MORE MARDI GRAS

Before our Chef Ann dismissed us, she told us a secret that most locals don't know. "When you leave here, go left one block to the OMNI Royal Orleans Hotel. Walk in 'like you own the place' and take an elevator to the top floor. Follow signs to the pool. The stairs behind the pool lead to a terrace with the best view of the French Quarter." Our crowd is not shy, so we went straight there.




Walked through this beautiful lobby "like we owned it" or at least like we were registered there.




And found that Ann was right.




The Parades we had planned to attend on Thursday were canceled because of weather. So Friday evening we went like the privileged folks do to our reserved bleacher seats on St Charles Avenue. THREE parades were scheduled, but one from Thursday marched as well so we enjoyed the beautiful floats, incredible bands and, of course, those inevitable BEADS for about 6 hours. The seats and location were wonderful. But most important to some of us older folks, we had a private Porta-John !

Here's our gang of Airstreamers



Stanley, Lesly and me. It was NOT warm


HEY MISTER, THROW ME SOME BEADS

We still weren't too successful with the pictures, but I HAD to put this one in. One of the Krewes was D'Etat, which specializes in irony and sarcasm. They had lots of floats skewering FEMA, the Corps of Engineers and a bunch of other local people/organizations. Then there was this one, titled "Left Wing Chicken". The bucket is labeled "DNC". I hope the picture is good enough for you to recognize the "star" of the float.


Oh, what the heck, here's a profile too


There was a VERY TALL man in front of me in the bleachers. He was about 6'2" but I think his arms were 4' long. I was not having much success with the beads and other throws. A lady in the next section of bleachers asked if I was from out-of-town. I said, "Yes" and that this was our first Mardi Gras. One of her male companions said, "Put your bag over here. We'll fill it for you." And they did.

Thank you, Wendy. I told you I'd "make you famous" so here's your picture


So ends the second day of our Mardi Gras. It started at 8:00am and ended back at the Airstreams at 1:30am.

Life IS good.

But I may be too old for many more days of THIS good !

MARDI GRAS IN N'AWLINS

Wed, Jan 30 I went to my first Mardi Gras Parade. The Krewe of Cleopatra was the first all female Krewe on the West Bank. Which is a suburb area - and like most things in New Orleans that name causes normal people to scratch their head - it is due EAST of the city. But it's named correctly because it IS the WEST bank of the Mississippi. It's just that since the Mississippi is flowing due NORTH here....Oh, Never Mind. as one of the characters we spent some time with last week kept saying, "Deal with it."

Like the fact that the accent is very close to the Bronx or Brooklyn. Definitely Not Southern.

ANYWAY - Lonnie has been in the Krewe of Cleopatra for over 15 years. So our attendance was kinda required. And that's the ONLY reason we went. Because Vince says, "If it's not on St. Charles Avenue, it's not one of the REAL parades." But it was beautiful, we had a great time and it was a good training ground for me.

"HEY LADY, THROW ME SOME BEADS."

Their Theme this year was "Cats". Here's the lead float.




And "Cleopatra" on the Barge.



There were 20 floats, all this beautiful. But I am still learning to use the camera that Ann and Tom gave me for Christmas. AND I got in the spirit of competing viciously with the people around me for those

"All Important BEADS".

Thursday we hitched up and moved to what before Katrina was the parking lot for the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena. FEMA put in a large trailer park. When the emptied it, they left it "as is" - meaning a BIG area of parking spots with full electric, water and sewer hookups. It will be a beautiful RV Park when they get it graded and landscaped. Right now, it's a large semi-grassy field, with those wonderful hookups. There were nine Airstreams gathered for the weekend.

First thing on Friday morning was coffee and biegnets at the Cafe Du Monde.



Vince finds a new friend


Vince is the one on the right - in the blue Airstream jacket.

Then we went to The New Orleans School of Cooking. Some of us (me and several other men) weren't really excited about sitting for three hours to eat lunch. Even if we did get to see it prepared.


But the Chef, Ann Leonhard made it a really fun morning. We all wanted to stay and talk with her after it was officially over. When she started speaking, Vince kept mumbling, "I know that voice. I KNOW that voice."
After a few minutes, he asked her, "Ann, what's your last name?" She said, "Leonhard. But my maiden name was Ryan." And Vince said, "You're Mary's sister!" And Ann said, "You're a Saltaformaggio. I haven't seen you in years - how's your Mama doin'?" Vince's Mom passed away several years ago. Ann said, "This is going to sound terrible to you tourists, but Thank God she didn't live to see Katrina. Both my parents passed before Katrina, too. And it was such a Blessing. Those of us with older relatives know we never could have gotten them to leave their houses and if they didn't end up dead in their attics, the shock of seeing the devastation when they returned would have killed them."

After a few minutes of catching up - Vince's ex-wife was Mary's best friend. Vince introduced Mary and her husband way back when - Ann had Vince on stage keeping things stirred. The meal started with Shrimp and Artichoke Soup - some shrimp, some artichokes, a QUART of heavy cream, a quarter cup of butter, some chicken stock and seasoning.

It was so good, Joyce served herself seconds.



Followed by Crawfish Etouffee, which was a real test for Ann because it's my all time favorite dish at Galatoire's, one of the oldest Creole restaurants in New Orleans. Well, the menu SAID the Etouffee was next. But the Pralines were done, and Ann insisted that we HAD to try them while they were still warm. OH MY GOODNESS ! They were delicious. Some of us had two.

Selma got to "lick the pot".



The Etouffee was wonderful, too. Then we finished it all off with Pina Colada Bread Pudding.

Email me if you'd like the recipes.

Life is so good. Especially in NEW ORLEANS !