I woke up on this Mardi Gras morning to sunny skies and a flittery feeling, excited to spend the day outside, tooling around on the bike, seeing how folks are spending this most loveliest day of the year. I rode up past St. Charles and through Central City, where I ran into Zulu. Continue reading
parades
Citadel Marchers in Orpheus at St. Charles and Delachaise
Carnival season is finally coming to an end. When it started, I didn’t want it to ever end. But if I’m being completely honest here, I’m ready to get back to my regular life (this is partly because I know there will be more parades and celebrations just around the corner). Continue reading
Confetti in the Sky at Canal and Solomon
Oh, it was a most beautiful day today. I woke up, had coffee, applied glitter to holiday dress, and then headed out on the bicycle. It was sunny with blue skies, and it felt good to be alive. I spent most of the day at parades, catching throws from a semi-famous person or two and a zillion krewe members. Continue reading
Catching Beads at the Krewe d’Etat Parade
Last night’s parades were canceled due to weather, so tonight’s slate of three parades got an extra, resulting in total paradgasmpalooza. I watched the parades with lots of folks gathered in front of the Discount Zone at Delachaise and St. Charles, and many others joined and left. Continue reading
Unloading Coke Zero at St. Charles and Louisiana
I am utterly exhausted from the last few days of football-related biking excitement, so I decided to take a day without too much pedaling–just to work and back, skip tonight’s parade. I stopped on my commute home to take a picture of these folks unloading a giant truck of Coke Zero. Continue reading
Crowds Gathering at Canal and Burgundy for the Saints Parade
Why yes, we’re having a parade today! Today’s rolled in honor of the New Orlean’s Saints, and this town was seriously excited. Schools closed early, shops and businesses shut down, and people gathered. Now, I wisely took my bicycle, aware that there’d be nowhere to put a car and long, long streetcar waits, plus, of course, that’s just how I travel. Continue reading
Saints Fans Celebrating on Decatur Street
The Saints flipping won the Super Bowl. Everything’s gone crazy, in good ways. I woke up this morning already overwhelmed–parades, tailgating, the Saints in the Super Bowl–too much, really. I don’t yet have the coping skills necessary for that constant level of excitement. Cope by bike, I say. Continue reading
Voting Poll Sign at Austerlitz and Magazine
It was pretty much the perfect Saturday afternoon–sun shining, slight breeze, marching bands echoing all over. And it was election day! I hopped on the bike and zipped over to my old polling station where the Xavier Prep drumline was practicing, providing a festive soundtrack. Continue reading
Twirling Dolls Stalled at Lafayette Square
Oh yeah, it’s carnival time. I woke up this morning excited for parades. Oshun rolled tonight, and I was excited to get back in the parade swing of things. And excited to have clear skies for riding my bike. I started the bike day with a ride up to visit the library to pick up a book that I’m quite certain will change things. I love that kind of anticipation. But I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to read in the next week or two, because IT’S CARNIVAL TIME! Continue reading
NOPD Reflective Barriers at Peniston and St. Charles
The air is filling with carnival, people. And so are the streets. The signs are everywhere, as I noticed when riding home from a great talk at Tulane. The mansions above Napoleon are dripping in decorations. The intersection at Napoleon and St. Charles is stacked with metal barriers. Fat Harry’s is draped in parade schedule. The synagogue is surrounded by a fence that’s keeping its viewing platform private. The “No Parking: Parade Route” signs that are up all year round suddenly make sense Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 