I knew Sunday would be a very long day, with 5 parades running back to back! I also knew our fabulous parade-watching spot would be doubly busy and extra early at that! So, I sucked it up and went to stand on the corner 3 hours early! At first it was lame, but then my brother came to join me, and I met a bunch of nice folks, and soon the Bacchus Sunday madness was on! Before I knew it, I had been standing on the street almost 13 hours and was desperately in need of a foot massage and food, so I called it a night, leaving just half way through the final parade of the day.(Oh, and ANDERSON COOPER threw my girlfriend beads!)
Fortunately for those of us who were hard core about seeing every last moment of the weekend’s festivities, Monday was a working day for most people, so no big parties or parades were planned to begin until the evening. Whew! Bryan and I spent the day recuperating and cleaning the house, which had become quite the sparkly sty over the weekend. By 4:00, I was ready to hit the street yet again! We watched Proteus and Orpheus (always celebrity encrusted: this year, the cast of Treme and Fleichmann from Northern Exposure!!!!)
And FINALLY, at 6 am on Tuesday, 8 March 2011, my alarm informed me that it was time to get ready for one more, full-on day of balls-to-the-walls fun-ness!!!
I was disappointed with my costume (especially since it was the only one I actually finished), but really love my new green wig!!! And, of course, I was totally stoked to experience my first ever ZULU parade!!!
It was CRAZY, Y’ALL!!!! Zulu starts really early, and for good reason! It’s so popular, that if they held it in the evening there is no way the streets could hold all the people! As it was, at 8am, the crowds were 40 people deep! Fortunately, my good friend, Pickle Freak, had managed to stake out a prime piece of Zulu real estate!
AND I caught a Zulu Coconut!!! This whole tradition of screaming and reaching for parade riders to hand you trashy trinkets and painted fruits may seem strange to out-of-towners, but it’s as normal here as ass cracks in Wal-mart! Zulu coconuts are among the most coveted of Mardi Gras throws, so I’m very proud of mine, especially since it was given to me, not for screaming and pushing, but for asking politely!
Unfortunately, I did not have the tiniest bit of energy left to watch the final big parade (Rex). This was disappointing, as I had been the most true parade goer all season long, but I genuinely couldn’t stand up any more. I couldn’t carry one more string of beads, wave at one more float, or take even one more picture. So, I said farewell to my fellow parade enthusiasts, stumbled home on my sore, swollen feet, put out my last cigarette (more on that in the next post), sat on the couch, and drifted into happy nap land.
The End.
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