But, I'll tell you about a Lafayette Mardi Gras. I was in school in the early 90s. We had a buddy from Hot Springs wanting to go to New Orleans. He hitchhiked down to visit and ended up staying. This was old school no cell phone no Internet days. He "blogged" all the time. Which was writing in a journal he had. Good old days. Anyway, we convinced him to stay.
We hit the bars. Back then it was 18 to go. Him, from Arkansas, that was great. We walked, none of us had a vehicle, down to the strip from the USL dorm. The strip had a variety of bars. Frat, motorcycle, weird and just regular. It was great. You just walked from one to the other.
But I convinced him to take it up a notch. You wanna see really crazy? OK. I'll show you downtown. Now, back then, Lafayette downtown was nothing like it is now. It was dying. But we walked from the strip to downtown. The craziest place was a bar called Metropolis.
It was a gay bar they converted to an alternative metal bar. They had a band from Houston, Pantera type - loud and rough. People were moshing, fights were starting, weed was smoked outside, women flashed their boobs for some beads, it was crazy. The bartender had long hair braided up and dyed green. Bro from Arkansas was freaked out. He loved it. He "blogged" the entire thing in his journal. Good, good crazy young times. He said he didn't regret not seeing New Orleans. I told him, if you thought this was something, you have no idea. New Orleans Mardi Gras is insane. But we had a good time. Young and dumb. Now, I avoid city type Mardi Gras and stick to the country. If I could go back in time, I would have shown him that style.
Well, I'm from Texas and had never been to a Mardi Gras. Didn't even know what that was. I moved here to Eunice in August of 2011. The very next Mardi Gras, I was running in the parade. Mardi Gras is crazy and fun. Got up real early to get started, like between 4 and 5am. Got ready and things prepared and headed to the meeting spot to get registered and settled in our trailer by 6. Between 6 and 8:30, everyone was socializing and drinking. Even got some of the horses buzzing on Jell-O shots. That was Richie that did that. Walking up and down the line of trailers saying hi to everyone and familiarizing ourselves with who was where. Around 8:30, we were moving, Going through back country roads. Everyone still drinking and getting drunk. Talk about crazy! But it was fun! At some point through the route, everyone starts slowing down on drinking, either because of being drunk or because of running out of alcohol. Stopped at points to get baptized and play around in the mud and to chase chickens. I had too much fun playing in the mud and getting baptized, that I missed chasing the chickens.
Walking and jumping from trailer to trailer. Better than going from bar to bar, cause everyone you came across along the way were offering drinks. Beer, Jell-O shots, and drinking strong stuff out of gasoline canisters. Oh, I forgot to mention, we started out eating boiled eggs. Helps keep you from getting real drunk right away. Also, we snacked and ate throughout the whole trail ride. Boudin, grilled boston butt steaks, hot dogs, and hamburgers. We all paid $10 per person to be able to eat along the way and some of brought our own eggs.
Some people say they won't bring their kids to watch the parade because of drunk people would get and act crazy. But by the time we got closer to town, we all slowed way down and just acted the fools because it was fun and a lot of people liked the ambition that we all showed. It helped get the crowds more excited. We threw beads, mini footballs, cups, flying disks, and lots of other stuff. Afterwards, we'd go visit friends and family who couldn't make it out to see the parade because of different disabilities. We'd dance with them, make them happy, and give them good memories.
Once the parade was over, people would split up and go to there different places where we'd continue celebrating. Cook gumbos, drink some more, laugh, and cut up. I've never experienced anything of the like. It was awesomely amazing. A memory no one could ever forget. For some, it was their last Mardi Gras. And we helped make it the best we could. For others, it was just the beginning of a lot of good and fun memories.