Mardi Gras Galveston 2009, Part 3 - The Big Parade

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturday is the big day for Mardi Gras in Galveston and the peak of the local revelry. It was also the only day of the weekend that was predicted to bring inclement weather so we prepared for the worst by acquiring some disposable rain ponchos in case we got caught in the rain. We relaxed throughout the morning knowing we would be partying late into the night. In the afternoon, we met up with the gang of friends we would watch the big parade with and made contingency plans in case we got separated in the chaos that is the Mardi Gras. Upon arriving on the historic Strand, I sought out one of my favorite street festival fares, the smoked turkey leg. It is perfect since one can hold one’s beer in one hand while holding and eating the turkey leg with the other. The Strand was packed with revelers and it was good to see so many people having a good time in Galveston again. The weather cooperated and never got too bad. The parade, however, was somewhat disappointing to me. I have ridden on floats in the parade before so I know a thing or two about how to do it right. One pays handsomely for the privilege of riding a float in the big parade and one should make the most of it. The whole idea is to throw beads to the folks watching the parade on the ground. If you aren’t there to throw beads, I don’t know why one would bother paying to ride on a float at all. The folks on the floats this year were downright miserly. Those on the ground come to see the parade in the hopes of catching some premium beads and to see the young ladies trying to entice the float riders by baring some flesh. None of that can happen if the float riders aren’t generously throwing beads. Maybe I should create a brief instructional video or something to help educate potential float riders of what is expected.
Anyway, although the parade was disappointing this year, we waded into the masses to see if we could do better at providing ourselves and other revelers with a show. I’ll not go into great detail but suffice to say, we kicked Mardi Gras ass, saw lots of exposed flesh, and had a great time!