I feel like we haven’t been doing any boat projects lately.  It is just travel, fun, travel, fun, work, travel, fun, repeat.  Not complaining, please understand, but as I put video’s together, I realize that some of you read this blog and subscribe to our youtube channel to see repairs and boat How To’s.

I will apologize up front, there is nothing in this blog to help you with your boat, unless you count “recharging with some fun” to get you back in the working spirit.    Not that it should be underestimated, I have often thought of the concept of motivational deposits to get you through the times when things are a bit tougher.

A friend of mine from work, grew up in this area and lives right off one of the major parade routes in New Orleans.  He invited us down on Saturday to join him, his wife and son when they go to the parades in Uptown.  They run along St. Charles.   We were thrilled to have someone show us the ropes a bit on how the parades work, where the best place is to setup or park, etc.  It was a great way to get some knowledge before next weekend when my Sister Deb, Brother Ryan, Randy and Cassie come down for the big weekend before MardiGras.

So we arrived in the Uptown area at about 11:30.  Julius had already put a few chairs out along the parade route earlier that morning in hopes to save a spot for all of us.   He told me where it was and when we drove by on our way to his house, the sides of the road were already getting packed in with people.  So I dropped off Deb and Chasity with our wagon, cooler and some folding chairs and then I drove back to Julius’s house to pick up him and Jill.

We hung out for a while just kind of like a tailgate event before a football game.  We even laughed because for some reason McKinlee decided to become an on the spot tree hugger.  I am not sure why she was doing this but she did it long enough for Deb and I to both get our camera’s out.

Then it was time for the parades to start.  First came the Krewe of Ponchatrain, followed by the Choctaw Krewe, Then the Krewe of Feret.  Then as it started to get dark, there were still 2 more, so it was on to Knights of Sparta and lastly it was the Krewe of Pygmalion.

We were at the parades for a good 6+ hours and had an absolute blast.  We all caught a ton of beads, cups, stuffed animals, light up cheer sticks, and more.

The marching bands were awesome, we must have watched 30 marching bands, drill teams, dancers, ROTC units, and crazy groups of people like the ones in the blog featured photo up top.  Everyone was having so much fun.

I now look forward to seeing some of the big parades next weekend as things get closer to actual Fat Tuesday which is always the day before Ash Wednesday.

Instead of attempting to post many pictures in this Post, I am going to embed a link to the video we put together highlighting the parades.

See the link below if the embedded video below won’t play for you in this browser window.

From the Sailing Vessel DreamChaser, we wish you all very well and a “Happy MardiGras”

If you are receiving this blog via email or on a device that won’t play the embedded video, click this link for the video directly on Youtube.  The link is https://youtu.be/ejGsr1uG5Ko