I think Mardi Gras is beautiful, and I think you should still get excited. I am, and I wasnt even raised in N.O.
We do have some stupid rules here in TX - I'm the 1st to admit that.
now you're wrong for that. JMO. You should raise your kids to appreciate Mardi Gras, just like you did. I aint mad & I sure cant judge, being a former dog myself, but if you still need somewhere to get in trouble-- You can do stupid stuff right here in H-town. N.O. should be about your culture and memories. Just my opinion-- I dont know anything.
I am a Mexican & I agree with that totally. If I'm celebrating St. Patrick's, I want to get Irish. If I celebrate Mardi Gras, I want it Louisianian. We have Mexican stuff every day here.

And #2, youre right on again. It would be "Reliant Energy/Chase Bank Mardi Gras at Discovery Green-- a celebration of culture, diversity, and earth conservation. This year's Parade Queen is Sheila Jackson Lee. With special guests Kathy Griffin and Oprah. Musical entertainment from Fiestas Latino, and 3 nights of salsa & meringue. Friday night is Transgender Pride night. (trace of Cajun or Creole, anyone?)

tickets are 20.00, available at Macy's and Fiesta Mart. Party starts at 7pm and ends at 11:30pm. Remember to Drink Responsibly. (as HPD will set up 35 checkpoints surrounding the area.)

SkyMike is my first Houston friend; and he gets it! I am so tired of the "Girls Gone Wild" version of Mardi Gras...I spent my first fifty years in New Orleans and was only out of town once during Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is about the kids who march blowing their hearts out to be the loudest (they think the best); the kids who second line...the rhythm is in them as it is in me. I can feel the beat of the base drum in my chest as the band comes closer. The fight for throws, only to turn around and give them with a laugh and smile to the one you almost knocked down to get them. The marching societies before Zulu, Zulu with your donuts, Rex with your po'boy and what seem like hours of truck floats blowing their air horns. Garbage bags full of beads...the reason that NOLA is sinking...I only know that I miss it. I had a great aunt who worked in the mayor's office and she told me that the most often question was asking to speak with the "person in charge of Mardi Gras."
No one can believe that it just "happens."

I guess I really knew that I wasn't in New Orleans any more when driving down I-45 and saw a billboard for "Mardi Gras in Galveston...tickets available at Ticketmaster. Huh? Tickets?

Oh, and by the way...I bet I can tell where you got dem shoes...