My apologies, Tinker Trailerers, for such a long gap in posting. A lot has happened! All good stuff, but not a lot of time to blog. So let's go back in time together and finish out our trip to New Orleans...

Right after I last posted, our besties Tony and Dane met us in NOLA. Dane had never been before, and they were only there three days, so that meant we had to cram ALL THE THINGS (er, all the food?) into basically a weekend. A feat we were all up for, all succeeded at, and all turned into contented blobs of jello as a result of. A few of the highlights:

Surprise parade throwing beads at our heads on our way to dinner at Jacque Imo's. Walking around looking at houses in the Garden District. Airboat tour of the swamp which felt like a roller coaster (also gators and nutria!). An armadillo burrowing (who knew?) at the Oak Alley Plantation. Late night beignets. Praline bacon at Elizabeth's. Cocktail tour with our trusty guide, Joe. Boucherie dinner, and Camellia Grill breakfast.

It was SO FUN to have friends come visit us on this trip, and I hope it happens again. I thought there might be one of those weird moments where one part of your life (San Francisco) mashes with another part of your life (New Orleans) in an uncanny way, but it felt like the most natural thing in the world for people we love so much to be in a place we love so much. It was really hard to say goodbye again, though, and the weekend definitely ended with us awkwardly standing in the driveway giving hugs over and over and saying, "... well... bye?..." I'm learning how frustrating it is to try and tell people how much they actually mean to you. Words don't quite do it.

After they left, it was life as usual. Which means multiple days a week there was a parade going by our house. You know... just a normal Thursday in the neighborhood.

For those of you who aren't particularly familiar with Carnival and Mardi Gras, here's how it generally works in New Orleans: January 6th, which is Twelfth Night (after Christmas), kicks off Carnival season. Carnival is basically a period of celebrating life and enjoying yourself until Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent. Mardi Gras (fat Tuesday) is the day before Ash Wednesday, and is the culmination of the Carnival Season. The date of Mardi Gras changes every year, because it's based on whenever Easter is, which then changes the date Lent would start. The sole purpose of the holiday is to just enjoy life.

In New Orleans, the entire Carnival season is littered with parades. Dozens of them. And NOLA doesn't do parades like other people do parades. The floats are multiple stories high, filled with dozens of people. In between each float are countless marching bands, dance groups, artists, Elvises, you name it. And they're participatory -- the people on the floats throw things into the audience (called "throws"), including beads (lots of beads) but also stuffed animals, toys, decorations, bags, things that light up. Contrary to what the media shows, Carnival is actually really family friendly (except maybe down in the French Quarter). When a parade is scheduled, the entire neighborhood comes out, brings chairs and snacks, talks to each other and participates in the parade. There are tons of children running around catching things. It's surprisingly wholesome fun.

It was Mike's first Mardi Gras, so his first shock came when we started seeing the parades. First of all, he thought there would just be ONE parade. Because, that's how everyone else does it. Then we go to our first parade, and before each parade starts, there's a little procession of old cars and guys on scooters and firetrucks and all that. He said, "this is just like a parade in Findlay," not realizing that the real parade hadn't even started yet. He later admitted that they were, indeed, very different! The last revelation was really just about how truly fun they are. Before we went to the first parade, I tentatively said, "...do you think you'll have fun? Do you think you'll get into catching throws and everything?" He skeptically reassured me that he'd have fun even if he was just sitting, watching, not trying to catch things. Then, five minutes into the first parade, I see him shoving up to the front with his arms up, yelling for them to throw him something. It's amazing how overcome you get with a desperate desire to catch this cheap trinket off the side of the parade float. And yes, before you roll your eyes -- it would happen to you, too!

Mardi Gras day was a fun adventure, and I finally made it to the Zulu and Rex parades for my first time, which are some of the oldest and most iconic. A few parades, like Zulu, have really special throws that are highly, highly coveted. Zulu happens to throw decorated coconuts. The jovial, generous, polite, sharing crowd would suddenly turn into single-minded coconut-thirsty zombies as soon as you'd all catch a glimpse of one. And we got some!!! I was so proud.

But to continue with the theme of the rest of the trip, even six weeks in New Orleans felt too short, and we were sad to say goodbye. And we didn't even have people there to say goodbye to! It's really amazing how quickly a place can start to feel like home.

For anyone who's interested, I updated my New Orleans Travel List with all of my new favorites (and things that, in my mind, fell from grace). Next time you're in NOLA, I hope it helps! Feel free to share it.