Monday, February 19, 2007
Endymion Ball
Saturday was a day I will not likely ever forget. Let's just start from the beginning. I was invited to go with Keri Copponex. Her uncle and cousin ride in the parade and they had a few extra tickets, so Keri went and invited me. This is completely awesome because Endymion has always been my favorite parade and I have always heard how incredible the Ball is with top-notch entertainment, food, drinks and of course, the BEADS! HAHAHA
After stopping at Winn Dixie to pick up a few tasty beverages for the Ball (you bring your own ice chest inside the Superdome) Keri and I left Baton Rouge Saturday around 1:30 p.m. We drove straight into New Orleans with virtually no traffic. I decided not to risk getting in traffic downtown, so I got off of I-10 at the Tulane exit and decided to reach downtown that way (an old trick from many years of going to Saints games). We zipped right into downtown, reached Gravier St. which is where our hotel was -- and then our journey began! On Gravier St. about three blocks from the hotel, we hit a road block. The parade route was going to pass right in front of us on that street, so we were rerouted. I looped around again, this time farther out to see if we could get past the parade. More road blocks and this time, traffic!
Soon, it became clear to me that the only way to get through would be to go uptown all the way around the parade route and then back downtown on the other side. We began our journey, weaving and winding uptown trying to get to St. Charles so we could see where the route ended and cross over. Thinking we had scored a moral victory when we finally reached St. Charles, we celebrated a bit. Too soon! As we started up St. Charles, one side of the street was closed for the parade, but the two lanes going uptown were open -- sort of. We were literally stunned at the audacity of some of the Carnival-goes. As we creeped and crawled up St. Charles, I continually mentioned how I was truly amazed that I had not hit anyone with my car yet. Drunk people casually walking down the street. People throwing the football. Kids darting out in front of cars with parents nowhere to be found. People! Seriously! This is an OPEN two-lane road! There are cars navigating this street to reach their destination! MOOOOOOVE!!!!!!! One of the more amazing instances occurred when a young man, probably in his late teens, casually walked from the median into the street while talking on the cell phone. He apparently did not notice me, but thank God I saw him (on second thought, maybe I should have killed him to stay in line with Natural Selection). When he stopped in the street to look around -- I assume for the person on the other end of the phone -- if he had gotten any closer to my vehicle, his shirt could have been used to wipe all the bug guts off my grill. As Keri and I sat in amazement at this, he turned around and noticed a BIG FREAKING CAR right behind him, and jumped back in amazement! Seriously people, this is New Orleans at Mardi Gras. It was at that moment that I decided I will not take my children to the larger Mardi Gras parades until they are in junior high. Putting that many idiots in one place makes for too great a risk for something bad to happen.
By this time, we are seriously thinking we might not make it to the hotel before the Ball. It is almost 5:00 , the doors open at 7:00, and we are nowhere near the hotel because of the traffic. Almost mercifully, we finally reach the end of that parade route after we cross Napoleon St. and we are moving. Traffic has cleared, we are cruising down to Tchopitoulas where we can head back downtown. A block from Tchopitoulas, we hit another road block. The parade in lining up there at the Convention Center and the street is closed. Bummer, but not a big deal. We will just go up one block and head downtown on a smaller street. Apparently, all of the poor saps trying to get downtown had this same idea. Noticing it was at a dead stop, I said screw it! I was starving, we had been in the car for 4 1/2 hours, Keri's mom was calling every 2-3 minutes to ask if we had made it yet and I just had to get out of that situation. I darted uptown past the parade route, parked my car and we ate at O'Henry's. I had chicken nuggets and a beer and it was the most glorious meal of my life up to that point!
When we finished eating, it was 5:30 p.m. The doors to the Ball opened in an hour and a half and we had nowhere to change. We debated just going to the Dome, parking in the garage and changing there, but I had a better idea. I called my grandparents who live about 5 minutes from where we were. We went to their house and changed, hopped back in the car at about 6:50 and started toward the Dome. Traffic was not nearly as bad as it would have been for a Saints game, so we parked the car and got in line about 7:30. The lines were absurd! Some said they waited for 45 minutes just to get into the building. Luckily, we found Keri's family already near the front and walked in with them.
Given our troubles throughout the say, you didn't think it would just be that easy, did you? No way! on the way to the parking garage, Keri's phone died. Our method of communicating to find her family (who still had our tickets!) was lost. Luckily, we had an idea of where they were, and Keri's brother spotted us. Whew! Right? NOPE! Once we joined Keri's brother Drew and his girlfriend Joan in line, Keri's aunt and cousin Blair tell us there is a problem. GEEZ! They are two tickets short!
Yeah right ...
No, seriously?
You have got to be kidding me, right?!?!
They weren't.
Keri's uncle who was riding in the parade took two tickets for he and his son, leaving us two short. Riders finish the route in the Dome, so they don't need tickets. Besides, they're easy to spot because they are still wearing their costumes! So, after all we had been through, it appeared two of us might be able to go inside. Did I mention I am dragging an ice chest with about $100 in liquor in it at this time as well? As we continue to inch our way closer to the door, I see Keri's aunt and cousin talking to the ticket-taker. Our first break of the night! They let them in without tickets! WHEW! Seriously, the degree of relief I felt after this cannot be described in words. I summed up our situation to Keri like this: If you could go to a party in the Superdome with tens-of-thousands of gorgeous people dressed in formals, eat all you want, drink all you want and listen to Taylor Hicks, Styx and Journey and all you had to do was drive through traffic in New Orleans for 5 hours, wouldn't you do it? At this point it seems totally worth it.
It was.
As we walked into the arena, to say it was packed is probably the understatement of the decade. We entered at the Poydras Street endzone. To our left, basically on the visiting team's sideline, was an enormous stage where the MC and dignitaries were and where the bands would perform. The setup basically put tables in the center with a barricaded route around them for the parade to pass, and then more tables on the outside. Within 5 minutes of cramming onto the Dome floor, the MC made an announcement that the parade was coming. All of a sudden, we were blocked in. People were stepping on and over eachother to get to their tables, and we couldn't get to ours. Naturally, we were in the barricaded center. I decided I could either A) Pout that we couldn't get to the table and wallow about how tough a day it had been or B) Open my ice chest with the $100 dollars of alcohol, watch the parade and make a few friends. If you know me, you know I chose the latter. After about the 4th float, there was a break in the parade and the police moved the barricades to let us through. I caught the rest of the parade and a crapload of beads over there.
Of course, there had to be more drama, though. When we crossed the barricade, we got separated from Keri's family. She used my phone to call and text to find them. She went off to look for them while I stayed with the ice chest and caught the parade. When she came back, she didn't have my phone. She swore she put it in the ice chest (impossible because I had been standing on it to catch beads) and we dug for it. Not there. She darted off again, while I looked with the help of some people standing near us. No dice. About five minutes later, here comes Keri, phone in hand. Not sure where she found it, but I'm just glad she did.
The rest of the parade rolled by, we found the table with Keri's family, got some fantastic food, poured a few drinks (I'm feeling GOOD by this point) and were rockin' out to Al Green on stage. The night was going very well at this point. Keri and I decided to make a bathroom run and look for John Rabenhorst while we were out and about. Amazingly, I saw Celeste and Jade in line for the bathroom, which was cool, and then as we walked to find John, we saw Taylor Hicks. He was the Grand Marshall of the parade as was set to perform after Al Green. This interaction was probably the biggest disappointment of my night. When I noticed him walking around the perimeter of the tables, I said, "Taylor Hicks! Soul Patrol! Woooooo!" Like a true prick, he gave me a smirk that said sarcastically, "Oh yeah, that's funny, asshole!" I could not believe it. This guy who was a nobody a year ago is that Grand Marshall at one of the biggest parades of the biggest party in the world and he is acting like he could not care less to be there. As people noticed him and came up asking for pictures and autographs, he looked bored by the whole thing, not even smiling for pictures. What a jackass. Completely disappointing considering I bought his CD and spent hours voting for him on American Idol (yes, it is sad, but I admit it).
After our Taylor Hicks sighting, the night really started to crank up. We saw a friend of John's who pointed out where they were sitting and we made our way over there. Damn, those people know how to party! John was with Renee Schwartzenburg (which was great because I had not seen her in forever). Brien and Erin were there with dates and so was Mikey. Mr. David and Ms. Anne were looking good and having fun too. We stayed there and ate and drank for a bit until Styx came on. When they began belting out "Lady" and we all began imitating the wedding singer from "Old School" the night was on! We went to the front and started dancing. Styx's set featured the aforementioned "Lady", "Come Sail Away" and an encore with "Renegade". As soon as Styx went off to a raucous applause (at least we cheered loudly), Journey came right after. Because the stage was so big, they were already set up and played right away. Their entire set was basically the Greatest Hits album. INCREDIBLE! We earned that performance after we saw them lay a total egg in NO a couple of months ago with Def Leppard. Journey finished their set with a monster lineup: Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin', Open Arms, Faithfully, Don't Stop Believin', Any Way You Want It and Separate Ways.
All I can say is: WOW!
We danced. We drank. Basically, it was prom with alcohol and Journey instead of a crappy local band. It was incredible.
When Journey went off stage, the lights came on, the night was over, and it was 4:30 a.m. We debated going out, but realized how insanely tired we all were and just called it a night. Keri and I finally made it to the hotel. I wanted to tip the valet, but didn't have any singles. He got a 10 spot. Nice guy. We went up to the room and got Drew to let us in. We picked a cozy spot on the floor and crashed. At some point Keri went downstairs and got blankets for us. That was insanely nice, considering my lame ass was already asleep.
We woke up Sunday at noon and were in PAIN. We both kept commenting that everything was hurting. I guess a day as spectacular as the one we shared will do that to you. It was at least as bad as I felt after a day of tailgating, which is really saying something. Keri's uncle Tom had reservations at Zea for us all on St. Charles at 2 p.m. We had an excellent lunch with great company. Keri really has an awesome family and it was enjoyable getting to meet them and spend time getting to know them. Her cousin, Blair, however, did not make it to lunch because she made the fatal mistake Keri and I had made the day before and got on the wrong side of the parade route. Live and learn!
After lunch we headed back to BR and our Endymion experience was over. But damn was it a memorable 24 hours!
After stopping at Winn Dixie to pick up a few tasty beverages for the Ball (you bring your own ice chest inside the Superdome) Keri and I left Baton Rouge Saturday around 1:30 p.m. We drove straight into New Orleans with virtually no traffic. I decided not to risk getting in traffic downtown, so I got off of I-10 at the Tulane exit and decided to reach downtown that way (an old trick from many years of going to Saints games). We zipped right into downtown, reached Gravier St. which is where our hotel was -- and then our journey began! On Gravier St. about three blocks from the hotel, we hit a road block. The parade route was going to pass right in front of us on that street, so we were rerouted. I looped around again, this time farther out to see if we could get past the parade. More road blocks and this time, traffic!
Soon, it became clear to me that the only way to get through would be to go uptown all the way around the parade route and then back downtown on the other side. We began our journey, weaving and winding uptown trying to get to St. Charles so we could see where the route ended and cross over. Thinking we had scored a moral victory when we finally reached St. Charles, we celebrated a bit. Too soon! As we started up St. Charles, one side of the street was closed for the parade, but the two lanes going uptown were open -- sort of. We were literally stunned at the audacity of some of the Carnival-goes. As we creeped and crawled up St. Charles, I continually mentioned how I was truly amazed that I had not hit anyone with my car yet. Drunk people casually walking down the street. People throwing the football. Kids darting out in front of cars with parents nowhere to be found. People! Seriously! This is an OPEN two-lane road! There are cars navigating this street to reach their destination! MOOOOOOVE!!!!!!! One of the more amazing instances occurred when a young man, probably in his late teens, casually walked from the median into the street while talking on the cell phone. He apparently did not notice me, but thank God I saw him (on second thought, maybe I should have killed him to stay in line with Natural Selection). When he stopped in the street to look around -- I assume for the person on the other end of the phone -- if he had gotten any closer to my vehicle, his shirt could have been used to wipe all the bug guts off my grill. As Keri and I sat in amazement at this, he turned around and noticed a BIG FREAKING CAR right behind him, and jumped back in amazement! Seriously people, this is New Orleans at Mardi Gras. It was at that moment that I decided I will not take my children to the larger Mardi Gras parades until they are in junior high. Putting that many idiots in one place makes for too great a risk for something bad to happen.
By this time, we are seriously thinking we might not make it to the hotel before the Ball. It is almost 5:00 , the doors open at 7:00, and we are nowhere near the hotel because of the traffic. Almost mercifully, we finally reach the end of that parade route after we cross Napoleon St. and we are moving. Traffic has cleared, we are cruising down to Tchopitoulas where we can head back downtown. A block from Tchopitoulas, we hit another road block. The parade in lining up there at the Convention Center and the street is closed. Bummer, but not a big deal. We will just go up one block and head downtown on a smaller street. Apparently, all of the poor saps trying to get downtown had this same idea. Noticing it was at a dead stop, I said screw it! I was starving, we had been in the car for 4 1/2 hours, Keri's mom was calling every 2-3 minutes to ask if we had made it yet and I just had to get out of that situation. I darted uptown past the parade route, parked my car and we ate at O'Henry's. I had chicken nuggets and a beer and it was the most glorious meal of my life up to that point!
When we finished eating, it was 5:30 p.m. The doors to the Ball opened in an hour and a half and we had nowhere to change. We debated just going to the Dome, parking in the garage and changing there, but I had a better idea. I called my grandparents who live about 5 minutes from where we were. We went to their house and changed, hopped back in the car at about 6:50 and started toward the Dome. Traffic was not nearly as bad as it would have been for a Saints game, so we parked the car and got in line about 7:30. The lines were absurd! Some said they waited for 45 minutes just to get into the building. Luckily, we found Keri's family already near the front and walked in with them.
Given our troubles throughout the say, you didn't think it would just be that easy, did you? No way! on the way to the parking garage, Keri's phone died. Our method of communicating to find her family (who still had our tickets!) was lost. Luckily, we had an idea of where they were, and Keri's brother spotted us. Whew! Right? NOPE! Once we joined Keri's brother Drew and his girlfriend Joan in line, Keri's aunt and cousin Blair tell us there is a problem. GEEZ! They are two tickets short!
Yeah right ...
No, seriously?
You have got to be kidding me, right?!?!
They weren't.
Keri's uncle who was riding in the parade took two tickets for he and his son, leaving us two short. Riders finish the route in the Dome, so they don't need tickets. Besides, they're easy to spot because they are still wearing their costumes! So, after all we had been through, it appeared two of us might be able to go inside. Did I mention I am dragging an ice chest with about $100 in liquor in it at this time as well? As we continue to inch our way closer to the door, I see Keri's aunt and cousin talking to the ticket-taker. Our first break of the night! They let them in without tickets! WHEW! Seriously, the degree of relief I felt after this cannot be described in words. I summed up our situation to Keri like this: If you could go to a party in the Superdome with tens-of-thousands of gorgeous people dressed in formals, eat all you want, drink all you want and listen to Taylor Hicks, Styx and Journey and all you had to do was drive through traffic in New Orleans for 5 hours, wouldn't you do it? At this point it seems totally worth it.
It was.
As we walked into the arena, to say it was packed is probably the understatement of the decade. We entered at the Poydras Street endzone. To our left, basically on the visiting team's sideline, was an enormous stage where the MC and dignitaries were and where the bands would perform. The setup basically put tables in the center with a barricaded route around them for the parade to pass, and then more tables on the outside. Within 5 minutes of cramming onto the Dome floor, the MC made an announcement that the parade was coming. All of a sudden, we were blocked in. People were stepping on and over eachother to get to their tables, and we couldn't get to ours. Naturally, we were in the barricaded center. I decided I could either A) Pout that we couldn't get to the table and wallow about how tough a day it had been or B) Open my ice chest with the $100 dollars of alcohol, watch the parade and make a few friends. If you know me, you know I chose the latter. After about the 4th float, there was a break in the parade and the police moved the barricades to let us through. I caught the rest of the parade and a crapload of beads over there.
Of course, there had to be more drama, though. When we crossed the barricade, we got separated from Keri's family. She used my phone to call and text to find them. She went off to look for them while I stayed with the ice chest and caught the parade. When she came back, she didn't have my phone. She swore she put it in the ice chest (impossible because I had been standing on it to catch beads) and we dug for it. Not there. She darted off again, while I looked with the help of some people standing near us. No dice. About five minutes later, here comes Keri, phone in hand. Not sure where she found it, but I'm just glad she did.
The rest of the parade rolled by, we found the table with Keri's family, got some fantastic food, poured a few drinks (I'm feeling GOOD by this point) and were rockin' out to Al Green on stage. The night was going very well at this point. Keri and I decided to make a bathroom run and look for John Rabenhorst while we were out and about. Amazingly, I saw Celeste and Jade in line for the bathroom, which was cool, and then as we walked to find John, we saw Taylor Hicks. He was the Grand Marshall of the parade as was set to perform after Al Green. This interaction was probably the biggest disappointment of my night. When I noticed him walking around the perimeter of the tables, I said, "Taylor Hicks! Soul Patrol! Woooooo!" Like a true prick, he gave me a smirk that said sarcastically, "Oh yeah, that's funny, asshole!" I could not believe it. This guy who was a nobody a year ago is that Grand Marshall at one of the biggest parades of the biggest party in the world and he is acting like he could not care less to be there. As people noticed him and came up asking for pictures and autographs, he looked bored by the whole thing, not even smiling for pictures. What a jackass. Completely disappointing considering I bought his CD and spent hours voting for him on American Idol (yes, it is sad, but I admit it).
After our Taylor Hicks sighting, the night really started to crank up. We saw a friend of John's who pointed out where they were sitting and we made our way over there. Damn, those people know how to party! John was with Renee Schwartzenburg (which was great because I had not seen her in forever). Brien and Erin were there with dates and so was Mikey. Mr. David and Ms. Anne were looking good and having fun too. We stayed there and ate and drank for a bit until Styx came on. When they began belting out "Lady" and we all began imitating the wedding singer from "Old School" the night was on! We went to the front and started dancing. Styx's set featured the aforementioned "Lady", "Come Sail Away" and an encore with "Renegade". As soon as Styx went off to a raucous applause (at least we cheered loudly), Journey came right after. Because the stage was so big, they were already set up and played right away. Their entire set was basically the Greatest Hits album. INCREDIBLE! We earned that performance after we saw them lay a total egg in NO a couple of months ago with Def Leppard. Journey finished their set with a monster lineup: Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin', Open Arms, Faithfully, Don't Stop Believin', Any Way You Want It and Separate Ways.
All I can say is: WOW!
We danced. We drank. Basically, it was prom with alcohol and Journey instead of a crappy local band. It was incredible.
When Journey went off stage, the lights came on, the night was over, and it was 4:30 a.m. We debated going out, but realized how insanely tired we all were and just called it a night. Keri and I finally made it to the hotel. I wanted to tip the valet, but didn't have any singles. He got a 10 spot. Nice guy. We went up to the room and got Drew to let us in. We picked a cozy spot on the floor and crashed. At some point Keri went downstairs and got blankets for us. That was insanely nice, considering my lame ass was already asleep.
We woke up Sunday at noon and were in PAIN. We both kept commenting that everything was hurting. I guess a day as spectacular as the one we shared will do that to you. It was at least as bad as I felt after a day of tailgating, which is really saying something. Keri's uncle Tom had reservations at Zea for us all on St. Charles at 2 p.m. We had an excellent lunch with great company. Keri really has an awesome family and it was enjoyable getting to meet them and spend time getting to know them. Her cousin, Blair, however, did not make it to lunch because she made the fatal mistake Keri and I had made the day before and got on the wrong side of the parade route. Live and learn!
After lunch we headed back to BR and our Endymion experience was over. But damn was it a memorable 24 hours!
# posted by Matt Moscona @ 3:20 PM 
