since it is fat tuesday i guess i should reflect on the three times i have been to mardi gras. and when i say mardi gras, i mean the real one, in new orleans. not these ones in galveston, or austin…the serious hardcore 90 billion people in a three block radius, mardi gras.
the first time i went was when we were living in new orleans. i was in the third grade and i was so excited because we got a week off from school. it is in fact a holiday where they let the kids out of school. we would wake up real early and head down to the parades and yell at the people on the float to “throw me something mister!” my sister and i would run around collecting all of our booty and compare the trinkets we would get. for that entire week we amassed quite a collection of crap. but it was all ours. for the longest time all of the beads and toys and junk from that week were kept in these huge sacks that was stored in my grandparents other house out back. i have since looked for those bags, but i am sure grandpop tossed them long ago. im sure they are with my dads baseball cards that were tossed many moons ago.
the second time i went was right after i turned 21. this trip was a trip that ended all other trips. it was me and 9 other guys. me and trav and eric drove to huntsville to meet the rest of the guys before departing for nawlins in the morning. so it was four guys in an extended cab pick-up and of course trav and i were in the back. not the bed, just the back of the cab. that had to have been the longest drive in the world. we got to baton rouge and decided to get a hotel. 10 guys in one room might i add. it cost us five bucks a piece. so after checking in we loaded back into the truck and drove to new orleans. we had no plan or any idea where to go, but we were going. and we had plenty of beer. so we get there, find a spot to park, and hit the quarter. the next thing i know we are in a huge mass of people and going from bar to bar, meeting all kinds of people just having a great time. about midnite rolls around and everyone is smashed. we had our share of beads, seen our share of madness and decided to head back. no one wanted to drive but lloyd decided he would. everyone else passed out as soon as we got in the truck, but i was too afraid to fall asleep so i stayed up and kept lloyd company. we got back to the room and everyone went to sleep wherever they could. i passed out next to the guy we named stinky feet. made for a long nite. woke up the next morning and headed back to huntsville.
the third and last time i went was with emily and jamie. this is when i was living on austin ave and we decided to just pack a bag and go. em had a friend that went to LSU and said we could crash there. so we took off for baton rouge. i drove from waco to orange before i became way too tired and let em drive the rest of the way. well she had never been to this guys place before so we of course got lost and didnt get there until like 4 in the morning. we get there and he is playing playstation with a friend of his and they are drunk as hell. he dog was barking, his apartment was a piece of crap and me and jamie got to sleep on the foldout couch. so we went to bed and awoke to nasty smell of his ferret. we headed to the beer store and then drove to new orleans. i was a passenger the entire time and i was going to have fun. so we go to a parade or two, catch some beads, see more raunchyness and then leave. em wasnt feeling good so we headed back to baton rouge and went to an LSU bar. benny, em’s friend, decides he is like some fantastic dancer and gets on the dance floor and proceeds to make an ass of himself. anyway we left there and went home. next morning woke up and drove back to waco.
so i have had some interesting experiences with mardi gras. it looks like yet another one is to be held tonite in austin. its not going to be anywhere near the craziness as new orleans, but it is still fat tuesday indeed. so everyone enjoy the last day of crazy before lent.
oh yeah and trav, do you mind dropping this off at hastings for me, i mean it is just right down the street.
