For years we had envisioned Mardi Gras as nothing more than a crowd of drunks walking up and down Bourbon Street, so we were quite surprised to find that it's a very family oriented event which brings the whole community together--black and white, young and old, locals and tourists. For example, fancy ladders were positioned along St. Charles Avenue so that small children could see the parade and catch stuffed toys and beads that the krewes threw from the floats. And the parades seemed endless--more than 50 of them in the days leading up to Mardi Gras and two huge ones --Zulu and Rex--each with over 25 floats, marching bands and equestrian teams on Mardi Gras. One of the highlights for us was watching the Zulu chiefs arrive by boat on Lundi Gras (fat Monday) to the sound of local jazz bands followed by welcoming remarks from Mayor Nagin. We ended our Mardi Gras on Frenchmen Street where we were fascinated by the spontaneous revelers in outlandish costumes--a great ending to our first Mardi Gras.
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