Taking on New Adventures

It’s finally here. After months of planning and preparation, Mardi Gras season is upon us. Actually, it kind of feels like it never left but it’s definitely ramping up.

As we get ready for the onslaught of beads, stuffed animals we don’t need and New Orleans’ best in fine china (aka: go cups), I thought I’d take you into the last week before the parades gear up. Specifically, the work being done to get ready for my ride on Wednesday night with the Krewe of Nyx.

I didn’t start making my purses to throw until a couple of weeks ago. So I’m crashing on finishing up the final ones before float loading on the 18th. I’m confident I can get them done. But I still need to print the cards that go into the bags and put the finishing touches on some of the ones I did earlier on.

One of the big events we have to do as a rider is pick up our costumes. Because of the number of people in Nyx, they split up costume pick up night into two nights. It alleviates the over 3000 women in the same small space at the same time. My pick up is on night two and didn’t take too long to get in and get out. I already have my wig and headpiece for the ride so only had to get the costume and mask as well as the $5 pass to get me into the area to load the float on Tuesday.

Speaking of wig and headpiece, that is what we wear to distinguish the different floats. Each float has a theme and the ladies who ride do their best to pair a headpiece with the theme of the float. Some are more literal, some use the inspiration and some are wickedly clever. It’s really fun seeing everyone in their headpieces on parade day and trying to figure out what their float theme is.

So after costume pickup, I typically try on the full costume including the wig and headpiece so I can figure out the best leggings and shirt to wear underneath as well as make adjustments to the size. Some years, the costume is so big, I have to pin it while others, it’s so small I have to let it out a little.

Pro tip: I glue my mask to a pair of cheap sunglasses with the glass popped out. Since we have to wear a mask, I do what I can to make it as comfortable as possible. That’s why I glue it onto the glasses. It is easier to keep on during the ride and also is the most comfortable way to wear it.

The past 2 years, I’ve marched in Krewe of Cork on the first Friday of parade season. But this year, we are taking a break so I’m just going to go watch it before catching the night parades on St. Charles. We’ll also catch the parades the rest of the weekend before gearing up for a full week of crazy.

On Tuesday before parade day, I have to go to load the float. Our bead packages are already loaded onto the float so all I have to bring are my purses, cooler that doubles as my seat and any extra throws. I don’t typically bring too much extra since we literally have a 2×2 space on the float.

When we float load, we take a minute to rearrange things in the best way that fits our area and grab any items we want to keep off our package. Afterwards, we go home and get ready to ride!

Ride day is a blast. It starts early with a lunch with several of my friends who ride with me then we head to the convention center for the Nyx pre-party. After spending a few hours there, we head to the floats, hop on and start setting up our areas for the ride.

The time on the float at the staging area is a lot of waiting around. But at some point, they crank up the tractors and drag us down Tchoupitoulas to the start point for the parade. There, we sit and wait again.

Often we have numerous Jell-O shots, a few drinks of whatever we brought and grab a snack. We have our beads and throws set up in the most organized manner, considering the small space and we just people watch.

Then we roll. And roll and roll and roll down the 5 mile route that takes us along Magazine Street, up Napoleon and down St. Charles to Canal Street. Most of the crowd is a lot of fun and appreciative of our throwing. Although there are always some people who try to jump up and grab what we have on the ledge or throw stuff they don’t like back at us. It’s dangerous but fortunately it’s only a few people who do this.

At the end of the ride, my goal is to only have to bring my cooler and my bag. It makes it easier to walk home from the drop off point. I immediately hop into the shower and pray I can get a good night’s sleep. And that concludes the craziness that leads to my ride.

Fortunately once it’s over, it’s time to enjoy the parades and festivities around Mardi Gras. And I’m sure there will be stories to tell!

Happy Mardi Gras!!!