St. Patricks Day, New Orleans

Yeah I know...we've been celebrating it for a week and a half already...but yesterday we got serious with the Irish Channel parade on Magazine Street. Naturally, your roving reporter was there.

This parade is a long one and take a few hours, mainly because everyone watching and most people in it are drinking. There were 30 floats this year, and numerous marching groups, bands and dance krewes in between each one. I was fortunate enough to be invited to two different parties a block apart, so I spent my day bouncing back and forth and freely enjoying the libations provided at each one.

The riders on the floats throw handy stuff, to include cabbages, potatoes, onions and soap (Irish Spring, naturally). I got a ton of the stuff, and one of the women I was there with is going to teach me how to cook the cabbage, because, until yesterday, I had no idea what to do with one. But now I have four of them.

Go to a parade, make groceries. It's the Irish way in New Orleans.

Some of the highlights:

As is typical, you get right up on the floats as they pass by in order to catch the goodies. Parades in this city are audience participation events and also full-contact at times if you're not careful. I have been beaned several times by throws off the floats that I didn't see coming or caught poorly due to "environmental factors"

It was a great day, and this was only one of several parades going on in the area. It was the biggest though and I was feeling quite good when it was over. Bless St. Jameson indeed!

But no rest for the wicked. Had another crawfish boil to get to last night.

Tasty looking little suckers, ain't they?


In they go!