Hurricanes can kick your ass

     Beth was not going to leave New Orleans without seeing another parade. The Krewe of Carrollton was founded in 1924 by local businessmen and is now the fourth oldest krewe and one of the city's most popular parades.  We wanted to see the bigger more ornate floats and we weren't disappointed. This was a family parade and children were seated on the tops of step ladders so they could be seen by those in the floats.   The children anxiously held their hands high in the air waiting for the toy animals, beads, doubloons and nerf footballs being thrown to them.  Barbecues were  lit  and coolers full of adult beverages appeared.  All were in good spirits and cheered for the floats and the marching bands.

                                                 Home-made Mardi Gras childrens seats.
                                                                               

                                            The pets were also catching trinkets!!!       
                                                                                   
                                                                                      

     It was cold but not intolerable, so we walked the 5 miles back to the French Quarter.  We had unfinished business.  Beth and Mildred wanted to tour the French Market and I was not leaving New Orleans without seeing the dueling pianos at Pat O'Brien's pub and sampling the Hurricanes.

                                                  Dueling pianos at Pat O'Briens
 

    Tom wisely declined to go back out in the freezing cold so stayed on the boat.  What is a monumental repair task for me, is tinkering for Tom.  He tinkered his way through: changing a rocker cover gasket, replacing a lift arm on the upper hatch, re- fibre glassing the aft flag holder, rebuilding the transom door knob, tacking the stair carpet down, and most importantly putting a check valve in the mid bilge pump so we wouldn't sink!  Thank you, Tom.
     So while Tom was tinkering, the rest of us were drinking.  Pat O'Brien has it all, dueling pianos, dark lighting, wildly dancing women and water that burns!  No, I don't mean the kind you can drink. Those were the Hurricanes and they didn't burn, but two Hurricanes on top of two Irish coffees and two Tulymore Dews will definitely kick your ass!  I now know why they are called hurricanes...because the next morning you will feel like the top of your head blew off!  Oh, the burning water!  In the courtyard of the pub stood a tall water fountain with fire burning in and throughout the water!  How did they do that?  I wouldn't have understood even if they tried to explain it to me, so I just went with the thrill of seeing it.

                                                               Fire Water 


     We hailed a taxi and returned to the boat early knowing that we were leaving  for the Mississippi sound early the next morning. 
     In reflection, I was dissappointed that none of the bands in the parades we saw had any jazz musicians or jazz  music... it was mostly Rock and Roll or Rap Crap!  Come on New Orleans get back to your roots!