Taking on New Adventures

For much of my adult (and some of my teenage) life, I fantasized about riding in a Mardi Gras Krewe. I knew it cost money and you weren’t always able to just “sign up” and ride. But that was all I really knew. When I moved to New Orleans, I was able to fulfill that dream. And now I’m in year 3 of riding in the Krewe of Nyx.

This is strictly based on my experience and if you polled the 80+ women on my float, you’d come up with 80+ different experiences. That’s the joy of this!

The meteorologists across the city predicted rain the day of our parade, but the general consensus was that it would taper off and we wouldn’t really get any rain during the ride. How wrong they were. Seriously wrong.

The day started off beautiful. It was sunny and warm. So after spending a couple of hours at brunch and meeting some fellow Nyx sisters, my friends and I made our way to the convention center for the pre-party. Apparently in the 3 or so hours we were inside, the temps dropped nearly 20 degrees and the dark clouds rolled in.

After taking photos, getting some cocktails, fixing head pieces and adding glitter to our faces, we were ready. Our float number was called and we made our way out to the buses to transport us to the lot holding our floats.

Once we arrived at the float area, we made our way into our float (Float #14, Seafood Trio) and started setting up our throw areas. While sorting through the throws and making sure our purses made it onto the floats, the rain started. It was light and manageable. While I was on the lower level of the float and wasn’t getting directly rained on, I noticed a lot of ladies on the top decks of other floats either used an umbrella or nothing at all. I thought that this could be all we see tonight and that would be awesome!

I couldn’t be more wrong. Fast forward another hour or so and we started pulling out of the lot to head to the start of the parade. I sat on my trusty cooler and took it all in. And that’s when the rain, and cold wind, picked up. I had gone ahead and put on my clear pancho and while it helped, it was no match for that wind. I had to borrow some gloves from my friend since I left mine at home, and during the ride to the starting point of the parade, tried to rearrange my purses and valuables so they wouldn’t get completely soaked.

We made the slow ride down Tchoupitoulas, stopping a few times for prolonged periods, and I chatted with the really awesome ladies around me. Some of them I’ve known for years, while others I only see on parade day. So it was nice and we had a few laughs about how cold the wind was and how we hoped the crowds were still out for us!

Right as we were about to roll, after shivering for an hour or so from the cold rain being blown into the float, we got word from the NOPD officer that a power line was down on the route and it could be another hour before we hit the parade route. I could literally see the start of the route just a float away. To say this was disheartening is an understatement. I think I came close to crying and my shivers from being so damp in the cold increased. I think my float mates were in the same boat but the bourbon flask certainly helped ease the chill and disappointment. We finally got word the float was about to roll and we made it onto Jefferson around 815pm, at least an hour later than planned.

About that disappointment, we spend almost a full year on the Krewe. From paying dues to attending various events to buying our throws and spending numerous hours creating the purses to throw, we invest a lot. To not have a lot of people on the route would be a huge disappointment after everything we put into the ride.

Once we were on Jefferson, the crowds were thinner than years past but there were still quite a few people out there. We knew, based on the weather, that the crowds wouldn’t be as heavy as before but were still holding out some hope that people would show up.

And show up they did! From Magazine to Napoleon to St. Charles and through the Garden District to the CBD, I am in awe of how many people were on the route! The energy from everyone was outstanding.

There are a TON of kids at the parade. In fact, I feel bad because I gave one of my wine themed purses to this cute kid in the Garden District, thinking it was my “Think Pink” purse. Oops! I hope her parents have a good sense of humor about it.

The joy of handing out a purse to someone you don’t know and have them squeal with joy or even tear up is worth every minute of struggle to come up with a decent decoration for a purse. I’m not artistic. At all. But try my best and sometimes I even see my creations on the purse tracker page.

Now, that said, there are some party poopers in the crowds. For instance, there were a few people cursing at us when we didn’t throw them a purse (as if we’d do it after they acted like that!). Also the amount of “it’s my first Mardi Gras” and “I’m here from xxx and deserve a purse” was unreal. It became a joke between a few of us as we quickly made our way down the Avenue. I’m sure it was true for some people but know it wasn’t for everyone.

A few people try to jump up to take things off the ledge where we had some beads and other small throws. There is another group of people who shouldn’t be at parades… the ones who throw beads at the riders when they don’t get what they want. Fortunately the ones aimed in my area missed us but that could cause serious injury.

Those are just a few examples of the bad, but all in all, people were just in a good mood for this 7th version of Nyx. We saw a lot of smiles, heard a lot of squeals and got a few “thank you’s” along the way. The words of thanks really do mean a lot to us!

Once we made our way down Canal, we turned on Tchoup and the crowds were still pretty loud and fun! We made our way to the stopping area and gathered what we needed to get off the float. I managed to throw everything I had with the exception of 2 purses I planned to throw to friends who ended up not coming and another purse that didn’t fare well in the dampness. I handed the cooler to Chuck and we made the walk home. It started raining again (go figure) on our walk but I was so damp and cold, that it didn’t matter at that point. Once we got home, I took a very long and hot shower.

Here are some of the fun, and not-so-fun things that happen while on a float during the rain and cold: You rip your fingernails trying to open the bags of throws, some of the lighted throws don’t like the water and won’t light up, there’s water EVERYWHERE, your arm gets sore from tossing things from the float, your back is sore from standing for so long and trying to stay upright while the float moves sideways, your wig starts sticking to your face and inevitably ends up in your mouth and/or eyes, and your cheeks, which are numb from the cold, are sore when you warm up and get the feeling back. Really, there’s no better feeling in the world.

While I wouldn’t wish the cold and wind on any other krewe, it provided a crazy fun experience that I’ll never forget.

Hail Nyx!

Photos: pre-parade excitement, during the very cold wait to roll, post-parade joy!