Mardi Gras!!

George Sr., Steph and I spent most of last week visiting with friends in Mississippi and taking trips over to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.   It was crazy and fascinating at the same time.  We saw some great parades, including one where Steph caught beads thrown by Mariska Hargitay (star of L&O:SVU).  Cyndi Lauper, Harry Connick Jr. and Hillary Swank were also riding in the parade.

We visited the St. Louis Cemetery Number One.  It was like a little city with all the above ground crypts.  The history was fascinating with some graves from the early 1800’s.

 

The grave of Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen of New Orleans.

We had some wonderful meals while we were there, including lunch at Bubba Gump’s.  Steph and I spent a lot of our time shopping at the French Market and all the little shops.  Steph loved the elaborate masks and bought a few to start a collection.

  

Pirates Alley was really cool and slightly creepy after dark.

Everyone thought I was weird to want to take a ride on a riverboat so I settled for a ride on a streetcar.

It was a great trip and I hope to go back again sometime.