Friday, February 13, 2009

Ready for Mardi Gras!

At Galveston, that is. This is my best friend's mom, my bf, Trish, me, and Trish's sister in 2007. The Flagship Hotel is in the background. It was pretty torn up by Hurricane Ike last September, and still has not reopened.
Every year, for the last 16 years, I have headed to the Galveston Seawall for the first weekend of Galveston's Mardi Gras. There are 3 parades spread throughout the day and we hang out all day long. We like the first weekend, since it is much more family oriented and less of a drunken free-for-all than the next weekend can sometimes turn in to.

When I started going with my girlfriend and her family years ago, it was a BIG family event. She has 5 kids, so there were always kids and their friends and our friends. We would often end up with 10 car loads of people. We get there early and park along the beach side of the seawall, set up lawnchairs and tables of food, sometimes a grill, and have a great social event.

When I met Hubby, I got him to go and now he is hooked as well. Several years, we took our 3 kids, but they grew out of it, unlike my girlfriend's kids. So, for the last few years, Hubby and I are the only ones from our family. But we still have a ball. Some years is it cold, some hot and some rainy, but we are out there catching beads no matter what the weather.

Between the parades, we spend time visiting, walking, ready, eating and napping. LOL! It really is a wonderfully relaxing day. And we get TONS and TONS of Mardi Gras beads! They aren't the thrill they used to be, so we generally give most of them away, though we do have some of the "special" ones on display at home.

So, looking forward to tomorrow! A Mardi Gras style Valentine's Day!! No mere hurricane is going to stop the spirit of Mardi Gras!

2 comments:

Jules @ Lovely Las Vegas said...

I drove my the Flagship in January! Craziness how empty the whole seaboard is... it's good that you guys can make the party happen no matter what : ).

Frances said...

No mere hurricane is going to stop Mardi Gras!! LOL!