NEW ORLEANS - MARDI GRAS
NEW ORLEANS – “Laissez les bon temps rouler!”, February 10-12
After leaving Florida, we headed for New Orleans, Louisiana and the
biggest party in the United States – Mardi Gras. If you don’t know what the title above means,
it is French for “Let the good times roll!”
And they certainly did while we were there. Hosted by the New Orleans Elks Lodge #30, we
were greeted at the airport by, State Sponsor PGER Chuck Williams and his lady
Gladys, SDGER Richard and Sue Conran, State President Charles and Glenda
Schmuck and Exalted Ruler James Hester and his lady, Sonia. Our Administrative Aide Les Yeffa and his
wife, Nancy had arrived the day before and were there with smiles and hugs.
Sunday evening, we all went to a great seafood restaurant, Jaeger’s,
and started in on some of our favorite foods – gumbo and grilled oysters. The food and the company were exceptional and
we all had a wonderful time. Monday
morning, our first stop was Café de Monde for beignets and coffee! After getting our blood sugar and caffeine to
an appropriate level, we stopped by the cemetary to view the Elks Memorial built by New Orleans Lodge #30. It is a beautiful and moving memorial and we appreciated having the opportunity to see it. We then headed for the WWII Museum where we presented the
Museum with several bags of the Mardi Gras commemorative Elmo dressed in this
year’s special outfit as a clown. We
then toured a small portion of the museum including a viewing of the new overview
historical World War II film narrated by Tom Hanks. After leaving the museum, we were taken to
lunch at a neighborhood restaurant, Katy’s.
We enjoyed the excellent local cuisine, making special note of the three-foot
long hoagie sandwich ordered by two guests to share. Pretty impressive, to say the least!
Monday evening, we had dinner at the lodge. The menu again featured our favorites –
gumbo, jambalaya and red beans and rice among others. The Louisiana Elks presented Tom with a caricature
portrait of him throwing beads from the float and Venita with a hand painted
egg decorated in the Mardi Gras theme colors – purple, gold and green. Tom spoke to the assembled group, recognizing
the achievements of the Louisiana Elks and their continued support of the
Order. After dinner, we headed for the
hotel knowing that we would have an early start on Mardi Gras morning.
Tuesday dawned a little overcast, with the weather forecasters calling
for “showers.” We headed for the lodge
at 6:00 a.m., Tom in his tuxedo and me with all of the rain gear. After getting the float loaded and on its way
to the starting point, we worked our way down the back streets to the corner of
Napoleon and St. Charles where a viewing area had been set up for all of us. While waiting for the Krewe of Rex to being
their parade, Venita ventured out to distribute an additional eight dozen Elmo
dolls to the children along the parade route.
Shortly after 10:00 a.m., the Rex parade began. Their theme was “All Creatures, Great and
Small” and the floats all depicted some type of creature. The beads and other throws were plentiful and
our bags began filling up quickly. Immediately
following Rex, the Elks Parade began.
Consisting of 110 truck floats, Tom and the officers were on the lead
float and as they arrived at our viewing area, they stopped for photos and a
toast. The then presented Venita with a
giant stuffed bear who immediately took up a place of honor in the viewing
area. The parade then rolled on and we
spent the balance of the afternoon admiring the hard work and creativity of the
groups who had put together these wonderful floats.
After the parade, we adjourned back to the New Orleans Lodge for what
else? Muffaletta sandwiches, red beans and
rice, etc., etc., etc. (We do love the
food of the area.) Shortly after we
arrived, the float returned as well, and we all went out to hail our conquering
heroes! We ate, drank and talked until James
and Sonia eventually took us back to our hotel.
After organizing ourselves for an early morning departure, we collapsed
into bed – and visions of beads and feathers danced in our heads. Thank you, Louisiana Elks Association and
especially New Orleans Elks Lodge #30.
We could not have had a more wonderful time!
After leaving Florida, we headed for New Orleans, Louisiana and the
biggest party in the United States – Mardi Gras. If you don’t know what the title above means,
it is French for “Let the good times roll!”
And they certainly did while we were there. Hosted by the New Orleans Elks Lodge #30, we
were greeted at the airport by, State Sponsor PGER Chuck Williams and his lady
Gladys, SDGER Richard and Sue Conran, State President Charles and Glenda
Schmuck and Exalted Ruler James Hester and his lady, Sonia. Our Administrative Aide Les Yeffa and his
wife, Nancy had arrived the day before and were there with smiles and hugs.
Sunday evening, we all went to a great seafood restaurant, Jaeger’s,
and started in on some of our favorite foods – gumbo and grilled oysters. The food and the company were exceptional and
we all had a wonderful time. Monday
morning, our first stop was Café de Monde for beignets and coffee! After getting our blood sugar and caffeine to
an appropriate level, we stopped by the cemetary to view the Elks Memorial built by New Orleans Lodge #30. It is a beautiful and moving memorial and we appreciated having the opportunity to see it. We then headed for the WWII Museum where we presented the
Museum with several bags of the Mardi Gras commemorative Elmo dressed in this
year’s special outfit as a clown. We
then toured a small portion of the museum including a viewing of the new overview
historical World War II film narrated by Tom Hanks. After leaving the museum, we were taken to
lunch at a neighborhood restaurant, Katy’s.
We enjoyed the excellent local cuisine, making special note of the three-foot
long hoagie sandwich ordered by two guests to share. Pretty impressive, to say the least!
Monday evening, we had dinner at the lodge. The menu again featured our favorites –
gumbo, jambalaya and red beans and rice among others. The Louisiana Elks presented Tom with a caricature
portrait of him throwing beads from the float and Venita with a hand painted
egg decorated in the Mardi Gras theme colors – purple, gold and green. Tom spoke to the assembled group, recognizing
the achievements of the Louisiana Elks and their continued support of the
Order. After dinner, we headed for the
hotel knowing that we would have an early start on Mardi Gras morning.
Tuesday dawned a little overcast, with the weather forecasters calling
for “showers.” We headed for the lodge
at 6:00 a.m., Tom in his tuxedo and me with all of the rain gear. After getting the float loaded and on its way
to the starting point, we worked our way down the back streets to the corner of
Napoleon and St. Charles where a viewing area had been set up for all of us. While waiting for the Krewe of Rex to being
their parade, Venita ventured out to distribute an additional eight dozen Elmo
dolls to the children along the parade route.
Shortly after 10:00 a.m., the Rex parade began. Their theme was “All Creatures, Great and
Small” and the floats all depicted some type of creature. The beads and other throws were plentiful and
our bags began filling up quickly. Immediately
following Rex, the Elks Parade began.
Consisting of 110 truck floats, Tom and the officers were on the lead
float and as they arrived at our viewing area, they stopped for photos and a
toast. The then presented Venita with a
giant stuffed bear who immediately took up a place of honor in the viewing
area. The parade then rolled on and we
spent the balance of the afternoon admiring the hard work and creativity of the
groups who had put together these wonderful floats.
After the parade, we adjourned back to the New Orleans Lodge for what
else? Muffaletta sandwiches, red beans and
rice, etc., etc., etc. (We do love the
food of the area.) Shortly after we
arrived, the float returned as well, and we all went out to hail our conquering
heroes! We ate, drank and talked until James
and Sonia eventually took us back to our hotel.
After organizing ourselves for an early morning departure, we collapsed
into bed – and visions of beads and feathers danced in our heads. Thank you, Louisiana Elks Association and
especially New Orleans Elks Lodge #30.
We could not have had a more wonderful time!
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