Krewe of Red Beans

I’ve explained before that there’s more than one Mardi Gras. On Lundi Gras (Monday before Fat Tuesday) we’re usually Uptown for the epic Krewe of Orpheaus Parade. The floats and bands are incredible and the weather promised to be mild for the nighttime parade. This year, we decided to attend the Krewe of Red Beans parade in the Marigny instead. 

Founded in 2009, the Krewe of Red Beans began with a small group of school teachers and newcomers to New Orleans.

Krewe of Proteus Parade

Krewe of Proteus was the first parade to roll on Lundi Gras, the Monday before Fat Tuesday. Established in 1882, Proteus is the second oldest parade of the Carnival season (Rex is oldest) and is the oldest night parade. The “Hindu Heavens” theme played out beautifully on exotic  floats by The Royal Artists sitting atop the original 1880’s wooden chassis. Named for the shepherd of the oceans as well as the son of Poseidon, the parade’s King remains a secret to all but the 230 male riders.

Lundi Gras

Proteus is the second oldest Krewe in the  history of Carnival (1882). This year’s theme of the Mythology of Astrology featured Zodiac floats among others.

This year’s theme for the Krewe of Orpheus was Delectable Delights. Orpheus is fairly new (1993), but they debuted with a splash as one of the largest and most celebrity studded parades. This year’s parade featured Saints head coach, Sean Payton, actor Steve Zahn, Harry Connick, Jr., LSU baseball coach, Paul Mainieri, and musicians Smashmouth and Taylor Dayne.

Throw me somethin’ mister!

Been too busy parading to write about parades, but it’s Lundi Gras (AKA Shrove Monday for you practicing Catholics) so there aren’t any parades until after 5 pm.

The city wide love fest continued through last week. People are still pinching themselves over the Super Bowl victory and, though “Who Dat” is still a legitimate greeting, we’ve added new answer backs.  “We Dat!” and “Believe Dat!” are the most popular.