Travels with Snowbirds 2015, It's all about just pictures

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February 2015, New Orleans, All About Mardi Gras Pictures

This is the first of two blogs I will post with pictures. These are pictures of the Mardi Gras trip. The next one I will work on has the rest of the pictures I took. Due to lack of decent wifi, I was not able to post pictures as I wrote the blogs. Now that I am home, problem resolved.

YOU WILL HAVE TO SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM TO SEE THE PICTURES, PASS ALL THE ADVERTISING!!!! IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE SEEING THEM, PLEASE LET ME KNOW

The rally was 'camped' on the ampus of University of New Orleans, in the shade of the lake Pontchartrain Levee.

Some of the following text comes off the internet, some of my own words have been added.

Contrary to popular belief, the first Mardi Gras parade in the United States didn’t take place in New Orleans. It was held in Mobile, Alabama in the early 1700s, when the area was still under French rule. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, about 60 parades rolled through the streets of New Orleans during the two weeks prior to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Christian season of Lent. Parades are organized by a membership of like-minded people referred to as a Krewe which are just small or large social clubs. A person must be invited to join a Krewe, with the acceptance of their application being placed before a membership review board. Membership can involve payment of dues of $100 to thousands. There are no corporate sponsors. Parade costs must be borne by the Krewe thru their dues, or (yes really) car washes and bake sales. Memberships are annual. The Muses Krewe requires each member decorate 50 pairs of shoes which will be used for 'throws'. The Nyx Krewe, an all female krewe, must decorate 50 small handbags, also to distribute.

Although each parade is unique to the particular traditions of each Krewe, they all share a few common practices. First, every parade elects a King or Queen. These individuals are picked from the respective Krewe membership. In recent years, as parades have gotten larger, various celebrities and musicians have received the honor of being the parade’s Grand Marshall.

Each parade has floats. Float design and decoration takes thousands of hours of preparation and work; preparations actually begin a few weeks after Mardi Gras for the next season. Floats are designed around the Krewe’s particular theme for the year and often satire current topics and cultural events. I saw a lot about President Obama and Ebola, or Isis, and some of the all women groups poked serious fun at the traits of men. Use your imagination.

Krewe members get the honor of riding the floats, and they will toss beads, doubloons and trinkets to the crowd over the course of the route. The trinkets usually bear the Krewe’s emblem along with the theme and date. The responsibility of providing a musical soundtrack for the fun falls on local high-school marching bands and jazz bands from the area. In addition to the bands, there are usually several local dance schools performing routines while marching. Troupes show off flag drills, clap sequences, and dance numbers while wearing colorful costumes, making parade watching in New Orleans an entertaining and unforgettable activity.

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Photos

Welcome Dinner
Held in the Arena at University of New Orleans. Those chairs weigh about 50 lbs, or so it seems, and don't drag across the cement floor easily. Very tough to move.

Nancy on the left, Joanne on the right
2 of my 3 camping friends

St. John's Bayou
This bayou failed during Katrina, and instead of pumping water out of the city and into Lake Pontchartrain, water flowed into the city. It failed because it was run by electricity. Now there are huge turbines that control this 'lock' system as well as hurricane proof living quarters so the workers can safely stay on the job

Where houses once stood
This was a predominantly African American community. Some homes have been rebuilt, and as you can see many have not, whereas in white communities they have been. These homes were not valued as much as those of white residents, and even though they got insurance money, it was not enough for a total rebuild.

Soil subside
An example of a house that has suffered erosion due to the ground being too dry due to all the water being pumped out of the ground, and when a heavy rain comes it erodes around the foundation. This house was lifted and a new slab poured, and house replaced. This is a common site.

St. Louis Cemetery 3
A typical crypt. In this particular one there are 3 places for bodies to be stored in their pine box for a year and a day, the custom. At the end of that time period, they are moved into the ground above the last body buried there If there is an excess of wood left over from the last person, it is removed and burned. After a very short time, the new body compacts down and decays back into the earth, so that another body can be put on top of it relatively quickly

St Louis Cemetery 3
A typical street. Each crypt must be maintained according to the covenants of the cemetery. Obviously the blackened one has not been. This seems to mean that the last family member has died off and perpetual care was not purchased. After 50 years with no burial, the crypt can be sold, and bodies continued to be buried on top of each other. If space for names on the front runs out, the residents names are put into ledgers in the cemetery office.

St Louis Cemetery 3
A larger version of the same thing, just with 12 spaces for above ground holding spaces. Or, this could be a society tomb. A single person can buy space in this crypt and be buried here in the usual fashion. Cheaper than buying a crypt for 1

A very old crypt wall, in great disrepair
Note the kneeling cushion, made out of cement, in the front.

Skelly Tomb
Site bought for $100k. Previous residents moved, and $500k renovations performed for owner and her dog. The stained glass work inside is magnificent. Struck my eye because Skelly is a family name of mine

Names if those buried in The Priest's Tomb
Many many many are buried here, and the names are listed in columns on the sides. Another Skelly

Carriage Post
I tripped around this bloody thing, that's why I took the picture, then found out what it was. Horse drawn carts brought the coffins to the cemetery and often could not negotiate the narrow turns. These cement posts acted as bumpers to keep the art on the road, rather than tipping over and spilling the contents upside down into the dirt.

Jazz Brunch at Court of Two Sisters
It was a beautiful day and a wonderful brunch

George the Jewelry Makerr
I bought a pin for $10 and got free pair of earrings. A very colorful character who has been doing this for 25 years at this same spot!!! He has competition up the stalls a few rows, who does 2 for $9. I wondered if they were brothers.