Confession :: We Don’t Do Baton Rouge Parades
Mardi Gras season is upon us, and while it is one of my favorite times of the year, I don’t exactly “celebrate” it like others in Baton Rouge. I am a hardcore no king cake until epiphany person, I have my favorite king cakes, and king cake adjacent items and I love the fun and reverie of Mardi Gras with school and family and friends all celebrating in different ways. There’s just one thing I don’t do, and that is Baton Rouge Parades.
Despite the fact that I’ve lived her for over 20 years, I still don’t know where Southdowns or Spanish Town parades run or what they’re like.
I’ve never been, never taken my kids and here comes the real confession … I don’t want to.
I grew up in the NOLA area and so did my husband. Baton Rouge Mardi Gras parades just weren’t part of our lives growing up, and I guess, I have to admit, I’m kind of a Mardi Gras snob. There, I said it. If you don’t know what I mean when I say Neutral Ground Side, are we even talking about a Mardi Gras parade? (Though, honestly, I’m a side-walk side kind of person.) I had family that lived on St. Charles Ave, and another that worked on it for the majority of my childhood / teen years. My parade experience was, in hindsight, pretty privileged. We had, most importantly, clean, private bathrooms, ladders already set up for us, warm spaces to retreat to, places to sit and eat and food that stayed warm. We also had guaranteed, free parking. This was my Mardi Gras experience and now the idea of “roughing it” just on a random sidewalk somewhere sounds like a nightmare. My parade memories are so nostalgic and I want that for my kids too, I just don’t know how to do that in Baton Rouge.
I have been to the Wearin’ of the Green parade in my college days, but all of those times, I was invited to someone’s home on the parade route. (Private bathrooms are just a necessity for me I guess). It was still a strange experience and is still a bit baffling. Are the BR Mardi Gras parades as different as the St. Patrick’s Day ones? I was taken aback by the lack of produce. Is it even a St. Patrick’s Day parade if you’re not throwing potatoes, carrots and cabbage? I was so confused.
I’m not purposely keeping my kids from Mardi Gras.
I do want them to have the experiences, but I guess my expectations are for them to have similar experiences to mine as a kid. So, last year, for the first time in my 40+ years of life I had a new Mardi Gras experience along with my kids … we went to parades in Metairie, but we had a family home near the parade route and that oh so important private bathroom.
