We checked out the Gulf Coast Carnival Association’s ball last evening. The costumes were magnificent. More feathers. Lots of sequins. Wonderful color combinations. Their theme was “Off to the Races”. The costumes of each of the eight couples (Dukes and Maids to the King and Queen) were themed to great competitions around the world. It was a very cool combination of Coastal and Southern tradition. Many of the maids were recent year debutantes and nearly all of the court has long family history of Mardi Gras Royalty. Official guests were dressed to the nines in enough sequins to sink a ship.

I guess if you can’t wear sequins to Mardi Gras then where can you wear them!?
We were in the spectator gallery in our blue jeans and T-shirts. I tiny bit of me would have loved to share in the finery.

Float from the Inaugural Parade NYX Krewe

Ok, so it was me and several thousand other women (probably even a few men) and I reigned over some very soggy subjects; still, it was a lot of fun. We joined the throngs in New Orleans for the parades of the long standing Druid krewe and the inaugural parade for NYX, an all female krewe. In addition to my lovely tiara, we have way too many beads and even a little purple dinosaur I have named Sophie.
We logged about 6 hours on our feet and were up way past our bedtime but I think we decided it was worth it. We will let you know how this evening’s New Orlean’s parade compares with the Fat Tuesday parades we are planning to catch in Biloxi.

We checked out a magnificent collection of costumes worn by decades of krewe captains who led Mardi Gras parades in Lake Charles. There must have been millions of sequins and head dresses that looked to be impossible to hold up. It looks like these folks know how to throw a party.

King Cake…it is as much the visual as the taste but still a great beginning to our celebrating Festival.

…more oil than all other wells in the world combined
That’s what they (the Texans of course) say! It was the year 1901 and they hit the big one at Spindletop. It must have been amazing to watch the boom that followed. They do a pretty good job telling the story at the museum in Boomtown.
Another biggest, a fire hydrant donated by Disney to the Texas Fire Museum….