As if the food isn't reason enough to visit New Orleans, Mardi Gras is the main event. If you haven't been to Mardi Gras, it should be on the top of your bucket list. Mardi Gras can be an adult event or a family event, it just depends on how and where you want to enjoy it. There are family friendly parades on the weekends leading up to Mardi Gras and daily for the seven days of Mardi Gras. There are day and evening parades. All of them are beautiful and with decorative floats. Kings, Queens, Goddesses and honorary Grand Marshals ride atop their floats outfitted in pure royalty. Then there’s the French Quarter, it can get pretty raunchy in that part of town, definitely not a place for kids. Barrooms and clubs, plenty smoking and drinking, and you can imagine the rest of the story. In 2014, I joined the Krewe of Nyx, an all women's parade that has grown to be the largest parade in the city. It's a krewe with a determined captain that has been aiming for this spot since inception. She made it! I am happy to be a part of this krewe. A week before Mardi Gras, we enjoy a beautiful evening on the float throwing Nyx beads and trinkets to all whom await us on the uptown parade route. We have a elegant formal masquerade ball in January at the convention center. My other half joined the next largest super Krewe, Endymion and he likes it as well. They parade down the mid city route on the Saturday evening before Mardi Gras. They have a nice ball as well. I must admit, their band is better than ours. Mardi Gras brings out the best in some and the worst in others. As a local, I like to see the city enjoy some company. Bands that we don’t hear from often, usually show out for Mardi Gras. There are parades going on all the time. Besides the large street parades with floats, we also host walking parades where the members dress a certain way, (there’s a theme) and create and decorate floats on wagons, primarily to pull their beer, lol. We also have a dog parade, Krewe of Barkus. People dress their dogs and parade down the street. This one gets bigger every year. Many people that go to see this parade also have their dog in tow. I wonder what it’s like for a dog to go down to a parade to see their friends 🐶 that’s in a parade 🤔. I know people that will not miss a Mardi Gras, they come every year and would not be anywhere else on this planet on Fat Tuesday. I’m proud to call it home!