Last weekend, I took a road trip to the infamous Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana. I had many preconceptions about how crazy it was going to be, so I adequately prepared myself. I imagined Disneyland during its 50th celebration meets Las Vegas on New Year's Eve. I packed boots, dark make up, and plenty of Asprin. I was even more excited because my sorority little sister, Mary, was flying in to Austin to join us on our weekend to Mardi Gras.
I met Mary at the airport on Thursday evening and was extremely excited to show her Austin during our one night before heading off to Louisiana. We chatted, got dressed up and picked up Nat and a friend, Megan, before heading downtown. For those of you who are not familiar with 6th Street, Austin, it is a site to see. The police, rather than deal with cars hitting drunk pedestrians, close down a large portion of the street by setting up blockades. This makes it legal and extremely convenient to do my favorite pass-time: jay-walking. We bought $5 pitchers of alcohol from one of my favorite bars called Shakespeare’s. We even saw our bartender at Cheers light shots on fire to make the famous Austin beverage “Flaming Doctor Peppers.” It was quite the way to start the weekend. We had to be up at 4AM to start our road trip so a good night’s rest would have been appropriate, but you know me better than that, right? We finally crawled into bed at about 2AM, making the following morning brutal as I realized I was still in a mildly altered state of mind. I went from sleeping in the parking lot on top of a suitcase to dancing up a storm in a matter of 60 seconds.
The drive was entertaining. We stopped for a meal of deep fried alligator tail, with a side of deep fried frog legs and deep fried craw fish- a true Cajun feast. It rained on the way there, forcing the men folk to get out and wrap our baggage in trash bags while the ladies snapped photos. After 12 hours of rain and traffic, we finally arrived at our off-Bourbon Street hotel. A thorough inspection of the mattresses at our 2.5 star hotel concluded that our room was not infested with bed bugs, so we settled in and hit the town.
We came out decked with bead, boas, yo-yos and many other random treats. That was only the first night! The following day we wandered around the city and had lunch at a traditional Cajun restaurant where I got my first order of jambalaya. My only complaint about the weekend was the creepers waiting to snap pictures of your drunken bartering mistakes, and the rain. The unfortunate weather conditions forced us to stay indoors most of Saturday. Although we do look cute in ponchos!
At our refuge from the rain, we had jello shots out of a tube that looks like a syringe. Does that sound familiar? Remember my post about the injection shots in Kiev, Ukraine (Shot of Death)?
 |
| Mary, me & Megan on 6th St. |
I met Mary at the airport on Thursday evening and was extremely excited to show her Austin during our one night before heading off to Louisiana. We chatted, got dressed up and picked up Nat and a friend, Megan, before heading downtown. For those of you who are not familiar with 6th Street, Austin, it is a site to see. The police, rather than deal with cars hitting drunk pedestrians, close down a large portion of the street by setting up blockades. This makes it legal and extremely convenient to do my favorite pass-time: jay-walking. We bought $5 pitchers of alcohol from one of my favorite bars called Shakespeare’s. We even saw our bartender at Cheers light shots on fire to make the famous Austin beverage “Flaming Doctor Peppers.” It was quite the way to start the weekend. We had to be up at 4AM to start our road trip so a good night’s rest would have been appropriate, but you know me better than that, right? We finally crawled into bed at about 2AM, making the following morning brutal as I realized I was still in a mildly altered state of mind. I went from sleeping in the parking lot on top of a suitcase to dancing up a storm in a matter of 60 seconds.
 |
| My bed away from bed |
 |
| My lovely group of friends |
 |
| Balcony where treats fall from! |
 |
| Nat and me on a terrace during our lunch |
 |
| Mary, me and Anna |
At our refuge from the rain, we had jello shots out of a tube that looks like a syringe. Does that sound familiar? Remember my post about the injection shots in Kiev, Ukraine (Shot of Death)?
 |
| Jello Shots! |
I am convinced that since I did not see a parade during Mardi Gras, I should just take a trip to the capital of all Fat Tuesday celebrations: Carnival at Rio de Janeiro. I can feel the wander lust rising…
No comments:
Post a Comment