February 2006
Mardi Gras, the first Mardi Gras since Katrina struck to be exact. It was a long nights haul. Leaving Indy at 2 in the morning and arriving in Louisiana around 11. As we arrived in the French Quarter I had made a terrible decision. To drive head wind into the middle of the quarter to find parking. See, this was the first I had ever attended, and had very little idea of the madness that would be as we made our way down Toulouse.
Only a few blocks in we were stopped by a pirate pouncing on the hood. Moving only a little inch at a time as the costumed crowd paraded in front of us. Suddenly a moment of hesitation. A man in a police uniform bombards the car.
“What do you thing you’re doing!!!”
For a moment I was a deer in headlights.
“Nothing officer, just trying to find a place to park”, I told him.
“Well I don’t see a beer in your hands, I don’t need to take you in do I?”
Ah, yes. It was at that moment I realized things were much different. Far different then what one would come to expect out of life when you have been couped up in the mid west all your life.
Finally we found a place to park and immediately headed into the quarter to see what this was all about.
The drums beat, the horns blew. This was out of this world. Everyone around was in an elaborate custom. Some I’m sure they spent weeks on. Many poking fun at fema, blue tarps, and just tried to bring a little bit of humor and lightheartedness to everyone after everything they had just been through. For this was a time for people to forget their worries and remember what New Orleans was all about.
Bay St. Louis
Gulfport, MS
A couple sits deep in thought on the banks of the Mississippi during Mardi Gras
Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras
Panoramic of the Ninth Ward
Where the levee broke
Mardi Gras 2006