Photo from gonola.com

Photo from gonola.com

Mardi Gras is one of those can’t/must miss experiences.  Crowds aren’t my thing, but I’d watch from a balcony if Steve weren’t horrified at the very idea.  So I knew the New Orleans St. Patrick’s Day parade we saw with friends last year was the closest I’d ever get to doing Mardi Gras, and I was charged.  The parade was rated ‘family friendly’ so who would have thought I’d end up trading kisses for flowers?  I expected to see paraders tossing cabbages. I’d even brought a grocery bag to haul the veggies home.  Instead, I filled the bag with beads and watched revelers squirt drinks into bystander’s mouths and then swat the drinker’s backside.  I only missed out because I’d stepped back to avoid the rain.  Lucky that!  If Steve had seen me trading backside access for booze, we’d be home watching TV until cabbages fly.