Best Gulf Coast Mardi Gras

Kim Erwin, New Orleans Mardi Gras.  (Kim Erwin of Realty World) So how does a nice girl from small-town Nebraska end up prancing around on a float during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans? I mean, New Orleans during Mardi Gras and Nebraska are about as completely opposite as two places can get, right?

“I had dreamed of riding on a Mardi Gras float since I was a little girl,” said Kim Erwin, real estate broker from Corpus Christi, Texas. “I went to Mardi Gras a few years ago and loved it and immediately decided to buy a condo just off Bourbon Street. While I was walking around in the French Quarter, I saw a necklace in a quaint little shop that had the word ‘Muses’ on it. I just loved it. I knew ‘Muses’ must be a Mardi Gras krewe, so I asked around until I found them.”

 

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Posted by gulfscapes at 03:18 AM | Permalink

New Orleans is the center of the Mardi Gras universe. Mardi Gras in the Crescent City is outrageous, outlandish, and outstanding. The society parties start on Twelfth Night, January 6, and continue through Fat Tuesday, which this year is February 24. Parades start on February 7, 2009. Millions of people from all over the world will descend on New Orleans to get their merriment on before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday.

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Posted by gulfscapes at 03:15 AM | Permalink

New Orleans has more than 50 Mardi Gras parades. Each parade has numerous floats. This begs a serious question: Where do all those floats come from? Some people still make their own floats, but the vast majority are made by Kern Studios, the reigning King of Mardi Gras float makers.
The Kern family has been making floats since 1932, when Roy Kern got into the business. In 1947, Roy’s son Blaine founded Kern Artists. Blaine’s success in the business earned him the nickname “Mr. Mardi Gras” in New Orleans, and led him to open Mardi Gras World in the 1980’s.

Continue reading "Barry Kern, New Orleans Mardi Gras" »

Posted by gulfscapes at 03:11 AM | Permalink