Mardi Gras Memory

A very long time ago, when I was 20, and in college, I joined in on an impromptu trip to Mardi Gras. I don’t remember how it came about but two carloads of my friends were driving 20 hours from Binghamton to New Orleans, because.. why not? We were nine people in total. It sounded like (and indeed was) such an adventure. And in hindsight, only something I would do in my youth. Someone knew someone who had a floor we could crash on, so there you have it. Not much planning, and transportation and board for not much money.

Both cars headed down south from Binghamton, and I think we planned on meeting like in an hour or two at maybe a rest stop, the details unclear in my memory. But what I do remember is that we did not connect with the other car. Whatever meeting place we had chosen never materialized. Without cell phones (which we had never imagined would exist) there was no way we would find the other car. So we were on our own, and the other car had a stick shift and we didn’t know if anyone else in that car could drive a stick shift. I often think of that experience when I wonder how we ever lived without cell phones. I also don’t know how we were able to navigate directions from Binghamton to New Orleans. Maps?

Also, due to the fact that no cell phones were not invented yet, everyone in college I knew would speak to their parents like once a week. Phone bills were expensive so you would speak like every Sunday. I bring this up because my parents did not have to know that I was in New Orleans, and not Binghamton, on a random week in March. I made sure to call before I left and when I returned. 

What I remember of that Mardi Gras experience is being woken up at 7 AM from the sound of beer cans popping open. I remember those lavish, colorful parades and the many-colored necklaces that were thrown from balconies. I remember the incredible architecture in the French Quarter, and, of course, the pastries. But mostly I remember what a joy it was to be with good friends and to be so free-spirited.