2008 Krewe du Vieux
Jan 20th, 2008 by Nola
Last night, CS and I decided to take advantage of the babysitter we had arranged to watch Sun while we attended a ball. Not having the proper attire for the ball, we decided instead to take in our first parade of this carnival season, Krewe du Vieux in the French Quarter. This is the first time I’ve caught this parade (how is that possible, I ask myself). We started out meeting Pete at his sister’s place in the Quarter. She lives in the slave quarters of an old New Orleans manse. I especially liked the sign hanging over her sink:
Anywho, we visited the neighbors in the front apartment, bundled up, then stepped into the cold to see the parade. How does one describe Krewe du Vieux? Hmmm. Well, I’ll say that it is satirical, political, and carnal. I think that about covers it. The theme this year was “Magical Misery Tour” borrowing from the Beatles and highlighting the torments continuing to plague the city as a result of Katrina. Here’s the title float (pulled by a mule):
See that building in the background? That’s Nicholas Cage’s NOLA mansion (just around the corner from Brad and Angie’s)! Unfortunately, there was no sighting of him.
There was much ado about “Dollar” Bill Jefferson and David Vitter and their indiscretions.
Here’s a Beatles spoofed float:
Yes, they had marchers dressed like sperm marching in the parade. And the likes of this:
And there were marchers with replications of shit on their heads (”Shitty Hall” spoofing City Hall). Here’s their depiction of Hell (yes, more shit):
The highlight for me was the homage to Lafcadio Hearn quoting the same thing for which I recently quoted him:
The bottom line: this is definitely one for the locals. The locals that like libations. It is off-color and a bit crass. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I caught a cup, a funky hot pink bracelet, a compass, a rubber ball, a wooden doubloon, various paper items (this parade is big on handing out written materials distinct for each float), and one fuzzy die (well, CS caught that).
I am glad Sun was not there. First, it was too damn cold for a baby to be out there. And second, though she’s too young to “get it,” this is not a parade that is appropriate for a child. I should have known!
After the parade (it’s a quickie–it lasted no more than 40 minutes), we walked in the cold looking for a bar. Now, we were in the FRENCH QUARTER freezing our asses off looking for a bar?? Well, to be precise, we were looking for a bar that wasn’t too crowded. Not so easy. We finally stumbled into Flanagan’s Pub. Being a pub, I ordered a black and tan. I was told they were out of ale and Guinness. What kind of stinking pub is this, thought I to myself. Then I saw they have Blue Moon on tap. So I ordered that instead. It cost $4 ($5 with tip). Here’s what a $5 beer on tap looks like (admire the orange slice):
Here’s the cool “A Christmas Story” lamp they have there (that Bloody Mary was left over from the previous people sitting at our table. I call that alcohol abuse):
Pete and CS were not drinking. Errr. So, after drinking my one beer, we left the Quarter and picked up Sun and were home by 9:30pm.
Complaining about the cold? Expensive draft beer? Home by 9:30? WHEN DID I GET OLD?
Stumble it!
Yeah, it was indeed chilly out there last night. I managed to see, and connect with, most of the folks I know who are in da parade, too, which is pretty amazing. A lot of ‘em are NOLA bloggers.
It’s another chilly one, and both my husband and son are headed out to see the Krewe of Little Rascals. Not me. Not in this cold today. Then again, my house isn’t much better, but at least I can huddle under some more blankets and all.
I am glad you guys had much more fun than we did. We have decided that next year we are staying away from Frenchmen.
And it was COOOLD last night!!
Looks like the perfect post to say HI and raise a toast from a fellow blog hopper!
[...] Nola has pretty much laid out the krewe’s story and the theme of last night’s parade, so I’m just going to add a few more pics. It’s probably going to be my last parade until Mardi Gras weekend; I’ll make up for it in the upcoming weeks by posting some pictures of carnival past. [...]
Great pics. I didn’t make it out there so it is nice to see what I missed. Thanks for posting them.
$5.00 Beer with Fruit… What a Deal!
A Little Blog Hopping going On…
Home by 9:30? That gives you plenty of time to open up a bottle in the comfort of you own home, sustain that buzz and blog hop! BTW, that WAS alcohol abuse. The nerve of those people. I hope you adopted that poor bloody mary!
Like your last paragraph. That sums up your post nicely!
A black and tan yummy.. sorry they were out.. and $5 for a beer is a bargain!! Looks like a great time.. love the photos!!
Those are some great shots! Looks like it was a great time
I love the first and last shot…..That lamp cracks me up!
[...] are going around: Michael Homan, Howie Luvsus, The Chicory, dsb nola, Karen Gadbois, Maitri, Nola Notes, Jean and [...]
Yay, someone who liked our float best. Very few people got the Lafcadio Hearn shtick.
A pub without Guinness and an entire Bloody Mary gone to waste? Oh my! What is this world coming to?
GREAT blog! I miss Louisiana so…
The parade looks like it was an awesome time! There’s a little place up the block from me that has awesoem food and only 3 beers on tap…one of them is Blue Moon, another Stella (which I LOVE) and I forget the other one. But they are all $4 pints! A complete Steal! Love those baragin pints :o}
That sounds like an effing cool parade! Wish I could have been there!
Yes, what kind of place can call itself a pub and not have Guinness on tap???
I’d never tried Blue Moon till we went to the Coors factory last fall & done their awesome ‘get drunk on free beer’ tasting. I was quite impressed &we’ve bought it several times since.
Wow, awesome pics!
I LOVE Blue Moon. That pic totally got my mouth watering!
I didn’t even notice the orange while at the pub, and didn’t know what was up with that until looking up Blue Moon on the Wiki. The good old Wiki.
oh, I am green with envy. spoke with my friend in nola — she was at this parade. she’s trying to convince me to come for mardi gras….oohh…so tempting!!
I miss my favorite bar in the quarter, The Chart Room. I have logged some hours in there!!!!
Great post! I’ve never seen KdV myself…..I’m a bit of a wah-wah about cold nights but I was out of town anyway.