SLIDELL, La. (Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009, 3 p.m.) – A relaxing weekend in Slidell and New Orleans, highlighted by a trip to the Endymion den for my krewe throws, ended far too soon today.
As you may know from earlier posts, I ride in the Krewe of Endymion, the largest Carnival parading organization in New Orleans. I had to stop by the krewe den on Saturday to pick up about $500 worth of krewe-emblem throws I bought for the parade.
Among the items: Krewe cups, krewe beads, stuffed animals, Endymion footballs and Endymion Frisbees. My mom's house in Slidell is overflowing with junk for me to throw on the six-mile route Saturday, Feb. 21.
Camryn, my 3-year-old daughter, had a great time. She waited at the krewe den with me and my mom and then had a rare treat of a peek through the large doors of the den at floats still under construction.
Today, Camryn, my mother and I joined my sister and her family for the Krewe of Claude parade in Slidell. As expected, it was awful: Cheesy floats, two bands and not much else.
How bad was the parade? Well, they used rental floats from Barry Barth – floats that were small, narrow and just plain hideous. It also didn't look good when the third float was numbered 10 and the fourth was numbered 22.
But my daughter didn't care. She just wanted to see floats, see marching bands and catch beads.
Next up: A trip to Slidell on Saturday, Jan. 31, for the Krewe of Endymion coronation ball that night at the Hilton in New Orleans and another cheap Slidell parade on Sunday, Feb. 1.
The real stuff kicks in the weekend of Feb . 14.
Below is a photo gallery slide show from the weekend. If you see a photo you like, click it and you'll open a larger version. And use the button o the left corner of the slide show to toggle captions.
Copyright 2009 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
