Ray in New Orleans

I have a big fat bonus check and a bad case of wander lust. But I'm not free to go anywhere until March because of my civic duty :-(

I am saving up my juror's pay for when I can go somewhere :-)

oh...honey, that's WeetaPieCon.

Yeah, I know. I already sent my regrets to Weetabix, but I gotta go to Mardi Gras this year.

I think we'll be there. We'll be in NOLA a lot in the spring because S has to take his comprehensive exams at Tulane when he gets back from Afghanistan in mid-February.

I feel like last Mardi Gras was yesterday it's so fresh in my mind. My friend Rebecca and I went to a dozen parades with our neighbors (we lived just a block away from St. Charles on Washington) and even went down to Endymion, though that's not my favorite. Now they're all gone. Johnie and Steve and Larry are exiled in Houston. Molly and Eric are here in Chicago. Rebecca is in Nigeria. Only one person I know has moved back. The rest are scattered, perhaps permanently.

Last time we went was in 2002 or 2003, and it was the first time we went with kids. We rented a place on Napoleon, my mom rented a place right near Washington & St. Charles, and my brother's law firm rented a place around the corner from there. So we did it up great, had bathroom and chillout space and had the kids up in ladders, the whole works. We had all my brothers and their kids.

This year, both of my brothers are going to Disney during the Mardi Gras break, I guess as an escape for their kids. So we'll probably be staying at my brother's remodel-in-progress in Metairie, we won't have any family there...we won't have bathrooms for the kids near St. Charles...I don't know, it's going to be weird and bittersweet, but I don't think I could miss it for the world.

I need to ask my brother if his parade ladders survived the flood.

Kate, if you're there, let's try to meet up. I think it'd be cool to organize a Katrina blogger gathering during one of the parades, maybe all watch Bacchus together or something.

That's a great idea, Ray.

New Roads, Louisiana - located just 35 minutes northwest of Baton Rouge on La. Hwy. 1 and beautiful False River - hosts the state's oldest Mardi Gras celebration outside New Orleans. Long known as “The Little Carnival Capital” of Louisiana, New Roads is known as the site of family-friendly parades and Creole hospitality for lagniappe.

Two parades roll in New Roads on Fat Tuesday, February 28, 2006: the 84th annual Community Center Carnival Club parade at 11 a.m. and the 63rd annual New Roads Lions Carnival parade at 1:30 p.m. Each includes approximately 30 freshly-built floats, 10 bands and drill units and tons of great throws. “A Salute to New Orleans” is the theme of the Carnival Club parade, while the Lions parade rolls with the theme “Holidays on Parade.”

Hilarious street maskers, terrific local cuisine, thrilling midway rides, a $1,000 cash drawing, lots of parking adjacent to the three mile-long parade route and fun for the entire family are all part of New Roads' 84 year-old Mardi Gras charm. Proceeds of the festivities benefit the New Roads Lions Club educational fund, which aids local public, private and parochial schools. This year’s fundraiser is especially critical as New Roads’ schools are experiencing increased enrollment due to relocation of families in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Unlike the krewe parades of New Orleans and other cities, participation in both of New Roads’ parades is open to the general public. To participate in the Lions parade, contact Stephen Jewell at 225-638-3311; to participate in the Carnival Club parade, contact Robert Smith at 225-638-4035.

For more information, get a copy of Rolling For Charity, A History of the New Roads Lions Carnival Parade, available from local merchants and at regional libraries, and see www.newroadsmardigras.com.

Merci beaucoup et laisse les bon temps roule,

Brian Costello
New Roads Lions Carnival chairman