I returned from New Orleans this morning exhausted, relieved to be home, and, not surprisingly, excited for next year (Feb 16, 2010). To celebrate Fat Tuesday 2009, here are just a few of my favorite things from Carnivals past:
Seeing Rex ramble down St. Charles Avenue under the oaks and toast past monarchs at the Grace Mansion. 
Getting pushed to the curb for the bands, especially St. Aug's Marching 100, and seeing the Seniors in the dance teams with their sashes and tiaras.
The strict adherence to tradition during Iris - masks and gloves on all riders, coordinated classic costumes, and those Bart Brothers floats under a family-friendly theme are a contradiction to the irreverence of Tucks - here "12 Inches of Paradise" is a literary reference to Ignatius E. Reilly's hot dog vendor profession in Confederacy of Dunces. 
Bringing first-times to The Columns Hotel on St. Charles Avenue, because nothing will make all y'all Northerners feel like you are finally in the Deep South then when you have a cocktail on the porch while the parades pass. 
Each year, David Johnson produces a Mardi Gras poster in his signature style both to serve as the cover of Arthur Hardy's Mardi Gras Guide, and also for limited release. Of all the prints and covers he's done over the years these two are my favorite, The Captain and The Butterfly Queen. The latter, was inspired by Mardi Gras historian Perry Young's quote:"Carnival is the butterfly of winter and Mardi Gras is its last mad flight."
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