***Satyr & Retired Wood Nymph take on the French Quarter***

Our first Mardi Gras since February 2020!! After the total time warp black hole of covid it was good to see Mardi Gras unfold exactly how it always does. The morning started off with a ferry ride across the Mississippi into the French Quarter with some of our best friends, sun out and a cool breeze swirling around. We walked from the ferry stop along the river to the Marigny neighborhood, which is where we usually start our Mardi Gras with a little brunch potluck at our friend Kelly’s house. We brought cinnamon rolls and a chickpea & feta salad and a grapefruit & tahini salad—there was also breakfast casserole and quiche, all perfect fuel for a long day of walking.

Mardi Gras typically plays out as a day of slow meandering through the streets, inevitably running into everyone you have ever known as we barrel through crowds from the Marigny to the French Quarter—a walk that normally takes ten minutes, but when you’re busy catching up with old friends, making new ones, and taking photos of all your favorite costumes, it takes anywhere from three to seven hours.

Speaking of costumes, yes of course we had made our own! The short version of my costume is a wood nymph, but the long version is “wood nymph who left her devilish ways in the woods to start a beekeeping farm in the Great Plains only to be hit with hive collapse, left searching for her identity and pondering a return to the forest.” Clear commentary on the impermanence of life’s seasons, if you ask me! Matt was my counterpart, a satyr, who was so enamored with my floral scent he followed me wherever I would go.

Anydoodle, once we were back in the French Quarter we stopped to watch music, frantically hunted down places to pee, and caught up with the few remaining friends we hadn’t yet seen. We danced and drank and stayed hydrated and finished up the afternoon walking back to the riverfront to sit and watch the barges with our crew. Just a short ferry ride back to our neighborhood and we were de-costumed enjoying Vietnamese takeout by 6:30, in bed by 8. It was a great day, and it’s lovely to see the city return to normal. Photo dump below for you :)

***Morgan & Chris on the ferry heading downtown! A 9:00 a.m. start to the day.***

***Finally caught up with Hayli around noon :)***

***The crowd walking behind St. Anne’s parade in the Marigny.***

***Just really love a costume with an important message.***

***More of St. Anne’s parade in the Marigny.***

And that’s all, folks! Now I have to go back and check all the emails I ignored yesterday, so talk soon!

xoxo,

Beau ( & Matt!)

Mardi Gras Day 2022