So I set off to New Orleans, you know, a sleepy little town in Louisiana. As you will remember, Principal Skinner, who is from New Orleans, told us "Not really a party town. Though if I remember correctly they occasionally a function called Marty's … something.", and he is an educator, why would he lie? So I set forth for a quiet weekend to relax and explore a city. But wouldn't you know it, I would happen to show up during this function "Marty's... something". Though apparently Marty is not a good speller and his something has become Mardi Gras. Which as far as I can tell is actually translated to mean "drinking and throwing beads." But that is a very loose translation.
In all actuality I was going to Mardi Gras and was pumped. I mean, I happened to be on this side of the country, and I had the opportunity, so why not take it. So we packed and piled into the car after class on Friday. Now we had been up since about 6:30 in the am, had done the class thing, ended up running about 3 miles, and then we set out. We stopped for food and gas and such and ended up getting into New Orleans around 930 pm. We found the hotel, which was actually a very nice hotel, good location (only a few blocks from Bourbon St). Well, it was suppose to have parking, but there were people who didn't pay but were still in a spot, so we had to double park to unload. We tried to convince the hotel people to let us stay there, but as we argued they said we had to move our car or they would call the police. Which seems odd, as we were willing to pay the required amount to park legally, but they would have none of it. So my friend and I cruised around, found a lot, that we had to pay every 12 hours, parked and headed back to the hotel.
We got back to the room and our group got ready to roll out and party a bit. At this point its about 11. And off we go to Bourbon St.
Once we got there we found some tasty beverages, I recommend the hand grenades, they were quite good (and I do still have one of the glasses). Then we ran into one of our friends who was also down for Mardi Gras. He and one guy from our group ended up disappearing, so now I was in a group of 4 people. We strolled down Bourbon St, took in the experience, had some drinks. There are balconies at some of the bars and some of the hotel rooms. And people stand up there, which is a really cool view of the wildness, but they toss beads. And so beads are flying through the air. Now I recommend if you go you watch out for these airborne beads, as they hurt when they hit your head. But you should catch them and wear them about. For this is Mardi Gras. At once point we looked up to a balcony and the old question of what happens to old wrestlers was answered, for Hulk Hogan
was up on a balcony tossing beads to people. We continued down the street, there was much partying and such. There was dancing in the street, people in costume, people with large signs saying this whole thing was evil and such. When we got to the end of Bourbon St we started texting our friend to find were he ended up, and as it turns out he was at a club called Bourbon Cowboy, which happens to be at the end of Bourbon St, right about where we were. Well we go to go in, he meets us and apparently he made friends with someone, cause we were let in with no cover, which was sweet. So there was dancing and partying and such in the club. Long around 4 am some of us decided that it was about all the partying we could handle and set out back home. Of course there was more partying going on on the walk back, but oh well. We got back to the hotel and were getting ready for bed when it hit us that we should pay for the parking for a bit longer. Well I ended up heading out and paid for the next 12 hours at 5 am. I finally got back and changed and brushed my teeth and climbed in bed around 6. Let me tell you, your legs will hurt. Thursday we ran a PFT, Friday we ran 3 miles, then walked all over New Orleans, then danced. My legs hurt.Well, we ended up getting up at about 10 AM, which isn't a lot of sleep. We headed out to get food. Being down near the gulf we found a nice seafood place and had Po-boys, which are sandwiches. They were huge, and so we ate up and then it was parade time. The first parade we made it to was the Krewe of Iris. Its theme was Give My Regards to Broadway, so it float was fashioned after a show, along the lines of Damn Yankees and Annie.
Now, these are good size floats, like 2 layers, which people tossing out beads and coins and stuffed animals and random stuff. But overall it was cool to see, and I came back with a bunch of beads. After that we returned back to the hotel room for a bit of a crash. Which was a grand idea, because we were all tired. So we took a nap.Then we got up to head out to the next parade. We found a friend of one of the people in our group, who oddly enough was with a guy that I went to field training with. So that was cool. Well, that parade was suppose to start around 430 pm. So we hung out, there was some wildness, toilet paper chucked back and forth across the street, chatted with cops and all. Long about 8pm the parade made it to us. Now this one was the Krewe of Endymion.
It happened to be a Salute to Rudyard Kipling. Oh, and Kevin Costner 
was the grand marshal. Well there was more bead throwing and catching. Lots of cool floats and all. Well, 2 of our group headed back a bit early cause they were getting cold. So the 3 guys stayed till the end of the parade. The last float a guy tossed a bag of beads up to a window. As it turns out it broke the window, the lady inside was a bit confused. So as the parade wraps up we head out. We stop and trade a stuffed football for some beers. Now as we wandered on we noticed there were 2 groups of people standing around. Both were grouped up, staring the other group down, with an open area in between. As though a fight were to break out soon, we moved quickly. So we were walking down Canal St, we stopped and asked a mounted cop if we could pet his horse. (For you see, in class we were told that if you pet the horses you would be arrested, and we wished to not go to jail, but be able to say we pet the horses) Shortly after we were walking down Canal St and then we heard POP POP POP, as in 3 gun shots. We turned and there was a crowd of people all running away from where those two groups had been standing. Now, it is quite the experience to be running away from a shooting with an open beer in your hand, beads about the neck and a camera around your neck. And I didn't spill my beer. So we stopped after a bit and watched mounted cops charge in and cop cars flying down the trolley path. As it turns out the shooting made the news here. But we continued our walk to the hotel room, stopping for some cotton candy, cause one guy wanted some. As it turns out shooting tend to dissipates lines around places. But we made it safely back to the hotel and then it was time to get ready to head out for the night.Then we headed back to Bourbon St for the night...
As it stands I am getting sleepy from all these adventures, there shall be the exciting conclusion to this adventure soon!
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