Louisiana: My Second Mardi Gras Parade

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

In my first year in South Louisiana, once I cut my Mardi Gras teeth on the equivalent of a "bunny slope" at a ski resort - the Carencro Mardi Gras Parade - it was time to have a go at a big-time spectacle.

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

That would be the Church Point Mardi Gras Parade.

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

The parade starts around 1:00 p.m. I'm no novice to parades, and I like to find decent parking, scope out my parade-watching spot, put a claim on it, and then go wander. I arrived at Church Point, I don't know, about 9:30 or 10:00 a.m.

Hohohoho, what a neophyte I was! At first, after I'd parked my car (wasn't too terrible finding a place), and walked over to the main drag, I thought maybe I had my times wrong. I saw one older woman sitting in a chair right next to the main street. Just sitting. I asked her when the parade was going to start, and she said, "Oh, about 1:00." I asked how long she'd been there. "About 9:00," she replied. Holy moly.

I walked down the street, away from the commercial area and toward a more residential area. I saw a line of decorated Mardi Gras trailers, with people walking between and around them. Maybe some of them, to describe it more accurately, were weaving a bit between and around the trailers. They all seemed very happy.

Some people had parked flatbed trailers along the parade route and populated these with chairs.

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

More than one had a personal porta-potty.


I found a decent spot, and as time passed, pleasant neighbors joined me. I would discover later that one of my woman neighbors was gifted in the ways of cajoling jello shots from the parade participants.

Before the parade began, a headache invaded my good vibes. At first, I fretted about this because I rarely get headaches. But then I remembered. 

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

The parade start time is "around 1:00 p.m. because it depends on the return of the courir de mardi gras riders from their traditional countryside search for chickens. (I posted this introduction to the courir de mardi gras a few years ago. Unfortunately, Pat Mire's excellent Dance for a Chicken, which is a documentary about the origins and traditions of the courir de mardi gras is no longer available for public viewing).

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

Drinking mass quantities of alcohol on horseback is part of the tradition.

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

The Church Point Mardi Gras Parade is long, long, sha. But so entertaining.

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

A slide show of the parade below:

2014 Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Church Point, Louisiana.

Louisiana: My First Mardi Gras Parade

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

We've got to go back to 2014 for this one. My first Louisiana Mardi Gras Parade. It was in Carencro. I introduced it here, promising to write more about it later. Well, more than two years later, I'm keeping my promise.

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

The Carencro parade was enlightening. South Louisianans know how to go to parades. The Carencro parade is more of a family parade than some of the others, and it was a good starter parade for me.

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

It was at the Carencro parade that I learned just how one properly enjoys a parade.

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

In the perfect scenario, you arrive early and you set up camp (literally, except for the overnighting part). 

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

You set up: 

1. Tent
2. Open bar with plenty of alcohol
3. Full-size grill
4. At least one table for the forthcoming feast
5. Multiple chairs
6. Sound system + music for before the parade
7. Porta-potty
8. Efficient receptacles for beads and candy collection 

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

 

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

 I was a little taken aback at the competitiveness of catching the beads. Not that I didn't get into the spirit of it pretty quickly myself.

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

 And then it's over.

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2014.

Goodbye Louisiana: Letting Go of the Beads

Mardi Gras beads. Louisiana.

At my year-end intermission from Louisiana in 2014/2015, I turned in most of my beads to the local library for recycling. I knew it wouldn't be long before I'd recoup the same quantity or more when I returned in 2015.

And so it went.

Now I'm turning in my beads again to the local library, but this time it's for good.

Good-bye, my little pretties.

Mardi Gras beads. Louisiana.

Elton, Louisiana: Ceaser's Mardi Gras Chicken Run

Ceaser's Mardi Gras Chicken Run 2016. Elton, Louisiana.

Saturday was the annual Ceaser's Mardi Gras Chicken Run in Elton, Louisiana. This particular run is a junior offshoot of a Ceaser's run that an elder generation puts on. That one takes place in or near a town called Soileau, if my trailer companions were correct.

Ceaser's Mardi Gras Chicken Run 2016. Elton, Louisiana.

Friends and I arrived at the Elton-based run about 10 or so Saturday morning. Inside the stable, there was a wood fire blazing within a drum. Two men, an uncle and his nephew, tended big pots of neonatal gumbo. It would be ready for eating by the time the trail riders returned to base in mid-afternoon. 

Ceaser's Mardi Gras Chicken Run 2016. Elton, Louisiana.

Flatbed trailers with folding chairs were parked in the pasture and alongside the road. Horseback riders began to arrive, either riding over from nearby homes, or via horse trailers and pickups. A family event, trailer and horse riders included children, adolescents, and adults.

Ceaser's Mardi Gras Chicken Run 2016. Elton, Louisiana.

Albeit tiny, Elton attracts me because it is a cultural intersection of Coushatta Indians, Creoles, and Cajuns. Once our ride got underway, with trailers leading and horses following, we wound our way through the village.

In front of a Baptist Church, the retinue stopped for drink replenishment, to use the port-a-john, sing, and dance. Was there irony in our stopping in front of the Baptist Church, a bastion of teetotalism? Or does a Baptist Church in South Louisiana take on some of the laissez-fairedness of the Catholic Church in some matters?

I held the reins of a man's horse while he used the port-a-john. The port-a-john rattled and shook from the jostling of its attached trailer bed, enhanced by the nearby rocking sound of speakers that accompanied our street merriment.

Presently, we pulled ourselves together and reloaded, after which we proceeded to an open field. There, the hosts facilitated some chicken runs ... um ... let's call them chicken tosses, into the air, with children ready to run them to ground.

Ceaser's Mardi Gras Chicken Run 2016. Elton, Louisiana.

(Just so's you know, there were four chickens to start with. One escaped into a residential area after an exciting chase by the kids. The other three ended back in their shared cage, having survived several chases. The chicken in the gumbo we enjoyed when we got back to the home base was not so fortunate, but we had not been introduced to her previously.)

Ceaser's Mardi Gras Chicken Run poster 2016.

In the video below, one of the men led a traditional Mardi Gras song in French:

And then more dancing, of course!

Eventually, we returned to our trailers and horses, and made our way back to base. The gumbo was ready - so welcome on this chilly afternoon.

A slide show of the day below:

A fine day.

Louisiana: Behind the Door

The Joker. Krewe Gabriel. Lafayette, Louisiana.

When I emerged from the Jean Lafitte Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette one fine morning, I glanced to my left and ..... what?

In the nondescript warehouse across the road. The doors normally closed, but today wide open ...

Who were those masked men?

Spider-man. Krewe Gabriel. Lafayette, Louisiana.

Captain America. Krewe Gabriel. Lafayette, Louisiana.

The Hulk and Captain America. Krewe Gabriel. Lafayette, Louisiana.

Shazam. Krewe Gabriel. Lafayette, Louisiana.

Krewe Gabriel. Lafayette, Louisiana.

Superman. Krewe Gabriel. Lafayette, Louisiana.

Tarzan. Krewe Gabriel. Lafayette, Louisiana.

 It was time for their touch-ups. 

Lafayette: The Mardi Gras Tree

Mardi Gras tree, Johnston Street, Lafayette, Louisiana

The parade route for most of Lafayette's Mardi Gras parades is long.

Mardi Gras tree, Johnston Street, Lafayette, Louisiana

So there are actually a number of  "Mardi Gras trees"  along the way. 

Mardi Gras tree, Johnston Street, Lafayette, Louisiana

One of them is on Johnston Street between St. Mary's and Cajundome. 

Mardi Gras tree, Johnston Street, Lafayette, Louisiana

Year 'round, the beads remain on the tree, with a new accumulation at each Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras tree, Johnston Street, Lafayette, Louisiana

Mardi Gras trees. They don't grow just anywhere.

Louisiana: Country Mardi Gras, Part 2: The Personal Personal

Meat on the grill, getting ready for the parade. Church Point Mardi Gras Parade. Louisiana.

I did say that Louisianans know how to enjoy a parade, right?

Set up shop early in the day. Bring a shade tent. Chairs. Long table. Barbecue grill. Many, many foodstuffs. Beverages. Music. Family and friends.

But for maximum event enjoyment, Louisianans even bring their own personal porta-potties.

Now that is doing it up right, sha. 

 

The private porta-potty is the way to go. Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Louisiana

Louisiana: Country Mardi Gras, Part 1: Throw Me Sumtin' Sha!

The Carencro Mardi Gras Parade was my first for the 2014 season. It was the weekend before the weekend that preceded actual Mardi Gras day.

Carencro Mardi Gras Parade, Carencro, Louisiana

It was at the Carencro Mardi Gras Parade that I learned that southern Louisianans know how to enjoy a parade.

More to come. In the meantime, look at the photo. Chairs, of course. A tent. A long table. Said table covered with soon-to-be displayed foodstuffs for the inner circle who staked out this spot. You can be pretty sure there's some form of alcohol in the vicinity, as well.

Not to mention the hopeful bead catcher.

Louisiana: Mardi Gras Season Begins

Mardi Gras season at Walmart, Lafayette, Louisiana

There is a Mardi Gras season in Louisiana, which begins on January 6, the day before the Epiphany.

In Lafayette, the city runs the Mardi Gras flag up the city hall flagpole.

Krewes hold balls.

There are King Cake parties.

And Walmart puts out its Mardi Gras enticements: Masks, costumes, beads, King Cake, and .... root beer?