Baton Rouge and Mardi Gras

So here we are back at Baton Rouge.  We left about fifteen minutes ago but the driver determined our bus had bad, out of round tires.  Which is why we shook, which we thought was the rough road.  We await, less than expectantly, a different bus.

The prize of Baton Rouge, besides the Hotel Indigo, was in the observing - verily participating in - three Mardi Gras parades (Friday evening, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening).

The parades, each different, drew huge crowds and an impressive supply of noise.  Rather than candy, the main thrown commodity was beads, cheap strands of beads of various colors, sizes, and shapes.  Some  floats tossed candy as well as variety of toys.  Pat caught a commemorative sponge rubber football, ready to remind us far into our dimming years of our 2011 Mardi Gras at Baton Rouge which is  translated, Red Stick.  Not the same.  

The Saturday evening (18:30-20:00) was the largest, most raucous, best attended, and had the most impressive floats.  

That night, a woman in front of us jumped and danced in a suit she had made of cheap coins - fake doubloons.  She of blond hair jingled when she walked, danced, or jumped.

We are now on the way to unknown parts in a Delta Bus.  All we know is that we transfer at Vicksburg to complete our journey to Jackson.  It is a very quiet bus.  Everyone is either tired from the wait and chaos, or is intimidated by Pat who snarled at several who attempted earlier to jump the line.  I try to stand back.

The Indigo Hotel opened a week ago.  We were among the test clientele. The construction, training, and operational phases overlapped during our stay.  Things like when we were eating supper Saturday evening, workmen with stepladders were mounting a large light fixture two tables over.  Corporate suits were playing doorman, waiter, valet, and sidewalk sweeper, often all at the same time.

Louisiana’s State Museum consists of two floors.  The first gives the usual museum fare of the political, social, and economic histories and development of the state.  The building’s third floor contains the noisy multi-media story of Louisiana’s delightful cultural mix.  And here I learned that Cajun is related to Acadian, as in French Canadian, Evangeline and all that.  To be Creole requires only 2.5 elements:  Speaking French, being Catholic, and being of historical stock.  Some say that having roots from the time of the Louisiana Purchase qualifies one, whether European, Native American, or African American.  I did not learn from all that the culinary differences.

The museum has an extensive Mardi Gras section.  Costumes of Mardi Gras past are displayed in all their opulent excess, and here we learned about the krewe structure and history.  Krewes (crews) are something like the German guilds of Fasnacht.  

Some vignettes:

• At Friday night’s parade, we saw a spiffy blond in tight jeans collide noisily with a fifteen year old young man in jeans and a t-shirt, both lunging for a strand of beads.  
• With the decline and actual disappearance of busing to achieve integration, schools have rapidly re-segregated with hopefully more quality and opportunity.  Marching bands from predominantly black schools had a decided edge in the realms of rhythm and enthusiasm.  Most had strong percussion sections, and a few danced their way down the street reminiscent of the jazz marching bands of earlier last century.
• At Saturday morning’s Red Stick Farmers Market, I sampled several different goat cheeses, a variety of locally made sauces, and ate a breakfast of shrimp in a shrimp gravy sauce on grits with cheddar.  Oh my! Pat’s liking the pecan pie.
• The Museum also had a display of the populist governor and senator Huey Long, including film clips of his speeches and rallies.  He was GOOD.  His ideas may have been harmed by his ego and narcissism, but he was a genuine American home grown socialist who took on the political establishment and the economic powers of his time.  And, until he was assassinated, he was beating them.
• While we waited for the Saturday afternoon parade, I walked to the capitol to check out the crowd and found the end of the Wisconsin solidarity rally with fifty or more solid labor locals showing their common cause with the besieged Wisconsin teachers, government workers, and union members.

Baton Rouge is now fading far behind us as we slowly wind our way to what the Gallup Poll just decreed as the most conservative state in the USA - Mississippi.