So Co

Saturday's rain kept me put in Baton Rouge with the only visions of Carnival coming through web cams. But Sunday's forecast was more promising with Endymion postponing their scheduled route amidst the dreary weather and lined up behind Bakkus for a double header of parades. After stirring up a pot of gumbo, we headed into the sin.

Our car of four rolled into the city, trying to avoid traffic blocks and the other cars doing the same only to find parking for 40 dollars. There wasn't much of a choice when you think about it. Some suggest parking a ways off and walking in, but walking in New Orleans when there were lights-and-cops-a-plenty wasn't very safe, but these days, it might just end up costing more than 40 bucks.

Through a side street we made it to Bourbon and things were just getting warmed up. Drunks stumbled on muck and beads lining the sides of the most famous street in the world, and it wasn't even dark yet. We waited for Bakkus to gallivant down a stretch of road most people saw flooded and looted a few months back. Hours after we got there, it finally hosted marching bands, floats and bead slingers that would take an eye out if it wasn't already on them.

Instead of waiting again for Endymion to follow, we trudged through Bourbon again, this time even thicker with drunks staring at balconies with girls that shouldn't be shaking what their mamma's gave them because momma gave them a little too much. I didn't remember Pat O's so far down, but it had been a long time since I had to push a thousand assholes out of the way to get there. But a Hurricane in hand after we were seated made it better. And soon another followed. And soon we were back on the Street, and on our first step, Lindsay and I were confronted by a set of baby feeders and ten guys lined up to take their picture with them. The drunks had gotten drunker while we were tucked away behind some of those Hurricanes and the crowd more plentiful. A few fists were thrown, shit got slung and our progress halted several times before we got out.

Most say there wasn't as many people in the city as normal and I would agree, but for an abbreviated version of the Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, there was nothing short on the amount of ruckus and filth.