When we flew out Friday morning it was snowing in Nashville and I was recovering from pneumonia. While the doctor would probably not prescribe Mardi Gras for rest, if my time is up, I want to go in an expensive French Quarter Hotel surrounded by beads and cups. Besides, one lucky dog can kill any infection you might have. Hardly a cloud or drop of rain Friday through Tuesday. The parades were nearly all on time and the Krewes threw more beads that I have ever seen. It was also the best behaved crowd I have ever witnessed. We saw lots more families at the parades.
There seemed to be fewer maskers on Fat Tuesday, but the ones we saw were very colorful and imaginative. My favorite was Queen Colleen. She was in her 70's and pushed around in a shopping cart with a sign saying this was her "last hurrah". The floats get larger and larger and
Endymion's newest S.S. Endymion was beyond belief. I personally wouldn't mind if Endymion
and Orpheus cut back a few bands and shortened their parades. The final floats are now
getting to the finish well after midnight. Bacchus seems the perfect length. The coolest new throws had to be the Le Krewe D'etat medallion beads with glow-in-the dark skulls and flashing eyes. Bacchus reworked their signature medallions in new translucent colors. Kinda reminded me of the new I-Macs. Both Playboy bunnies and the Hawaiian Tropic girls were at Mardi Gras 99. Playboy threw special medallion necklaces from their Bourbon Street balcony. The most coveted prize of Mardi Gras 99 had to be the Krewe of Elvis medallion donuts. I understand that people were actually trading Zulu Coconuts and Playboy beads for them ;-)
KREWE OF ELVIS STAGING AREA
LUNDI GRAS INTERNET PARTY We had an Internet party Monday at Patout's on Bourbon Street and saw lots of new and old friends. In typical Mardi Gras chaos the policeman at the door turned away some people thinking it was a private party. Otherwise, Patouts was the perfect meeting place and hopefully we can try again next year. Special thanks to Carol Blake of Mardigrasday.com for making the arrangements. The following pics capture some of the attendees.
Well, this Mardi Gras was too much for me. First, I was on written up on page 78 of Arthur Hardy's Mardi Gras Guide, then NOLA featured Dead Elvis on its web site.The only thing that possibly could have been better is if Mardi Gras had fallen on March 7th. and guess when that happens. Mardi Gras 2000 is not to be missed!!!
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word for Mardi Gras 1999....WOW!!!
We attended both
Endymion and Bacchus Balls. A highlight was seeing John Goodman and (Bacchus XXXI) Jim
Belushi perform "Sweet Home New Orleans" on stage at the Bacchus Rendevous.
Speaking of the 
