mardi Gras as a crazy, shirt-lifting, dirty event, but really, it was so fun, and I was suprised by the number of kids and families at the parades. Staying out of the French Quarter was a good decision. But the best part of the weekend, of course, was catching up with old friends and enjoying our time together. We have the greatest friends anyone could ask for!
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