Shell was asking me last night about how to prepare for her first Mardi Gras parade, and it got me going. As I was laying them down all the memories started flooding back of spending days out on the medians playing with cousins and running around between parades. Here were a few tips I gave:

• bring lots of beer, lots of water, and lots of snacks
  
• you'll need plastic bags for beads and trinkets,
  you can bring home as much as you make an effort to catch or pickup
  
• just bring an ice chest, like a big one.
  
• you can sit on it, and fill it with beer and food... but if that's too much trouble,
  just bring a small one
  
• or you can not bring food and just go get a bucket of chicken or somthing during the day, walk to Popeyes or whatever
  
• chairs, folding chairs
  
• get there early, and stake out a spot on the neutral groun in the grass if you can
  
• if you can find a spot with grass... lay down a blanket, get comfy... then you have a home base
  
• parking is the hardest part, if you aren't worried about being cheap, lots of people just open up whatever little dirt lot they have and charge like $20 to park
  
• sunscreen, maybe an umbrella
  
• stuff to do between parades is good too
  
• It's sometimes fun to take posterboard and make a big target so the float people have something to try and hit and they'll bombard ya
  
• and you have to yell "THROW ME SOMETHING MISTER!"
  ... it's like tailgating all day long
  

Man I started really reliving all the Mardi Gras good times. Southdowns in BR... Rex... the Truckers Parade... Endymion... Bacchus... Zulu. Fighting over the white pearl beads (I can remember the SMELL of those beads, the pearlescent coating reeked). Stomping on fingers if need be to get the doubloons and the scramble when you heard the "chink chink" noise when they hit the ground. The Plastic cups they'd throw were gold, your entire cupboard would be full of them, no need to buy cups. Little rubber dog poops and bamboo tomahawks were huge scores. Wearing as many beads as you could to look like Mr-T and that lasting like 10 minutes before your neck was killing you. Being jealous of the kids who had ladder seats. Chasing after bouncing superballs. All the amazing marching bands who, if you were lucky, would stop and break it down in front of you. FLAMBEAUX! Wondering how the hell all those dance teams lead by the trucks loaded with crappy PA systems made it to the end without their feet falling off. The smell of horse manure that was unavoidable to stomp through by the marching bands. Huge diesel tractors pulling giant float sculptures. The fleet of street cleaners that signaled the end of the parade. Street vendors with shopping carts loaded down with plastic horns. Buying snap 'n pops and trying to throw them under the feet of passers by. Getting a bouncing ball in a passing Tuba was like winning the lottery. Waiting at the beginning of Bacchus across the street from Tipitinas to see my uncle who would UNLOAD on us. Carrying home BAGS of beads and trinkets so they could sit in the closet to be given away next year. Riding in the truckers parade dressed as a Yam. Being a page for my Grandfather who was king of one of the local Krewes (was it Mystique?)... and having to wear tights and a pointy merlin hat. King Cakes at school. So much fun as a kid. I'm sure I'll think of more. Share your memories in a post or at least in the comments!

Mardi Gras isn't the Quarter. That's what it is to tourists. To the locals it's family time. Well... unless your in college, then maybe it's about the Quarter... and drinking... but if you are a KID... it's about family! Hahah.

And Happy Mardi Gras folks!