"We will be back here again next year for Mardi Gras," vowed Fay Alexander of Thomaston, Georgia She had come with Carolyn Copeland of Woodbury and Brenda Beckham of Griffin.
Mardi Gras has a jargon of its own. This glossary will help you understand what they're talking about in the French Quarter.
MARDI GRAS: French for "Fat Tuesday." It marks the end of Carnival, a period of celebration leading up to Ash Wednesday and the onset of Lent, a Christian season of voluntary self-deprivation that lasts until Easter.
MARDI GRAS COLORS: Purple to represent justice. Green to signify faith. Gold to stand for power.
KREWE: The name given the private organizations or clubs that sponsor the public parades, private balls and other events of Carnival.
FLOATS: The giant rolling artworks that carry krewe members through the city in parades. Every parade gets a new theme every year, so new floats are always needed. Making them is a year-round industry in New Orleans.
THROWS: The beads and other trinkets that krewe members toss out to the crowds that line the route. Members buy their own throws through the krewe, sometimes tossing up to US$500 worth of items during the parade.
DOUBLOONS: Souvenir coins that bear a krewe's insignia one side and that year's parade theme on the other. Plastic doubloons are among the throws, but metal doubloons are also minted and often collected.
NEUTRAL GROUND: The grassy strip in the middle of a boulevard, known elsewhere as a median, is packed with parade watchers during Mardi Gras. On the floats, riders face either the sidewalk or neutral ground to toss out their throws.
MARDI GRAS LADDER: Small children sit in boxes affixed to folding ladders to watch the passing parades. Some ladders have cushions and seat belts, and at least one is equipped with a plastic bubble so the child does not get hit with throws.
MARDI GRAS INDIANS: Neighborhood clubs of African-American men who dress in elaborate outfits of buckskin, beads and feathered headdresses like Native Americans on Mardi Gras.
MASKS: There is a New Orleans law that adult riders on Mardi Gras floats must wear masks. Another ordinance makes Mardi Gras the only day where people can legally wear masks on the streets.
KING CAKE: An oval, sugary ring of pastry with icing in Mardi Gras colors. A plastic baby is hidden inside the King Cake. The diner who is served the doll in his slice is declared the "king" and has to buy the King Cake for the next party. Mardi Gras historian Arthur Hardy reports that more than 750,000 King Cakes are consumed in Mardi Gras during Carnival.
TO-GO CUPS: Drinking on the streets during Carnival is not only legal in New Orleans, it's practically mandatory -- but never from a glass container. So ask the bartender for a "to-go cup" to take your beer or potent rum Hurricane out to see a parade. To-go cups adorned with krewe insignia are often used as throws.
Source: ARTUUR HARDY'S MARDI GRAS GUIDE
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