Happy Mardi Gras 2008!!!

**swn5363** · February-4th,2008, 12:03 PM

Happy Mardi Gras everyone! Hope all you folks in New Orleans have a safe and FUN celebration this year! Toni, Jud, Rachel... you guys pls give us the scoop and take lots of pics!!

Maybe we'll see you guys on the Live Web Cam!

**Thomas_T** · February-5th,2008, 06:36 AM

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I WANNA BE THERE!!!!!!!!

Lucky....

**swn5363** · February-5th,2008, 05:21 PM

I see a few early partiers wandering around Exchange Alley...

**Toni** · February-10th,2008, 07:05 AM

Back from Mardi Gras and in recovery. My liver hurts. It almost killed me! Steve, per your request, I'm uploading pictures - Mardi Gras is BACK for sure... over a MILLION people this year - and one of the most famous krewes rolled again for the first time since Katrina - Endymion... the celebrity king, you ask??? Kevin Costner! It was just MOBBED.

On Saturday, I was invited by my friend, Dian Winingder, to ride in Iris (first all female krewe - formed back in 1917)... we had a killer jazz band on our float - playing the whole way - right above my head... It's a totally weird and fun perspective to be ON the float throwing beads - instead of on the street catching! I loved it, and my shoulder and arm were sore for two days. The coolest thing about Mardi Gras is that all the floats and all the beads are paid for by the people throwing them - no commercial or corporate sponsorship allowed - even after Katrina, when all the big corporations figured they could finally worm their way into the world's largest free street party, the locals said HELL NO! They were all broke, but they scraped up the money to roll their floats, pay their bands and throw those beads. You just gotta love that... and it's just so cool that you never see a Coca Cola logo or a Bud logo or anything like that... it's all for the people, by the people!

Tuesday, Mardi Gras day, I was invited to join my friend Rachel and her husband, Jim in the Krew of Sumbody (ha ha)... Jim welded a Viking Ship together with an iron door and bicycle parts, and loaded it with beer and vodka - and all the Viking essentials, and we roamed through the French Quarter spreading good cheer. Seemed like all the locals were on the streets in the Quarter this year - we saw tons of friends. Our Vikings were frightfully good looking! Ha!

Steve - I uploaded some photos for you - did you get them? There were too many to put here... can you put them up?