*Had to take place in the daylight hours (figured there would be less chance of drunken debauchery)
*Had to include families on the floats (figured there would be less chance of drunken debauchery)
*Had to have a route near some free place to park (figured we'd save money where we could)
*Had to NOT be on Canal Street, the route of most of the Mobile Paraded. I had already been warned that Canal Street hosted all the bars, and I would be guaranteed to see stripping, flashing, and overall drunken debauchery.
So, when I found the Loyal Order of Firetrucks parade, hosted by the local firefighters and their families, taking place at 2pm on a Sunday, I knew that was the parade for us to try out.
Well, my rules held true, and we didn't encounter any drunken debauchery. Yay!We lucked out too that the firetruck parade, since it is more family oriented, isn't usually very crowded, so we actually had a lot of space on a nice grassy area for the kids to play before the parade came by.
And even though the parade ran so late that we (and a lot of others around us) wondered if it had been canceled (some parades had been due to budget cuts and such), it was SO FUN and SO WONDERFUL to see Little Dude enjoy his first moonpie.(Don't ask why they throw moonpies, I have no idea, and all the locals I asked had no idea either). Little Dude wasn't as into beads, but loved the firetrucks AND we got to see a really old-timey firetruck; THAT was cool!
So, that was our very first experience with Mardi Gras down here on the Gulf Coast, and it was really fun. Apparently 90,000 people go to The Joe Cain Parade in downtown Mobile; I've heard that was THE first parade, and that the big Mardi Gras tradition started in Mobile because of a man named Joe Cain, and then it spread out to most of the Gulf Coast cities, like New Orleans.
I'll have some video up soon.
6 comments:
Oh how fun! I have family in Louisiana and we'd often visit during Mardi Gras time. I never went to a parade, tho!
Steph
Yay for family friendly fun! And what, pray tell is a moonpie?
I wouldn't worry about the water fountains either :) Didn't mean to freak you out! Most of the bact on those fountains are stuff that your kids have already had, or will come into contact too and won't make them sick. I just don't reccomend licking the part where the water comes out. Most viruses and bacteria don't live on surfaces for very long (contrary to those lysol commercials) so its hard to pick them up from other places. Although a fun word for something that has bacteria on it and is not human (like a water fountain or door knob) is "fomite". Just in case you wanted to know :)
*closing mouth after reading that Caitlin doesn't know what a moonpie is* We have to get that girl a moonpie, stat!!!
That sounds awesome about the parade! I guess Mardi Gras is a big deal down there?
Oh, and, I'm pregnant! Hahaha, thought it would be funny to tell you here! 10wks along, ultrasound on Weds...super excited!!
Sounds like a much more exciting weekend that I had!
Nell
how fun!
yummy I'd take a Moonpie over beads any day!
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