A Lot Like Christmas

The other night, there were opera singers on the balcony in Jackson square. Of course, the Square itself is beautifully lit. Fulton Street is decked out. Yes, it's beginning to look a light like Christmas.

And Then There Are...Other...Events

We were wandering, as we are wont to do, and found a poster for a Robot Parade. Ooooo...a robot parade! This could be exciting. When we got home, we searched out more information. It was being heavily promoted on nola.com. Pictures from last year looked so cool. George Jetson cool. We were totally going.

Lithus was particularly excited. He was texting BIL like a school kid. I would almost use the word giddy.

And he wasn't the only one. The crowds were huge. People were lining the sidewalks. Children through grandparents and everything in between. Yuppies and preppies and gothies and everything in between.

The people watching was great. Two girls wanted to know from dad what the robots would be throwing. When dad said he didn't know if they'd be throwing anything, the girls took it to mean there would "only" be beads. The dad tried to explain that in other cities, the parades didn't throw anything. The girls were shocked and disgusted and convinced the dad was foolish.

Two bikers came by and asked us if we knew which way the parade would be heading. When it was established that we didn't, we made a pact that, if one of us found out, the other group would know. It was a pact I planned to keep.

The energy and excitement was palpable.

Four o'clock came. And four o'clock went. And the clock kept ticking. Until ...

Yep. That was it. In the back was this:

Both of which are cool, but hardly the robot parade we'd been expecting. Still, it was a holiday event and really, what says holidays better than a bunch of people dressed up in cardboard with a banner?

Christmas Parade, NOLA 2012

Yes, there are many, many posts missing here. Travels, adventures, sights, sounds, and even videos of bears. Eventually, I'll get them up. For now, today, we're skipping into the present. And the New Orleans Christmas Parade. New Orleans loves her parades, after all.

There were marching bands and youth groups:

There were floats:

(Oh hell yes, I got the picture and caught this cup)

Other festive things...

 (Yes, that is a miniature pony pulling a cart with a goat wearing a Santa hat riding behind. In case you were wondering)

And, of course, there was the Old Guy, himself...

But, just in case you forgot you were in New Orleans, there were also...

The Pedicabbers:

The Rolling Elvi:

And, these folks:

Oh, and beads. Always. Because it is New Orleans.