Wandering Browns

Now, faithful readers, it is time for a culture and history lesson. I was aware of Mardi Gras in general, but I was unsure of the reasons behind some of the specific Mardi Gras traditions here in Louisiana.  Landon and I learned about Mardi Gras at story time at the library, and I supplemented that with the interweb. Here's what I found out: 12th Night Revelers- the first krewe to throw things! Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French. It started in Italy as Carnival and spread to France, and eventually to the French colonies. This day was celebrated as the last day to eat meat and fatty foods before Lent. It is a moving holiday because Lent covers the 40 days before Easter, and Lent involves some sort of fasting in preparation for Easter. Everyone would have a big party to get rid of the butter and meat left in their pantries. The first Mardi Gras celebration was in the early 1700s in a French colony in Mobile. The first celebration in New Orleans was in 1730s. The gove...

The Saturday before Fat Tuesday, we had a full day planned participating in all sorts of fun Mardi Gras festivities. I took one last look at the event calendar and realized that there was going to be a Mardi Gras trail ride that started and ended very close to our hotel. It was called the Carlyss trail ride- Carlyss being the next rural town over from Sulphur. I was planning on going for a run in the morning anyway, and Austin had some work to do, so I put Landon in the stroller and started off. Turns out, it was less of a trail ride and more of a long parade. We got to the route just as the last floats were rounding the corner and we saw the trail riders on horseback pass. We had missed almost the entire parade! Well, I was dressed for a run and Landon was expecting me to run, so we started running on the side of the street along the parade route. I was running slightly faster than the parade was moving, so it took about 2 miles, but I made it to the front of the parade! Floats a...

I am a sucker for parades. I just love them. I was in marching band in junior high and high school, so I love to see the bands and the floats and the animals. Austin is not as into them as I am, but he humors me. Landon, on the other hand, is in my camp and loves parades. I don't think he had been to one since he was eleven months old, so I don't think he knew exactly what to expect. What we found definitely exceeded our expectations. Here come the wagons! Fancy head wagon with Clydesdales Our first parade was last minute. We checked into our hotel here on Wednesday night, and I picked up a community guide the next day. I saw that there was a parade that very afternoon to complete the last leg of a heritage trail ride, and kick off the rodeo that was being held in Lake Charles. The heritage trail ride was taking place over several days, so I guess these guys were trekking around the countryside in these wagons for the past week! While we did not make it to the r...