Dan and I were so honored and excited to be asked to be Grand Marshal of Mobile Mystical Ladies. But Dan had a family commitment and couldn't attend so I was happy to do it by myself and I asked my sister to tag along. We were pumped.
The plan was for me to ride in a 1969 convertible Buick Wildcat! Well the day started with rain (of course!) so we had a little delay getting started. When they did get rolling, we decided to go ahead and ride with the convertible top UP at the start of the parade because it was sprinkling. Eventually, it stopped, so we put the top down and then...it was ON like a chicken bone! (Or...a moon pie).
Mobile Mystical Ladies gave us the good stuff to throw...good beads, moon pies, oatmeal creme pies, cups, frisbees, and stuffed animals, which EVERYONE wanted! It was so fun, throwing to revelers, seeing people excited about catching, even when it started to sprinkle a bit more. Then, about halfway through, we had to stop because rumor had it someone toward the front had a flat tire. And then, as we were waiting and the old car we were in was idling (right in the middle of Government), a lady shouted, "Hey, you guys are leaking antifreeze! Looks like your radiator is busted!" We had noticed it was REALLY hot in the car, even with the top down, so sure enough, our awesome driver Carl (husband of one of the MML ladies) pointed out the warning light was on in the old Wildcat. And we started to see smoke coming from under the hood! Carl said we should pull over asap...so we pulled into the Hardee's, got our throws and were lucky enough to be invited to finish the parade from the top of one of the MML floats. Carl stayed to take care of the car -ended up it was okay, just needed water and just not used to the "stop and go" speed of a parade! See my facebook live below...oh, and see where "Dan" makes an appearance! :)
We ended up finishing the parade soaking wet (and sore arms) but happy. I couldn't believe the crowd that showed up, soaking wet (like us), but looking like they were having just as much fun catching as we were throwing. Thank you Mobile and thanks to the Mobile Mystical Ladies. Happy Mardi Gras! Let the good times roll!
http://www.fox10tv.com/story/37477379/revelers-enjoy-mardi-gras-in-mobile-despite-the-rain