We stood on the river front listening to jazz from the band. It was great. They even had dancers in front of the stage. But, something caught me eye on the river (also my ear). A paddle boat came by blowing its horn. The boat was all lit up and a party was happening on board. This is one party town.

One of the exhibits, at the aquarium, was the rain forest. We saw all manner of fish and reptiles - kind of like the swamp tour we took on Sunday. But here, the snakes didn’t come into the boat - Pam was very glad!

After eating, drinking, visiting, and listening to jazz it was time to go see the fish. PES had made arrangements to have the aquarium open to us. The fun never stopped. We were met by Neptune and one of his mermaids. They were there to welcome us. This is one of the best aquariums in the country. The walk through glass tunnel showing all the rays and sharks was great.

If you left this reception hungry, it was your fault. I have never seen so much food. And it was all major dishes. We had all the New Orleans favorites - gumbo, bread pudding, BBQ brisket, crawfish and so much more. There were serving stations all over the place. I don’t think I stood in line more than 5 minutes or so. Of course it could have been longer, but we were visiting with friends - the time passes fast when you are having fun.

The party goers were treated to meeting the costumed marchers once we arrived at the reception. I could not resist a photo op. Pam is my photographer when I need to be in the picture. What a great time. It was crowded, but everyone was so happy (the open bar helped).

We made it to the aquarium of The Americas - the end of the parade. Remember an earlier blog where I said 15,000 to 20,000 of Tommy’s friends would be at the party? They were all here. I think this was one of the best attended receptions I have ever been to.

Bead throwing is an art form in a Mardi Gras parade. As we went along the parade route, I looked down to find a new target (someone wanting beads) and saw my old friend John Randolph. John is the vice-chair of the substation committee. He was looking for beads when my gift arrived - I hope he was looking for beads. Heck he smiled and gave the thumbs up!!!

I was talking with my friend, Greg Reed. he was on the float with me. Greg had come to the parade directly from some event and had on a coat and tie. He was probably the only person riding our Mardi Gras float dressed that way. But in the Big Easy, everything is acceptable. There were a lot of ladies marching head of us with very little in the way of covering (sorry if you missed it, you missed it). I can’t post those photos, but I do have them. You might say at the end of the day, it all balanced out.

I tried to get photos of the folks on the float having fun too. Erich Gunther is really getting into the swing - literally. He has a good arm and hit quite a few bystanders . Or should I say delivered beads right to them?

The view from the top of a Mardi Gras float is great. We had people lining both side of the street. They were waving their hands at us to throw beads - and we did. Boy did we ever.