Mardi Gras New Orleans

Roy, Heather, Scott and Dale at Joey T's for lunch

The BudweiserClydesdales opened the second Wednesday parade,."Krewe of Druids"

 

Lucky us! We have great friends in New Orleans and got to visit them during Mardi Gras. Roy and Dale are part of the Tortugal cruising group and hosted the first Annual Tortugeezer Reunion back in August, 2022. They came up to our Fourth Reunion in 2024 and stayed with us. But this time our visit coincided with the famous New Orleans Mardi Gras. We arrived on Wednesday, February 11rh and left on the 13th.  And even during this time the parades were sensational! It's hard for us to believe they could be better. Certainly there was a big step up from Wednesday's parades to Thursday's, but Wednesday's were fantastic. We've been appreciative audiences. 

The Archdruid float. 

Between the floats High School bands along with
their dance troop and cheerleaders parade. 
Occasionally we got a performance!

Those on top fling or hand out various items: 
beads, balls, lighted swords, bags etc. 

Some of the floats are so high that you can barely
see the occupants!

This ship on the first night was impressive!

And our host's beautiful home was just a few houses away from St. Charles St. on Seventh. They put out chairs on the parade route early with neighbors so we had wonderful seats. And we could go back and forth to the house to eat (or for the toilet - very helpful as we saw no Porto potties). This is important as the parades, early ones you understand, lasted for many hours. On Thursday from 4:30 PM to after 10 PM! That was 3 Krews: Knights of Chaos, Knights of Babylon, Nights of Muses. This last is a highlight of the Mardi Gras. The Krewe of Muses was founded in 2000 and has 1100 members. Since it's inception, Muses has emphasized gifting usable and "remuseable" throws to paradegoers. The most coveted of these are the single high heels. If you manage to catch one, you decorate and keep it as a souvenir and home decor (see the two Dale & Roy have in the photo).

Two coveted "shoes" from Krewe Muses"

Dale and their friend and tenant Amy.

Roy preparing breakfast in the kitchen. 

Heather in her "bling" at the parade, front
and center.

Both evenings Dale and Roy made wonderful dinners - Shrimp Etouffee and Pulled Pork with lots of sides. And two different kinds of King Cake. Their son Timmy and several friends joined us. On Thursday we had lunch at iconic Joey K's just down the street and did some shopping on Magazine Street. It was fun seeing a lot of the parade participants meeting and boarding the buses. 

Thursday's first parade had a lot of local and 
national figures. Bernie looks a lot more
positive then Marco and J.D. at the left!

The local political floats concerned New Orleans
problems and figures. 

The theme of Krewe Babylon was Operas.

Roy and Dale's house is beautifully decorated for Mardi Gras with "bling" of every sort. I've included a few photos here and they decorated us as well. We've brought back home a bag of "swag". We'll share that with everyone at our Mardi Gras party here on Tuesday!

We left after breakfast and stopped at The Shed for BBQ as usual. We took home one dinner plate and was enough for dinner that night. Great trip! Thank you Roy & Dale!

Lady Godivas!

Signature high heels for the Krewe Muses

Lots of flames - goes back to when there were no
street lights and these lit the parades.

Nothing like a bath in public!

This Muses float was spectacular!

Lunch at The Shed overlooking the Bayou.

Catching Up!

The view from our dinette window. Our site is right on the beach and next to the heated pool.

Our first morning at San Jose RV Resort we were in the pool doing water aerobics. 

I have a lot of catching up to do. My last post ended as we were about to leave home and head south. Our RV "Baby" had been brought over to the Saratoga RV Park weeks before to get it out of our driveway and close to the highway. Nevertheless it was still in the snow there and winter proofed. So Scott went over the day before our departure and got it ready for us by draining it and then filling the water tanks and plugging it in. 

At Racoon Mt RV Park we shared the site with
some cattle. The KOA in Wytheville had a cafe
where we enjoyed some burgers and got 
breakfast sandwiches to go. 

I made several ready to go meals and stocked the refrigerator, pantry and freezer. After breakfast we locked our home up and drove over to the park and spent the night. The trip south took four days with stops in Hersey, PA, Wytheville, VI and lastly in Chattanooga, Tenn. We had freezing weather and snow all the way to Tennessee. The night before we left was so cold the water froze and we had no running water for 3 days! At our last stop our friends Juanita and Ted came over for a visit - sorry I didn't take photos. The last day was a long one but we pulled into our site just before 5 PM. 

The next day we were in the pool for water aerobics - offered here 3 days a week when the temperature is over 55 degrees. If the pool is closed we have indoor aerobics! Kerri Brooks runs the show here and there are activities every day at least once. We have card games, BINGO, and crafts. There are various Potlucks and free breakfasts. Holidays are big here and special events like the Super Bowl, Corn Hole Tournament, and Live Music. 

We go out to eat a lot, especially compared to home
Here at Harry T's in Destin for lunch. 

The Emerald Coast is famous for it's white sand
beaches. The sand was brought down by glaciers
from the Appalachian Mountains. Despite the cold,
we still enjoy the beaches.

Sunsets are spectacular here and we
get a perfect view right at our site (and
sunrises the opposite direction)!

Enjoying a Welcome Snowbirds event with lunch and live
music (and leis). 

Dancing up a storm!

As we're spending two months here this year we're becoming more involved with the community. We joined the Senior Center and the library. At the former we're playing bridge, line dancing and other events. We got tickets to both the Pensacola Opera and Symphony. We've also discovered the Center for Life Long Learning in Fort Walton and attended our first event - a tour of the Destin History and Fishing Museum by the one of the founders. His stories about the early days of Destin starting around 1845 were really fascinating. His wife is a descendent of one of the first families. 

Destin is the self proclaimed "Luckiest Fishing
Village in the World: The Destin Fishing Rodeo
has been held every year since 1948.

We went to the Opening Night Performance but
I couldn't take photos so here's one from the 
web of another date. The singing, stage design
and costumes were fabulous.

The first Destin library has been transformed
into the front room of the museum. On the ground
are historic boats and parts of them (here the
pilot house) plus the original post office. 

Sunday is the Super Bowl and we're pretty excited to see the Patriot's vs the Seahawks. We've watched the Playoff games this year for a change. And there will be lots of food at the party. Pot lucks here are excellent - a lot of good cooks. I'm making my Spinach Cheese Squares. 

At one of the crafts classes we transformed rugs 
into bags. Here I am with Barbara and Marcy.

Our finished bags.

Next week we're driving over to New Orleans to visit our cruiser friends Dale and Roy They live in the Garden District right on the parade route so we'll see two of the Mardi Gras prelude parades and I know eat a lot of wonderful Cajun food (and drink Roy's famous martinis). So another blog post will be coming soon!

Here's a wide shot of the club house packed for a social event

Another view of the room and our table.

Scott helps himself at the buffet.

Last times in Vermont (for now)

It has snowed pretty consistently since mid November and we've never lost our snow cover. I'm sure glad we moved our RV over to Saratoga RV Park before then. 

 

Leslie, Rowan and Gail getting our Thanksgiving Dinner ready

November and December seem like non stop holiday time. We alternate having our family between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year we went up to Middlebury to have Thanksgiving with our friends the Smiths and welcomed our two younger sons home with their families for Christmas. They both came for a week. James, Morgen and Kolya drove up from Washington DC and Sean, Will and Rowan from Boston. 

Christmas Eve Dinner: from left: Sean, Will, Rowan, Heather, James, Kolya and Morgen..

Everyone enjoyed the snow with lots of play and sledding. Visits to the Montshire Science Museum, King Arthur Flour, and Wonderworks kept the kids happy. Plus of course tons of presents, food, drink and conversation (and lots of hugs). More photos from Christmas at the end!

Usually it's the other way around!

Opening presents - Rowan enjoyed the opening
almost as much as the presents.

But Kolya is at an age to appreciate the  
presents, especially his new tablet.

I made Maple Pecan Sticky Buns (NY Times)
for the first time for Xmas morning Yum!

Scott having fun at Wonderfeet in Rutland

Lunch at King Arthur Flour

And here in Shrewsbury and Rutland there were so many holiday events. We couldn't attend them all! Some of that was due to our both getting colds. I got mine just before an appointment with my primary down in Boston so got tested for COVID and the Flu. Happily it was neither although the cold has hung on forever. Scott got his a little later and we're both need some warmth and sunshine to fully recover. In Boston we had our Holiday Open House, this year hosted by Sean & Will. I started this tradition when I was single in 1970 - so 55 years. Pretty amazing. In Shrewsbury we had the annual Cookie Swap and Silent Auction. The library was beautifully decorated with live music, lots of cookies and other treats and tons of friends. The Rutland Garden Club had a festive December Holiday Party and earlier I attended a workshop to make a holiday centerpiece. Our friend Barbara was visiting us and came too. 

Barbara and myself with a few of the Rutland Garden Club members at the holiday centerpiece workshop. 

My eighth Cooking Class to benefit Pierce's store was so much fun. We did Appetizers and Desserts which included two hot and two cold appetizers and two fruit tarts and a layered Chocolate Cake. The eight students were invited to invite a guest for the meal and we raised $460. As usual I worked shifts running the store (as a volunteer) and made the appetizers for one more wine tasting. Our last event was last night when my Book Club had a Potluck dinner here.

My students and myself pos in from of our dessert table. This was my eighth Cooking Class to benefit Pierce's Store.

But our sons left a few days ago and we're now packing up everything to leave. Tomorrow we close up the house and drive over to our RV "Baby" at the Saratoga RV Park in N.Y. Then Friday morning we head south. The sunshine and relative warmth is beckoning to us!!!

Will and Rowan 

Making corn bread with Sean and Rowan

Kolya and Rowan enjoy the new tablet

Reading stories with Morgen

Grandpa has a turn pulling Rowan
to the top of the hill.

Building things at the Montshire Science Museum