It was a lazy morning around the hotel and we got up and enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel lobby. Damon opted for something called Pain Perdu Foster which is their version of French Toast, but in this case it is Creole cinnamon French Toast topped with sautéed bananas and vanilla whipped cream. He did add a side of apple wood bacon. I decided to try the sautéed shrimp and eggs which was gulf shrimp and fried egg over stone-ground cheese grits. Both were good and you are being saved pictures as I left the camera in the room when we went down. I bet Janet is breathing a sigh of relief just about now.
Then it was time to send off Damon to Blaine Kearn's Mardi Gras World. To get the feeling of Mardi Gras year-round, this is the place to go. It is the largest float designing and building facility in the world. More than 80 percent of the floats that journey down New Orleans' streets during the Carnival season are designed and built.
From their website - Begun in 1947 by float designer and builder Blaine Kern, Mardi Gras World provides visitors with the opportunity to don authentic Mardi Gras costumes and tour enormous warehouses filled with floats. The tour includes a short video and guide who is quite knowledgeable about Mardi Gras history and customs. And for a taste of Mardi Gras, king cake and piping hot New Orleans coffee are served.
During the tour, visitors learn about the many traditions surrounding Mardi Gras parades, balls and music, as well as the intricacies of float designing and building. Mardi Gras floats began rumbling down New Orleans streets in 1837 with mule-drawn carriages. Today the tradition continues with sophisticated mega-floats, which hold more than 200 masked riders and are lit with fiber optic cables and laser lights.
The place is the size of three football fields and is amazing. I have been three times in past visits and it is a real experience. By his going it allowed me sometime to get caught up on the blog and relax a bit. The humidity is growing daily and rain is to hit tomorrow. Add the temps climbing past the 90 degree mark this day and well, let me have my air-conditioning!
We are going to enjoy a local favorite tonight called Daisy Duke's which a lot of the locals swear by and is close by. Another place called Brother's is going to be hit up as they make amazing chicken and some kind of Creole Kabob that the front desk told us we cannot miss. All I can say is that next year we are going to go somewhere cooler to mark our anniversary.
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