Last Saturday we drove to Madisonville to attend their Mardi Gras Parade.
Not knowing quite what to expect and how many people would show up we arrived early enough to walk around a little bit, find out the best viewing spots, claim ours and do some people watching while eating our picnic lunch.
As I mentioned before, this was not your 'run of the mill' kind-a parade. The 'floats' in this parade are the real McCoy, as in .. they're boats!
That's why people line up alongside the river and harbor on both sides of the bridge.
There's a nice little park on the river's edge with big live oaks for shade.
Which was very nice since it was a gorgeous day, and it got quite hot by the time the parade started around 1 pm!
First boat to arrive was the one with the 'Court' of the Krew of Tchefuncte, the King and Queen ...
Followed by a colorful line up of about 10 decorated 'float-boats' ...
The theme this year was 'Bringing Broadway to Madisonville' which had inspired boats to be decorated like Cats, Aladdin (was that a musical?), Chicago, Grease, and Sunset .. , to name a few.

Up close I'd say these cats look more like cougars ...
They had fun with this mobster Chicago 'jail' decoration ...
Aladdin was the largest boat and truly spectacular ...
After parading by, they all turned around and docked alongside the boulevard ...
The boat that docked right in front of us was the Sunset ...
And than it was time for the much anticipated 'throwing of the beads' to begin:
Throw me something Mister!
Of course, besides the traditional beads, a lot of other trinkets were thrown ...
These kids had the best seats in the house! They're safe above the crowds and tall enough to catch the throws ...
Here's for some fun characters:
And how about this group of old-timers? Still 'in the spirit' and going all out! Only in Louisiana ...
Although I wasn't really trying, it was hard NOT to end up with any beads ... I gave most away to a few kids on our way back to the truck, but kept a few of the more 'special' ones ...
Happy Mardi Gras y'all!