The Krewe of Lafitte Mardi Gras Parade in Pensacola, Florida
1 March, 20142 Min Read
One of the things on our bucket list is to visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras. And here we are, only a short three hour drive from the famous celebrations, and we can’t go! A combination of Jonathan’s military school putting Mardi Gras on the forbidden list, us needing to save money for our upcoming move, and us having a tiny baby that wouldn’t do well in the jostling crowds had just made Mardi Gras in New Orleans a no no.
Buuuuut, we were excited to learn that through most of February and all of March, Pensacola is hosting parade after parade in the historical downtown area, in classic Mardi Gras style! Each parade is sponsored and hosted by a main “Krewe”, and we decided to head out to the Krewe of Lafitte parade last night!
This krewe is made up of 250 gentleman pirates and 12 floats and is the largest krewe in the Florida panhandle. The illuminated floats from pirate ships to krakens to fire breathing dragons made up the heart of the parade, and local filler floats made up the whole party for a good hour long celebration of crowds dancing, partying and catching beads, doubloons and moonpies galore!
It was our first time joining in a Mardi Gras parade, and so we got there crazy early to stake out a spot.. and good thing too! The crowds were CRAY-CRAY! We settled down in our granny-style lawn chairs and munched on an impulse purchase of Chicken and Waffle Lays chips and some lattes from a local bakery. (I.. I don’t know. It just seemed right at the time. And no, I don’t recommend.)
Anyway, once the party started, baby girl slept through the WHOLE parade. We had SO MUCH FUN catching beads and trinkets and eating moonpies. I got my white girl dance on, and we caught so many beads they were weighing our necks down! We ended up piling up the excess beads into Tessa’s stoller and giving them away to people with less beads than us. (I’ve come to discover that I am REALLY good and making eye contact and pleading for free crap. Uh, yay me?)
Anyway, we had an absolute BLAST, and I am thrilled that we got to experience some authentic Southern Mardi Gras revelry before the Navy whisks away to our duty station. Happy Mardi Gras ya’ll!
This was probably a much better Fat Tuesday choice for a Christian family! I think you got all the fun & frivolity w/o the smut & debauchery. Moon Pies? Why Moon Pies? Lol! I’m so glad you got to do this as a big fare-thee-well to Tessa’s birthplace…on to new adventures!
I hear New Orleans isn’t nearly as smutty as it used to be.. Mardi Gras in New Orleans is still on the bucket list, but if that one never manages to get crossed off, I won’t be too terribly upset.. Mardi Gras in Pensacola is pretty kickin’ too. 😉
This was probably a much better Fat Tuesday choice for a Christian family! I think you got all the fun & frivolity w/o the smut & debauchery. Moon Pies? Why Moon Pies? Lol! I’m so glad you got to do this as a big fare-thee-well to Tessa’s birthplace…on to new adventures!
I hear New Orleans isn’t nearly as smutty as it used to be.. Mardi Gras in New Orleans is still on the bucket list, but if that one never manages to get crossed off, I won’t be too terribly upset.. Mardi Gras in Pensacola is pretty kickin’ too. 😉
So glad to hear that there are local events like that in Pensacola!
Still loving reading your blog – it helps me prepare for the move coming up. 😀